1
00:01:58,997 --> 00:02:02,277
My family lived in
Arnold Grove in the 1940s.

2
00:02:03,597 --> 00:02:05,837
The Liverpool Blitz
was terrifying,

3
00:02:05,917 --> 00:02:07,757
and I will never
forget as a child

4
00:02:07,837 --> 00:02:10,437
the drone of sirens and
approaching bombers.

5
00:02:12,197 --> 00:02:14,397
The Grove's a really
neighbourly place

6
00:02:14,477 --> 00:02:16,837
and we were always in and
out of each other's homes.

7
00:02:18,557 --> 00:02:20,517
What was strange
for me was the music

8
00:02:20,597 --> 00:02:22,357
coming out of the
house at number 12,

9
00:02:23,717 --> 00:02:25,117
the home with the
Harrison family.

10
00:02:30,357 --> 00:02:33,277
George's mother Louise loved
to listen to Indian music

11
00:02:33,357 --> 00:02:34,357
on the radio.

12
00:02:35,757 --> 00:02:37,637
I'm told that it
helped to keep her calm

13
00:02:37,717 --> 00:02:39,357
during her pregnancy.

14
00:02:48,477 --> 00:02:51,797
When I first heard Indian music,

15
00:02:51,877 --> 00:02:55,797
I just couldn't really believe
that it was so, so great.

16
00:02:55,877 --> 00:02:58,837
And the more I heard of
it, the more I liked it,

17
00:02:58,917 --> 00:03:02,037
and it just got bigger and
bigger, like a snowball.

18
00:03:16,797 --> 00:03:18,637
One day, the telephone rang

19
00:03:18,717 --> 00:03:20,717
and my father
always answered it.

20
00:03:20,797 --> 00:03:23,677
He had a particular sort
of authentic Indian accent.

21
00:03:23,757 --> 00:03:25,597
His Indian accent had
remained unchanged

22
00:03:25,677 --> 00:03:27,277
in all the 40 years
he'd been here,

23
00:03:27,357 --> 00:03:28,877
and he was shouting
down the telephone,

24
00:03:28,957 --> 00:03:31,677
"Ringo who, Ringo who?"

25
00:03:31,757 --> 00:03:33,717
And apparently it
was because Ringo

26
00:03:33,797 --> 00:03:36,637
was on the other end of
the line asking my father

27
00:03:36,717 --> 00:03:38,437
whether he had a
spare sitar string.

28
00:03:41,077 --> 00:03:42,957
The return of the
heroes to their native land.

29
00:03:43,037 --> 00:03:44,717
They conquered the colony.

30
00:03:46,277 --> 00:03:48,517
The Beatles, who originated
as a small-time act

31
00:03:48,597 --> 00:03:50,157
out of Liverpool,

32
00:03:50,237 --> 00:03:52,597
now have no rivals as the
kingpins of the teenage set.

33
00:03:55,637 --> 00:03:57,093
The group had
certainly turned Liverpool

34
00:03:57,117 --> 00:03:58,957
into Britain's answer
to any pop trends

35
00:03:59,037 --> 00:04:00,157
from across the Atlantic.

36
00:04:03,037 --> 00:04:04,717
On every side
there is hero worship

37
00:04:04,797 --> 00:04:07,717
that recall the heydays of
Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

38
00:04:09,437 --> 00:04:11,317
Beatlemania has ceased
to be a phenomenon

39
00:04:11,397 --> 00:04:13,517
and seems to have
become a way of life.

40
00:04:16,517 --> 00:04:18,077
My father had never
heard of The Beatles

41
00:04:18,117 --> 00:04:21,717
so he knew nothing about
anything European or popular.

42
00:04:21,797 --> 00:04:24,437
But what happened was that
they'd broken a sitar string

43
00:04:24,517 --> 00:04:26,237
while George was
recording "Norwegian Wood"

44
00:04:26,317 --> 00:04:27,637
in Abbey Road Studio.

45
00:04:27,717 --> 00:04:29,477
EMI knew my father

46
00:04:29,557 --> 00:04:32,037
because he was often
the person they came to

47
00:04:32,117 --> 00:04:33,677
when they required a
group of musicians.

48
00:04:33,717 --> 00:04:35,517
So, when the string broke,

49
00:04:35,597 --> 00:04:37,797
they found my father and
he did have one, amazingly,

50
00:04:37,877 --> 00:04:40,597
he did have a set
of sitar strings.

51
00:04:45,037 --> 00:04:47,397
So the whole family got
in the tiny little car

52
00:04:47,477 --> 00:04:50,837
and they all drove to carry
one string to Abbey Road

53
00:04:50,917 --> 00:04:52,397
and there they handed it over

54
00:04:52,477 --> 00:04:53,957
and they watched them recording.

55
00:04:56,157 --> 00:04:59,157
It started
with the Indian music.

56
00:04:59,237 --> 00:05:03,157
I like so many Indian
instruments, but mainly sitar.

57
00:05:04,477 --> 00:05:07,117
I'd used a little
sitar on our records.

58
00:05:11,437 --> 00:05:14,717
The Beatles had already
discovered Indian music,

59
00:05:14,797 --> 00:05:16,957
I think when they
were making "Help!"

60
00:05:17,037 --> 00:05:18,277
Which is, of course,

61
00:05:18,357 --> 00:05:21,397
the story of a mystic
Eastern religious group,

62
00:05:21,477 --> 00:05:23,677
and they are after
Ringo Starr's ring.

63
00:05:23,757 --> 00:05:24,957
So they'd already discovered,

64
00:05:25,037 --> 00:05:26,277
and there's that famous scene

65
00:05:26,357 --> 00:05:28,597
about them going
into a restaurant.

66
00:05:30,037 --> 00:05:32,517
On the set of how
a sitar was used

67
00:05:32,597 --> 00:05:34,957
in a sort of little group that's
playing in the restaurant,

68
00:05:35,037 --> 00:05:37,597
George picked it up
and was playing with it

69
00:05:37,677 --> 00:05:42,157
and sort of got interested
in sitar because of that.

70
00:05:42,237 --> 00:05:44,997
It was a very inappropriate
film for most Indians

71
00:05:45,077 --> 00:05:46,477
because that film
really lived up

72
00:05:46,557 --> 00:05:49,037
to all the stereotypes
about India,

73
00:05:49,117 --> 00:05:51,797
about bloodthirsty thug cult.

74
00:05:51,877 --> 00:05:54,397
The goddess, which
was named as Kylie,

75
00:05:54,477 --> 00:05:57,077
was really based
on a real goddess,

76
00:05:57,157 --> 00:05:59,677
the Kali goddess, Hindus
are very reverential to her.

77
00:06:01,637 --> 00:06:05,237
So the whole film would be
offending a lot of Indians.

78
00:06:09,157 --> 00:06:11,757
And then there was
this book on the yoga.

