The Ganges: A Journey into India
Part 1: Exploring the Sacred, Modern Along the Ganges()
April 2, 2007 India's holy Ganges River provides sustenance to more people than the population of the United States. A 1,550-mile journey along Mother Ganga offers a unique glimpse of what lies behind the complexities of India today.
Part 2: Ganges Reveals Extremes in Indian LIfe()
April 3, 2007 India has overtaken Japan as home to the most billionaires in Asia. Yet it also has the world's largest population of hungry people, as one reporter's continuing journey down the Ganges River reveals.
Reporter's Notebook
Devprayag, Rishikesh, Kanpur: The Journey's Start()
April 2, 2007 Philip Reeves recently traveled the length of the Ganges River and reports on the people and places along the way: a holy man living in a case, the wild roads of India, and a luxury spa amid abject poverty.
Part 3: India's Heart of Hinduism to Heart of Darkness()
April 4, 2007 In the third of a five-part series on the Ganges, Philip Reeves visits Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in Hinduism, where religion and domestic life coexist. Then he travels to crime-plagued Bihar, one of India's poorest states.
Reporter's Notebook
From Varanasi to Bihar: Meeting the Divine, Criminal()
April 4, 2007 In this installment of his Reporter's Notebook, Philip Reeves recounts meeting religious pilgrims in the holy city of Varanasi — and criminals in the poor state of Bihar. He also contemplates the role of religion among middle-class Indians.
Part 4: Calcutta's Industrial Ambitions, Tradition Clash()
April 5, 2007 As the Ganges River's journey nears an end, it passes through Calcutta, one of India's great cities. Renowned for its slums, militancy and red tape, Calcutta is changing, as it remakes itself into an IT hub. But the change has met with resistance.
Reporter's Notebook
Calcutta: Habitat of the Indian Intellectual()
April 5, 2007 Philip Reeves recounts his experiences in Calcutta, a city known for its militancy, poverty and red tape. He enjoys the view from a floating hotel and visits a legendary coffeehouse, where he spots a native species: the Indian intellectual.
Part 5: Where the Ganges Meets the Sea, A Journey Ends()
April 6, 2007 Our Ganges journey ends on Sagar Island, where the river meets the sea. Once a year, millions of Hindus come here to worship the river and to toss coins into its waters. It's a spot where the income gap between rural and urban India is evident.
Reporter's Notebook
Poverty, Idyllic Beauty Coexist on Sagar Island()
April 5, 2007 At the end of his Ganges journey on Sagar Island, Philip Reeves meets a man who lives in limbo between the "new India" of the rich and the ranks of the profoundly poor. He also meditates on the idyllic beauty of the place, and the hard lives its people live.