79
00:06:11,837 --> 00:06:14,157
While they're on
shoot at Bahamas,

80
00:06:14,237 --> 00:06:17,637
the suddenly come across
this very diminutive yogi

81
00:06:17,717 --> 00:06:19,757
who cycles up to where they are

82
00:06:19,837 --> 00:06:21,677
and distributes this book.

83
00:06:21,757 --> 00:06:23,797
This is Vishnudevananda,

84
00:06:23,877 --> 00:06:27,597
the first illustrated book on
yoga going across the West.

85
00:06:27,677 --> 00:06:30,797
But I don't think The Beatles
paid him much attention.

86
00:06:30,877 --> 00:06:33,317
I think much later
he thought back

87
00:06:33,397 --> 00:06:36,077
and there was this sort of
very mysterious connection.

88
00:06:38,517 --> 00:06:39,757
The palace of the Queen

89
00:06:39,837 --> 00:06:41,757
has lived through
many historic events,

90
00:06:41,837 --> 00:06:43,397
and it's our privilege today

91
00:06:43,477 --> 00:06:46,517
to witness one of the most
earth shaking, The Beatles.

92
00:06:46,597 --> 00:06:48,317
Fresh from an audience
with the Queen,

93
00:06:48,397 --> 00:06:50,997
they hold medals indicating
they have been made members

94
00:06:51,077 --> 00:06:53,357
of The Most Excellent Order
of the British Empire.

95
00:06:53,437 --> 00:06:54,717
The Beatles, of course,

96
00:06:54,797 --> 00:06:57,397
have proven to be one of
Britain's prime exports.

97
00:06:57,477 --> 00:06:59,197
They have brought in
more foreign exchange

98
00:06:59,277 --> 00:07:00,797
than many industries.

99
00:07:00,877 --> 00:07:03,277
And the Queen saw fit to reward
their economic contribution

100
00:07:03,357 --> 00:07:04,237
to the nation.

101
00:07:04,317 --> 00:07:05,597
The award entitles The Beatles

102
00:07:05,677 --> 00:07:08,077
to put the letters
MBE after their names.

103
00:07:10,237 --> 00:07:11,933
That was the most
miserable time of our lives,

104
00:07:11,957 --> 00:07:14,757
was the MBE cop-out period.

105
00:07:14,837 --> 00:07:17,717
We got an MBE, which is
one of the biggest jokes

106
00:07:17,797 --> 00:07:20,117
in the history of
this island probably.

107
00:07:23,037 --> 00:07:24,437
The great cavalcade of empire

108
00:07:24,517 --> 00:07:26,157
makes a grand spectacle.

109
00:07:26,237 --> 00:07:29,037
One of the smallest countries
on the map is responsible for

110
00:07:29,117 --> 00:07:31,517
the mightiest Commonwealth
of nations in history.

111
00:07:34,877 --> 00:07:37,877
India was always in British
lives because of the empire.

112
00:07:37,957 --> 00:07:40,837
We knew about tea and we
knew about, you know, rubber,

113
00:07:40,917 --> 00:07:42,957
but the idea of its music

114
00:07:43,037 --> 00:07:44,757
being, in any way, an influence

115
00:07:44,837 --> 00:07:48,797
on anything from this country
was simply not considered.

116
00:07:54,677 --> 00:07:56,357
From the music that I play

117
00:07:56,437 --> 00:07:57,917
to get better and better,

118
00:07:57,997 --> 00:08:00,117
musicians generally,
in the West,

119
00:08:00,197 --> 00:08:03,397
progress into, say, modern jazz,

120
00:08:03,477 --> 00:08:06,637
but when I first
heard Indian music,

121
00:08:06,717 --> 00:08:09,077
there was so much more freedom

122
00:08:09,157 --> 00:08:12,197
and there was so much more
in it compared to jazz.

123
00:08:14,237 --> 00:08:18,077
I just couldn't really believe
that it was so, so great.

124
00:08:18,157 --> 00:08:20,053
I don't know, then I just
started to listen to it

125
00:08:20,077 --> 00:08:24,477
more and more, and to try
and listen a bit closer.

126
00:08:24,557 --> 00:08:26,877
And the more I heard of
it, the more I liked it.

127
00:08:45,157 --> 00:08:46,557
My mother meets The
Beatles in India

128
00:08:46,597 --> 00:08:47,797
well before I'm even born.

129
00:08:49,437 --> 00:08:51,997
I think she, by virtue of
being in the "Hindustan Times"

130
00:08:52,077 --> 00:08:53,557
at that point,

131
00:08:53,637 --> 00:08:55,653
being a preeminent journalist,
being a chief reporter,

132
00:08:55,677 --> 00:08:58,957
got the opportunity,
but didn't really see,

133
00:08:59,037 --> 00:09:00,557
my God, the magic
of that moment.

134
00:09:02,517 --> 00:09:03,917
And you know, I'm always asked,

135
00:09:03,997 --> 00:09:05,517
what's the one thing
about your mother

136
00:09:05,597 --> 00:09:07,413
that you would have really
wished you would do.

137
00:09:07,437 --> 00:09:09,797
And she's been Indian first
woman war correspondent.

138
00:09:11,477 --> 00:09:13,477
She's done all kinds of
crazy trailblazing thing.

139
00:09:13,557 --> 00:09:15,877
And I always look at this
photograph and I say,

140
00:09:15,957 --> 00:09:18,757
"My God, I wish I
had been that person

141
00:09:18,837 --> 00:09:21,117
sitting between John and Paul."

142
00:09:25,877 --> 00:09:28,117
This was the first
time The Beatles had,

143
00:09:28,197 --> 00:09:29,477
as a group, come to India.

144
00:09:31,397 --> 00:09:34,477
And they symbolised to us,
not just a new kind of music.

145
00:09:34,557 --> 00:09:38,357
It was almost like symbolising
a new kind of life.

146
00:09:39,757 --> 00:09:43,157
They represented the
whole sixties to us.

147
00:09:43,237 --> 00:09:46,237
When I heard they were in Delhi,

148
00:09:46,317 --> 00:09:48,597
I went to the Oberoi
InterContinental,

149
00:09:48,677 --> 00:09:50,997
and I sat in the lobby
and everyone was circling

150
00:09:51,077 --> 00:09:52,997
all the different
entrances of the hotel,

151
00:09:53,077 --> 00:09:54,933
waiting for The Beatles to come
out by the kitchen entrance,

152
00:09:54,957 --> 00:09:56,597
by various ways.

153
00:09:56,677 --> 00:10:01,517
I sat near the lift and I waited
for Brian Epstein to emerge

154
00:10:01,597 --> 00:10:03,677
because I knew he
was their manager.

155
00:10:05,277 --> 00:10:06,973
And sure enough, after
a few hours of waiting,

156
00:10:06,997 --> 00:10:09,517
I saw him come down
and I sidled up to him

157
00:10:09,597 --> 00:10:11,317
and I said, "Excuse
me, Mr. Epstein,

158
00:10:11,397 --> 00:10:13,117
I am from All India Radio.

159
00:10:13,197 --> 00:10:15,237
The government have
scheduled an interview

160
00:10:15,317 --> 00:10:17,157
with The Beatles."

161
00:10:17,237 --> 00:10:18,973
And he stopped in his
tracks and looks at me,

162
00:10:18,997 --> 00:10:20,957
"How dare you!

163
00:10:21,037 --> 00:10:24,317
The boys will not give an
interview. How dare you!"

164
00:10:24,397 --> 00:10:27,117
I said, "I'm just conveying
the decision of the government

165
00:10:27,197 --> 00:10:29,277
because this interview
has been announced

166
00:10:29,357 --> 00:10:33,077
and it would be very
embarrassing if this didn't happen."

167
00:10:33,157 --> 00:10:35,277
"I will not permit
this," he said,

168
00:10:35,357 --> 00:10:38,237
"well, I will give
the interview."

169
00:10:38,317 --> 00:10:39,573
I said, "Good
enough for me, sir,

170
00:10:39,597 --> 00:10:41,597
Brian Epstein, good
enough for me."

171
00:10:41,677 --> 00:10:42,997
Is there going to be any change

172
00:10:43,077 --> 00:10:44,397
in the sort of
work that they do?

173
00:10:44,477 --> 00:10:47,157
Possibly, 'cause,
as I've said before,

174
00:10:47,237 --> 00:10:50,597
there's no dynamic
or important change

175
00:10:50,677 --> 00:10:53,517
but The Beatles have
always progressed.

176
00:10:53,597 --> 00:10:55,317
And to progress,
they have to change.

177
00:10:56,957 --> 00:10:59,237
At seven o'clock I
go up in the lift,

178
00:10:59,317 --> 00:11:02,317
I get out and I walk to
the end of the corridor.

179
00:11:02,397 --> 00:11:07,237
I knock and there's Brian
Epstein in a bathrobe, sweating.

180
00:11:07,317 --> 00:11:10,277
He emerges, walks me across
the length of the hotel,

181
00:11:10,357 --> 00:11:13,317
opens the suite on the
other side of the floor,

182
00:11:13,397 --> 00:11:16,317
and then I was in with The
Beatles, all four of them.

183
00:11:16,397 --> 00:11:17,717
I asked them what
they were doing

184
00:11:17,797 --> 00:11:19,557
and they said they had
an album coming out

185
00:11:19,637 --> 00:11:21,157
in a month's time.

186
00:11:21,237 --> 00:11:24,117
George Harrison mentioned that
he had an Indian influence

187
00:11:24,197 --> 00:11:28,677
in one of the songs, which
turned out to be, "Love You To."

188
00:11:28,757 --> 00:11:31,197
And Paul mentioned that he
had a classical arrangement

189
00:11:31,277 --> 00:11:32,877
behind one of the songs,

190
00:11:32,957 --> 00:11:35,677
which I think must have
been "Eleanor Rigby."

191
00:11:35,757 --> 00:11:38,677
Even then, they were going
to be Indian influences

192
00:11:38,757 --> 00:11:39,757
in their songs.

193
00:11:41,437 --> 00:11:44,117
I personally hope there'll
be more Indian influences

194
00:11:44,197 --> 00:11:46,597
just generally in any music
because it's worth it.

195
00:11:46,677 --> 00:11:48,317
It's very good music.

196
00:11:48,397 --> 00:11:49,957
I just like to see
it more popular,

197
00:11:50,037 --> 00:11:51,677
more people appreciating it.

198
00:11:55,957 --> 00:11:58,917
It was the 6th of July, 1966.

199
00:11:58,997 --> 00:12:00,517
Some foreigner came,

200
00:12:00,597 --> 00:12:02,717
they never knew what the
name of the person were,

201
00:12:02,797 --> 00:12:05,957
but they were interested in
buying some sitars, harmoniums,

202
00:12:06,037 --> 00:12:08,877
and tablas and sarod,
and that's all.

203
00:12:10,117 --> 00:12:12,277
The huge crowd
assembled here outside

204
00:12:12,357 --> 00:12:15,477
looking the new face
of the English people,

205
00:12:15,557 --> 00:12:17,437
like the big hair and all that.

206
00:12:17,517 --> 00:12:18,517
It was a craze.

207
00:12:19,877 --> 00:12:22,037
My father and uncle
went to the hotel

208
00:12:22,117 --> 00:12:25,557
and show an instrument,
and, later on,

209
00:12:25,637 --> 00:12:27,997
gave lesson to George
Harrison specially.

210
00:12:29,757 --> 00:12:32,757
After The Beatles, there
was a big craze for sitars,

211
00:12:32,837 --> 00:12:35,237
tablas, and other instruments.

212
00:12:35,317 --> 00:12:38,757
In a day, in a month, we were
selling sitar like hotcake.

213
00:12:42,157 --> 00:12:45,997
The famous Beatles, they
came in 1966 to our stall.

214
00:12:46,077 --> 00:12:47,677
They were dressed
very differently

215
00:12:47,757 --> 00:12:50,877
so that the people there
could not recognise them.

216
00:12:50,957 --> 00:12:52,517
And they walked into the store

217
00:12:52,597 --> 00:12:55,317
and they started talking about
Indian musical instruments,

218
00:12:55,397 --> 00:12:58,117
especially the sitar, the
tambura, and the sarod,

219
00:12:58,197 --> 00:12:59,557
and also the tabla.

220
00:13:03,957 --> 00:13:05,837
He was a good sitar
player, my father,

221
00:13:05,917 --> 00:13:08,397
and he was showing
them how to play it

222
00:13:08,477 --> 00:13:10,437
and how the finger
movements are,

223
00:13:10,517 --> 00:13:13,437
how to coordinate both
left and right hand,

224
00:13:13,517 --> 00:13:16,317
and, you know, how to
strike the strings,

225
00:13:16,397 --> 00:13:17,677
how to pluck the strings.

226
00:13:19,037 --> 00:13:22,837
They asked him whom he
learned the sitar from,

227
00:13:22,917 --> 00:13:25,037
he said, "With Ravi Shankar."

228
00:13:25,117 --> 00:13:27,117
Pa-pa-pa-pa, ah. Like this.

229
00:13:32,677 --> 00:13:36,597
Ravi Shankar, as I see it, was
really the first ambassador

230
00:13:36,677 --> 00:13:40,077
for all musicians,
artists, singers, dancers

231
00:13:40,157 --> 00:13:41,677
from India to the West.

232
00:13:48,557 --> 00:13:49,837
Over the last few years,

233
00:13:49,917 --> 00:13:53,477
I heard the name Ravi
Shankar mentioned.

234
00:13:55,237 --> 00:13:59,997
A good friend of mine told me
to buy a record, which I did.

235
00:14:01,357 --> 00:14:02,653
This was the first
time I'd ever heard

236
00:14:02,677 --> 00:14:04,557
Indian music properly.

237
00:14:07,517 --> 00:14:08,917
But when I first heard it,

238
00:14:08,997 --> 00:14:11,237
I couldn't really,
couldn't believe it really.

239
00:14:16,437 --> 00:14:18,037
He's also been turned
onto Ravi Shankar,

240
00:14:18,117 --> 00:14:21,237
by the, like, David Crosby and
Roger McGuinn from The Birds.

241
00:14:21,317 --> 00:14:22,717
'Cause Ravi Shankar
had appealed to,

242
00:14:22,797 --> 00:14:24,717
the sort of the Beat Generation,

243
00:14:24,797 --> 00:14:26,237
going back to the
fifties actually.

244
00:14:26,317 --> 00:14:29,397
It was all part of
that kind of ambiance.

245
00:14:29,477 --> 00:14:30,957
I'm sure you must
have been asked this

246
00:14:30,997 --> 00:14:32,077
lots of times before,

247
00:14:32,157 --> 00:14:33,797
but what's your opinion of,

248
00:14:33,877 --> 00:14:35,877
sort of, English pop groups
and American pop groups

249
00:14:35,917 --> 00:14:39,437
using the sitar and the Indian
influence in their records?

250
00:14:39,517 --> 00:14:42,877
It will make me very happy
if I see that some people

251
00:14:42,957 --> 00:14:45,877
take true interest
and learn properly.

252
00:14:45,957 --> 00:14:49,077
Because after having played
the sitar for 36 years,

253
00:14:49,157 --> 00:14:52,917
I feel that one has to give
some time to it.

254
00:14:52,997 --> 00:14:53,997
Indeed.

255
00:14:59,117 --> 00:15:01,317
My father and my
mother were running

256
00:15:01,397 --> 00:15:02,717
the Asian Music Circle.

257
00:15:04,237 --> 00:15:07,077
My father was quite successful
at getting musicians

258
00:15:07,157 --> 00:15:11,437
to come to this country and
he'd put on concerts for them.

259
00:15:11,517 --> 00:15:15,077
It was very much for
erudite English people,

260
00:15:15,157 --> 00:15:16,957
intellectuals who knew
about Indian music.

261
00:15:21,317 --> 00:15:23,397
Yehudi Menuhin, amazing man.

262
00:15:23,477 --> 00:15:26,117
He was the president to
the Asian Music Circle,

263
00:15:26,197 --> 00:15:29,197
and I think it was through him
that Ravi Shankar first came.

264
00:15:31,877 --> 00:15:34,717
And George was
fascinated by our family,

265
00:15:34,797 --> 00:15:38,917
and so he was invited round
to spend the afternoon.

266
00:15:38,997 --> 00:15:40,557
I think he came round for lunch.

267
00:15:40,637 --> 00:15:41,957
Pattie was there as well,

268
00:15:42,037 --> 00:15:44,397
and then George came
quite regularly.

269
00:15:44,477 --> 00:15:47,597
Eventually, I said, if
we could get Ravi free,

270
00:15:47,677 --> 00:15:49,397
and the time George was free,

271
00:15:49,477 --> 00:15:51,293
we'd invite them both
together and introduce them

272
00:15:51,317 --> 00:15:52,597
and see whether they got on.

273
00:15:53,957 --> 00:15:56,597
And the doorbell rang
and I rushed to the door

274
00:15:56,677 --> 00:15:59,157
and there wasn't
George, it was Paul.

275
00:15:59,237 --> 00:16:00,677
Then Paul said, "I'm
Paul McCartney."

276
00:16:00,757 --> 00:16:03,237
And I said, "I know."

277
00:16:03,317 --> 00:16:07,357
And he came in and a
little while after that,

278
00:16:07,437 --> 00:16:09,437
I think George arrived next.

279
00:16:09,517 --> 00:16:12,517
And finally we met, very nicely,

280
00:16:12,597 --> 00:16:14,757
at somebody's house,
having dinner.

281
00:16:14,837 --> 00:16:17,117
We met just as two people

282
00:16:17,197 --> 00:16:20,077
instead of being a
big publicity gimmick.

283
00:16:21,557 --> 00:16:23,637
Ravi came in and we just said,

284
00:16:23,717 --> 00:16:25,877
"Ravi, this is George,
George this is Ravi."

285
00:16:27,557 --> 00:16:30,397
And we had a dinner there,
we just ate and talked.

286
00:16:31,757 --> 00:16:33,557
Paul was a little bit
on the outside actually,

287
00:16:33,597 --> 00:16:36,357
looking a little bit bored,
smoking like a chimney.

288
00:16:36,437 --> 00:16:39,157
My young sister went around
collecting the cigarette butts

289
00:16:39,237 --> 00:16:42,077
to take to school the next
day, the used cigarette butts.

290
00:16:45,437 --> 00:16:49,437
And from then
he offered to give me,

291
00:16:49,517 --> 00:16:53,997
to start me off on sitar with
a few lessons, which he did.

292
00:16:54,077 --> 00:16:57,677
He had many students in India,
very talented musicians.

293
00:16:57,757 --> 00:16:59,237
So to try to explain

294
00:16:59,317 --> 00:17:04,077
what drew George and
Ravi Shankar together

295
00:17:05,397 --> 00:17:07,717
is not easy because
it defies logic.

296
00:17:15,077 --> 00:17:17,557
When George Harrison came to me,

297
00:17:17,637 --> 00:17:19,557
I didn't know what to think.

298
00:17:20,917 --> 00:17:23,997
But I found he really
wanted to learn.

299
00:17:27,597 --> 00:17:31,357
I never thought our meeting
would cause such an explosion.

300
00:17:33,557 --> 00:17:36,397
That Indian music could suddenly
appear on the pop scene.

301
00:17:39,557 --> 00:17:41,997
George said that, "I
want to learn the sitar,"

302
00:17:42,077 --> 00:17:44,837
and Ravi, he said,
"Yes, I can teach you,

303
00:17:44,917 --> 00:17:47,917
but it's a very difficult
instrument to learn,

304
00:17:47,997 --> 00:17:50,437
and you will have to
spend a lot of time

305
00:17:50,517 --> 00:17:53,237
and your fingers will hurt.

306
00:17:53,317 --> 00:17:56,397
It's going to be a difficult
thing for you to do,

307
00:17:56,477 --> 00:17:59,597
but I want you to come to India

308
00:17:59,677 --> 00:18:02,917
and I will teach
you over there."

309
00:18:14,037 --> 00:18:16,077
So when Ravi invited
George and me,

310
00:18:16,157 --> 00:18:17,477
I was thrilled to be going.

311
00:18:19,037 --> 00:18:20,853
You know, 22, I hadn't
really thought much about it.

312
00:18:20,877 --> 00:18:23,317
I thought of the King's
Road and you know, clothes.

313
00:18:24,677 --> 00:18:26,717
And we started off in Mumbai.

314
00:18:26,797 --> 00:18:29,517
Ravi took us to concerts,
private concerts,

315
00:18:29,597 --> 00:18:31,157
that he gave in people's houses,

316
00:18:31,237 --> 00:18:33,597
and then bigger concerts
in front of his students.

317
00:18:35,317 --> 00:18:39,037
George Harrison came with
his wife, September 1966.

318
00:18:39,117 --> 00:18:41,077
You know, Pandit Ravi
Shankar picks him up,

319
00:18:41,157 --> 00:18:44,797
he takes him to the Taj hotel
and within about four hours,

320
00:18:44,877 --> 00:18:47,677
the whole of the people in Taj,

321
00:18:47,757 --> 00:18:50,397
it was just filled with
people and media and fans,

322
00:18:50,477 --> 00:18:52,597
just coming in, shouting,
"George, George, George."

323
00:18:52,677 --> 00:18:55,517
So finally George got just
fed up and he told Pandit,

324
00:18:55,597 --> 00:18:57,357
"Let's give a press conference,

325
00:18:57,437 --> 00:18:58,957
Let's go and talk to the press."

326
00:18:59,037 --> 00:19:01,053
So, of course, Pandit Ravi
Shankar was the music director

327
00:19:01,077 --> 00:19:02,637
of All India Radio
for many years.

328
00:19:02,717 --> 00:19:05,277
So he said, let's go and do a
radio interview, studio one.

329
00:19:05,357 --> 00:19:07,957
This is where Pandit Ravi
Shankar and George Harrison

330
00:19:08,037 --> 00:19:09,037
did an interview.

331
00:19:10,077 --> 00:19:11,317
So we searched for it,

332
00:19:11,397 --> 00:19:12,853
and we actually opened
quite a few spools,

333
00:19:12,877 --> 00:19:15,597
dusty spool lying in
the side of a corner.

334
00:19:15,677 --> 00:19:17,973
And then we found George
Harrison, there was a paper inside.

335
00:19:17,997 --> 00:19:19,477
It said "George
Harrison interview."

336
00:19:19,557 --> 00:19:22,517
The tape hadn't been
played in maybe 30 years.

337
00:19:22,597 --> 00:19:23,957
Good afternoon, George.

338
00:19:24,037 --> 00:19:25,277
Good afternoon.

339
00:19:26,677 --> 00:19:28,277
We would like to know from you,

340
00:19:28,357 --> 00:19:32,077
do you think you could not
make a public appearance?

341
00:19:32,157 --> 00:19:33,957
If I did want to
make a public appearance,

342
00:19:34,037 --> 00:19:35,917
I would have come
here to do a show,

343
00:19:35,997 --> 00:19:38,437
and I would've come with
John and Paul and Ringo.

344
00:19:38,517 --> 00:19:39,797
It's just like,

345
00:19:39,877 --> 00:19:42,397
all our fans who go to
school during the week.

346
00:19:42,477 --> 00:19:43,997
Well if they go on the holidays

347
00:19:44,077 --> 00:19:46,997
and suddenly somebody's
making them learn maths

348
00:19:47,077 --> 00:19:49,437
and learn English
and learn all this,

349
00:19:49,517 --> 00:19:52,477
then they don't like to do
that when it's their holiday.

350
00:19:52,557 --> 00:19:53,797
It's the same for me.

351
00:19:53,877 --> 00:19:56,037
I go around having
my photograph taken,

352
00:19:56,117 --> 00:19:58,637
signing autographs
and waving at people,

353
00:19:58,717 --> 00:20:01,717
and being a Beatle, and
when it comes to my holiday,

354
00:20:01,797 --> 00:20:05,037
then, naturally, I want to not
be a Beatle, I wanna be me.

355
00:20:09,357 --> 00:20:13,077
When I was 19, I went to India.

356
00:20:13,157 --> 00:20:16,437
My aunt greeted me at
the airport and said,

357
00:20:16,517 --> 00:20:19,717
"Do you know that George
Harrison is staying at the hotel?"

358
00:20:21,717 --> 00:20:24,437
We asked around, you know,
"Where's Mr. Harrison,"

359
00:20:24,517 --> 00:20:25,877
and we weren't told,

360
00:20:25,957 --> 00:20:28,837
and then sort of hopped
onto the elevator,

361
00:20:28,917 --> 00:20:30,597
and we started going to floors,

362
00:20:30,677 --> 00:20:32,917
and then eventually
there was one floor

363
00:20:32,997 --> 00:20:36,677
where there was a waiter
standing outside a room.

364
00:20:36,757 --> 00:20:39,997
And I don't really know
what made me do it,

365
00:20:40,077 --> 00:20:42,517
but I sort of hobbled in

366
00:20:42,597 --> 00:20:45,517
and George Harrison asked
what I was doing there,

367
00:20:45,597 --> 00:20:47,157
and I just said,

368
00:20:47,237 --> 00:20:48,957
"I would like your
autograph, Mr. Harrison."

369
00:20:49,037 --> 00:20:51,397
And he said, you
know, he sort of,

370
00:20:51,477 --> 00:20:53,117
he wasn't too happy
about me being there.

371
00:20:53,197 --> 00:20:54,877
I also said to him,

372
00:20:54,957 --> 00:20:57,757
he had numerous fans
outside the hotel,

373
00:20:57,837 --> 00:21:00,197
and his words were, which
I've never, ever forgotten,

374
00:21:00,277 --> 00:21:03,717
"Tell your friends if they
like me, to keep away from me."

375
00:21:03,797 --> 00:21:05,053
Which I thought
was rather nasty,

376
00:21:05,077 --> 00:21:07,557
but I needed the autograph.

377
00:21:11,357 --> 00:21:13,117
Everything
that Ravi had shown us

378
00:21:13,197 --> 00:21:16,957
and told us about him,
introduced us to, made an impact.

379
00:21:18,557 --> 00:21:22,237
He took us to the Ellora
Caves, fascinating.

380
00:21:23,557 --> 00:21:26,437
And we went to
Banaras, Varanasi.

381
00:21:28,677 --> 00:21:30,037
Banaras was unbelievable

382
00:21:30,117 --> 00:21:31,317
'cause we came by boat

383
00:21:31,397 --> 00:21:32,997
and Ravi had explained to us

384
00:21:33,077 --> 00:21:37,117
the whole reason for people
coming to Banaras to die.

385
00:21:37,197 --> 00:21:40,117
And they would request
that they'd be burnt.

386
00:21:40,197 --> 00:21:42,997
And I was fascinated by this.

387
00:21:44,637 --> 00:21:47,357
The pyres and then the family
or the wife or the husband

388
00:21:47,437 --> 00:21:49,997
taking it into the Ganges

389
00:21:50,077 --> 00:21:51,797
and letting their
ashes float away.

390
00:21:54,237 --> 00:21:56,637
So Agra, we went
to the Taj Mahal.

391
00:21:56,717 --> 00:21:59,717
It's beautiful, I love
the story surrounding it.

392
00:21:59,797 --> 00:22:01,797
It was more exquisite

393
00:22:01,877 --> 00:22:05,157
than I could ever have
described to anyone.

394
00:22:05,237 --> 00:22:07,877
And then, towards the end
of our trip, Kumbh Mela.

395
00:22:09,477 --> 00:22:11,557
There were all these sadhus
walking down the road,

396
00:22:11,637 --> 00:22:13,677
and I said, "Ravi,
what's they doing?"

397
00:22:13,757 --> 00:22:16,117
He said, "They walk
hundreds of miles

398
00:22:16,197 --> 00:22:17,797
to come into this Kumbh Mela."

399
00:22:17,877 --> 00:22:20,037
And I was just watching
this spectacle,

400
00:22:20,117 --> 00:22:22,957
and all these people, you
know, families or groups

401
00:22:23,037 --> 00:22:25,357
and sadhus, all of
India, it seemed.

402
00:22:27,997 --> 00:22:32,597
He also told us about Indian
culture and spirituality.

403
00:22:33,957 --> 00:22:37,277
Ravi took us to meet
his spiritual guru

404
00:22:37,357 --> 00:22:39,917
and this man was over 100.

405
00:22:39,997 --> 00:22:41,973
And obviously, we didn't
know what they were saying,

406
00:22:41,997 --> 00:22:44,797
but it wasn't very many words.

407
00:22:44,877 --> 00:22:47,357
And Ravi is a reverential
towards his guru.

408
00:22:49,357 --> 00:22:50,917
Throughout my life

409
00:22:50,997 --> 00:22:55,517
I look to the great yogi Taj
Mirage, my spiritual guru.

410
00:22:56,797 --> 00:22:59,517
As a Hindu, I believe
blessing of guru

411
00:23:00,917 --> 00:23:02,797
is the most priceless
thing in life.

412
00:23:05,237 --> 00:23:07,117
It was very moving for me

413
00:23:07,197 --> 00:23:11,957
to see somebody as powerful as
Ravi, but George adored him.

414
00:23:13,317 --> 00:23:15,077
And here he was humbled
in front of his guru.

415
00:23:16,317 --> 00:23:18,037
Ravi said that
there was something

416
00:23:18,117 --> 00:23:22,277
that I found in George,
where he was so simple,

417
00:23:22,357 --> 00:23:26,077
so down to earth, he
looked upon me like a guru,

418
00:23:26,157 --> 00:23:30,357
like a father, and he had
absolutely no airs about him.

419
00:23:30,437 --> 00:23:31,517
And that is something

420
00:23:31,597 --> 00:23:32,653
-that we also observed-
-That's true.

421
00:23:32,677 --> 00:23:35,157
When he came to our home,

422
00:23:35,237 --> 00:23:39,997
he was absolutely a simple
person, not demanding anything.

423
00:23:42,197 --> 00:23:43,493
I haven't learned
to play the sitar,

424
00:23:43,517 --> 00:23:45,597
I mean, Ravi Shankar
hasn't learnt to play

425
00:23:45,677 --> 00:23:47,757
and he's been
playing in 35 years.

426
00:23:49,717 --> 00:23:52,557
He was not a sitar player
or a star musician,

427
00:23:52,637 --> 00:23:57,317
but I have not seen Ravi have
so much time for someone.

428
00:23:57,397 --> 00:24:01,397
This association, this
link, I can only explain it

429
00:24:01,477 --> 00:24:03,997
that they must've had some
links in a previous life

430
00:24:04,077 --> 00:24:05,477
that brought them together.

431
00:24:08,037 --> 00:24:11,797
When George and we
got connected in '66,

432
00:24:14,197 --> 00:24:16,637
it was like wildfire, you know.

433
00:24:18,077 --> 00:24:19,957
He's like a son
to me. Same thing.

434
00:24:20,037 --> 00:24:22,197
Sometimes I
feel like his dad as well.

435
00:24:23,957 --> 00:24:24,957
He can be.

436
00:24:31,037 --> 00:24:33,837
George Harrison, he loved India,

437
00:24:33,917 --> 00:24:38,677
he loved Indian music, he
loved Indian spirituality.

438
00:24:40,277 --> 00:24:43,997
So this thing, you know,
pushed Indian classical music

439
00:24:44,077 --> 00:24:47,077
on the top, you know,
fusion we can call it,

440
00:24:47,157 --> 00:24:49,597
Western and Indian
classical music.

441
00:24:49,677 --> 00:24:52,597
And that was the biggest
fusion ever happened.

442
00:24:59,877 --> 00:25:02,357
And then Harrison came
here to record "Wonderwall"

443
00:25:02,437 --> 00:25:04,597
with Indian classical musicians.

444
00:25:06,477 --> 00:25:08,757
He was interested in
meeting local musicians.

445
00:25:11,757 --> 00:25:15,677
The Beatles use the
sitars in their record.

446
00:25:15,757 --> 00:25:20,317
Somehow we were able to imagine
The Beatles as our band,

447
00:25:20,397 --> 00:25:22,037
as an Indian band.

448
00:25:24,357 --> 00:25:25,997
And you know, India
was a closed society

449
00:25:26,077 --> 00:25:27,637
and a closed economy,

450
00:25:27,717 --> 00:25:31,437
and it was a not very easy
to get your hands on albums.

451
00:25:31,517 --> 00:25:36,317
In 1962 or very early '63 on
the international shortwave,

452
00:25:37,877 --> 00:25:41,197
a group of people in
Bangalore heard their music

453
00:25:41,277 --> 00:25:43,917
and said, "Hey, wait a minute,
this is very different."

454
00:25:43,997 --> 00:25:48,317
What it did really was to
liberate an entire generation

455
00:25:48,397 --> 00:25:51,277
from the cultural
shackles of the past.

456
00:25:51,357 --> 00:25:53,757
The British had left in 1947,

457
00:25:53,837 --> 00:25:56,797
this core was born
in the late forties

458
00:25:56,877 --> 00:25:59,157
or early fifties, mid fifties.

459
00:25:59,237 --> 00:26:00,517
When they came of age,

460
00:26:00,597 --> 00:26:03,317
they rejected the past
and embraced the new.

461
00:26:05,037 --> 00:26:08,717
In those days, most of the
musicians were really from

462
00:26:08,797 --> 00:26:12,477
the Anglo Indian Catholic
Christian community

463
00:26:12,557 --> 00:26:16,357
because they were the ones who
were more trained in English.

464
00:26:16,437 --> 00:26:19,437
The Jets was really
the first beat band,

465
00:26:19,517 --> 00:26:20,997
it wasn't so much rock music,

466
00:26:21,077 --> 00:26:23,037
but it was known as beat music.

467
00:26:23,117 --> 00:26:26,357
And the word beat was
not far from Beatle.

468
00:26:26,437 --> 00:26:30,037
We started to model our
lives along the lines

469
00:26:30,117 --> 00:26:33,237
of what The Beatles
were doing at the time.

470
00:26:33,317 --> 00:26:35,877
The musicians those days
were more into singing

471
00:26:35,957 --> 00:26:39,437
Jim Reeves, Everly
Brothers, Pat Boone,

472
00:26:39,517 --> 00:26:41,997
and then bang came The Beatles.

473
00:26:42,077 --> 00:26:45,037
And it was like an electric
breath of fresh air.

474
00:26:45,117 --> 00:26:48,397
Whatever we were used to
suddenly lost its relevance.

475
00:26:51,277 --> 00:26:53,117
One day we just woke up

476
00:26:53,197 --> 00:26:56,597
and we saw an image of
the great Shammi Kapoor

477
00:26:56,677 --> 00:26:59,517
with that Beatle
wig in a Hindi film.

478
00:27:00,877 --> 00:27:02,237
That spoke about
the enormous power

479
00:27:02,317 --> 00:27:03,957
and the clout of The Beatles.

480
00:27:05,317 --> 00:27:07,597
My mother was a Indian
classical musician.

481
00:27:07,677 --> 00:27:09,357
And then she bought
me my first 45,

482
00:27:09,437 --> 00:27:11,677
which was, "I Wanna
Hold Your Hand."

483
00:27:11,757 --> 00:27:14,197
Straight away and she bought
me a British pop magazine

484
00:27:14,277 --> 00:27:16,517
where I could read about
what was happening in the UK

485
00:27:16,597 --> 00:27:18,837
and the UK pop scene.

486
00:27:20,237 --> 00:27:21,837
One day one of my classmates

487
00:27:21,917 --> 00:27:24,117
came back to India
after the holidays,

488
00:27:24,197 --> 00:27:25,997
and he brought an
album by The Beatles,

489
00:27:26,077 --> 00:27:27,677
who we'd never heard of.

490
00:27:27,757 --> 00:27:30,637
By 10 o'clock that night, I'd
fallen in love with the music,

491
00:27:30,717 --> 00:27:32,677
that I'd heard it
three or four times,

492
00:27:32,757 --> 00:27:34,157
that music grew into me

493
00:27:34,237 --> 00:27:36,077
and I thought, "Wow,
this is fabulous."

494
00:27:37,717 --> 00:27:40,717
We used to play those records
again and again and again,

495
00:27:40,797 --> 00:27:43,037
you know, somebody listening
to the words, you know,

496
00:27:43,117 --> 00:27:45,037
somebody who's trying to
figure out the chords-

497
00:27:45,117 --> 00:27:47,397
- Yes, the solo.
- And the solos,

498
00:27:47,477 --> 00:27:50,117
and the most difficult
part were the harmonies.

499
00:27:50,197 --> 00:27:52,437
Beatles still remain
one of the greatest,

500
00:27:52,517 --> 00:27:55,637
you know, harmony
groups, you know, ever.

501
00:27:56,997 --> 00:27:59,637
We went to Calcutta, we
stayed with a friend.

502
00:27:59,717 --> 00:28:01,157
And the first night

503
00:28:01,237 --> 00:28:02,893
he took us to a restaurant
called Trinkers.

504
00:28:02,917 --> 00:28:04,397
But when we walked in,

505
00:28:04,477 --> 00:28:06,157
we were dressed in
our Beatle clothes,

506
00:28:06,237 --> 00:28:08,397
and everybody got up
and started clapping.

507
00:28:08,477 --> 00:28:09,997
I don't know why,

508
00:28:10,077 --> 00:28:12,637
maybe they assumed we were some
famous group but we weren't,

509
00:28:12,717 --> 00:28:14,597
but the owner of
the restaurant said,

510
00:28:14,677 --> 00:28:17,157
"Hey, you know, the people
wanna know if you guys sing?"

511
00:28:17,237 --> 00:28:18,557
I said, "Yeah, we sing."

512
00:28:18,637 --> 00:28:20,677
He said, "Would you do
a couple of numbers?"

513
00:28:20,757 --> 00:28:24,037
So we did, "She Loves You"
and "Please, Please Me."

514
00:28:24,117 --> 00:28:25,917
We brought the house
down, shook our heads,

515
00:28:25,997 --> 00:28:27,157
et cetera, et cetera.

516
00:28:27,237 --> 00:28:28,997
The owner came and he said,

517
00:28:29,077 --> 00:28:31,277
"Would you guys
like a residency?"

518
00:28:31,357 --> 00:28:33,037
And that's how our
career started.

519
00:28:34,677 --> 00:28:37,557
We were the first Western
music performing group

520
00:28:37,637 --> 00:28:39,597
to be ever recorded in India.

521
00:28:39,677 --> 00:28:43,197
At the HMV studios, and a song
which, of I'm not mistaken,

522
00:28:43,277 --> 00:28:47,117
there was a song called "Pain"
and "The Girl Next Door."

523
00:28:47,197 --> 00:28:49,397
I think "The Girl Next
Door" had some influences

524
00:28:49,477 --> 00:28:50,517
of The Beatles.

525
00:28:50,597 --> 00:28:52,197
Especially the harmonies.

526
00:28:52,277 --> 00:28:54,837
- Especially the harmonies.
- The harmonies, yes, yes.

527
00:28:54,917 --> 00:28:56,637
I was planning to go west

528
00:28:56,717 --> 00:28:59,197
because, you know, forget
the Indian culture,

529
00:28:59,277 --> 00:29:01,677
the Western culture was
what we youngsters wanted.

530
00:29:01,757 --> 00:29:03,557
By some strange paradox,

531
00:29:03,637 --> 00:29:06,317
The Beatles, who lived
in the culture I wanted,

532
00:29:06,397 --> 00:29:08,277
were making their way to India.

533
00:29:20,837 --> 00:29:24,037
LSD was really beginning
to make its mark in London,

534
00:29:24,117 --> 00:29:26,237
in the the circles
that they moved in.

535
00:29:28,077 --> 00:29:30,277
Some newspaperman
came up and he said,

536
00:29:30,357 --> 00:29:31,957
"Have you had LSD?"

537
00:29:32,037 --> 00:29:34,717
So I thought, well, I'll
either be cagey here

538
00:29:34,797 --> 00:29:36,997
or I'll be honest,
so I said, yes.

539
00:29:41,077 --> 00:29:43,277
Oh God, well,
I mean, the first time

540
00:29:43,357 --> 00:29:45,917
was when George and
Me, John and Cynthia

541
00:29:45,997 --> 00:29:49,197
were invited for
dinner by our dentist.

542
00:29:49,277 --> 00:29:50,597
And that was a bit scary,

543
00:29:50,677 --> 00:29:53,477
because, you know, what
was happening to us.

544
00:29:53,557 --> 00:29:54,637
Do you know what I mean?

545
00:29:54,717 --> 00:29:56,237
It's just, everything
is surreal.

546
00:29:56,317 --> 00:29:59,477
And you look at your hand and
you're like 500 years old.

547
00:30:01,117 --> 00:30:03,877
And then I'd hear my voice
and wonder where it came from.

548
00:30:03,957 --> 00:30:07,117
And colours, and there's
an intensity to it.

549
00:30:10,397 --> 00:30:13,877
When we took the
notorious wonder, drug LSD,

550
00:30:13,957 --> 00:30:17,797
we had it and we went out to
a club and it was incredible.

551
00:30:17,877 --> 00:30:19,437
When I got onto acid, right,

552
00:30:19,517 --> 00:30:22,957
you know the day that you're
at a hundred percent potential

553
00:30:23,037 --> 00:30:25,157
and you can handle
whatever the situation is,

554
00:30:25,237 --> 00:30:27,237
with acid, or just after acid,

555
00:30:27,317 --> 00:30:29,837
the percent of good days
as opposed to bad days

556
00:30:29,917 --> 00:30:31,397
was just a bit better, you know.

557
00:30:33,717 --> 00:30:35,477
They particularly got into drugs

558
00:30:35,557 --> 00:30:37,437
and Indian music
at the same time,

559
00:30:37,517 --> 00:30:39,877
and it seemed like there was
some kind of a connection

560
00:30:39,957 --> 00:30:41,557
between the two, there
wasn't of course,

561
00:30:41,637 --> 00:30:44,117
because they both
preexisted separately.

562
00:30:46,157 --> 00:30:47,037
There must be
an intimate connection

563
00:30:47,117 --> 00:30:48,357
between Indian music and drugs,

564
00:30:48,437 --> 00:30:49,997
maybe because of
the bizarre sound,

565
00:30:50,077 --> 00:30:51,693
and there should be a drug
connection he said that-

566
00:30:51,717 --> 00:30:53,757
Just watch who you're
calling bizarre, Dick.

567
00:30:55,237 --> 00:30:56,853
Yes, I have difficulty
with the word bizarre.

568
00:30:56,877 --> 00:30:59,717
I meant B-A-Z-A-A-R,
the other...

569
00:30:59,797 --> 00:31:01,853
No, wait a minute, there's
no way I can get out of this.

570
00:31:01,877 --> 00:31:04,117
To Western ears,
the unusual sound

571
00:31:04,197 --> 00:31:08,157
might suggest some sort
of chemical intoxication.

572
00:31:08,237 --> 00:31:09,437
I'm not blaming George,

573
00:31:09,517 --> 00:31:12,117
but you know, somehow
because of him,

574
00:31:12,197 --> 00:31:15,997
the sitar became really
popular among the young people.

575
00:31:16,077 --> 00:31:17,277
The hippies were the ones

576
00:31:17,357 --> 00:31:18,757
who caught on to a new music,

577
00:31:18,837 --> 00:31:20,517
and it just happens
that most of them were,

578
00:31:20,597 --> 00:31:23,357
you know, were smoking
pot or something.

579
00:31:23,437 --> 00:31:26,437
And, since then, the two
got caught up together

580
00:31:26,517 --> 00:31:27,837
but it's really a problem.

581
00:31:29,357 --> 00:31:31,837
Yeah, I requests to my
listeners to be in a clear mind,

582
00:31:31,917 --> 00:31:34,917
because I like to
put them, you know,

583
00:31:34,997 --> 00:31:37,117
- make them high with the music.
- Yourself.

584
00:31:37,197 --> 00:31:40,157
Yes, and I feel rather cheated
when they're already high.

585
00:31:43,877 --> 00:31:48,357
LSD opened them up to
experiences and awarenesses

586
00:31:48,437 --> 00:31:51,637
of consciousness that
they wouldn't have got

587
00:31:51,717 --> 00:31:53,237
in any other way.

588
00:31:53,317 --> 00:31:55,957
Eastern religion, I think,
would have been opaque to them,

589
00:31:56,037 --> 00:31:57,973
they wouldn't have been able
to understand it at all,

590
00:31:57,997 --> 00:31:59,957
but, having had that experience,

591
00:32:00,037 --> 00:32:02,077
suddenly these
things made sense.

592
00:32:03,397 --> 00:32:05,717
George said that when
he first took LSD,

593
00:32:05,797 --> 00:32:08,757
he heard voices in
the back of his head

594
00:32:08,837 --> 00:32:10,597
saying yogis of the Himalayas.

595
00:32:17,117 --> 00:32:18,677
Maharishi, good evening.

596
00:32:18,757 --> 00:32:22,277
You once said even if only
1/10 of the adult population

597
00:32:22,357 --> 00:32:24,877
meditated for short
periods each day,

598
00:32:24,957 --> 00:32:26,837
it would not take
more than a few months

599
00:32:26,917 --> 00:32:29,877
to remove the entire
accumulation of tension in the world.

600
00:32:29,957 --> 00:32:31,173
- These are your words?
- I'm absolutely

601
00:32:31,197 --> 00:32:32,717
convinced about it.

602
00:32:34,317 --> 00:32:36,117
I saw an
advertisement in the paper

603
00:32:36,197 --> 00:32:38,877
for transcendental
meditation classes.

604
00:32:38,957 --> 00:32:40,437
So I went with a girlfriend.

605
00:32:41,997 --> 00:32:44,037
England I've been
visiting once every year.

606
00:32:44,117 --> 00:32:46,237
People do feel stress and strain

607
00:32:46,317 --> 00:32:50,797
due to the greater
undertaking in their life.

608
00:32:50,877 --> 00:32:53,877
Paul phoned George and said,

609
00:32:53,957 --> 00:32:55,517
"There's this man
called Maharishi

610
00:32:55,597 --> 00:32:58,597
who's going to come to England
and talk about meditation"

611
00:32:58,677 --> 00:33:00,277
And I said,

612
00:33:00,357 --> 00:33:01,933
"Oh, that's the same guy
that, you know, I follow"

613
00:33:01,957 --> 00:33:03,693
So in those days, when
one Beatle did something,

614
00:33:03,717 --> 00:33:06,237
they all did it, so we all went.

615
00:33:06,317 --> 00:33:07,453
Now you've been
travelling the world now

616
00:33:07,477 --> 00:33:08,957
for many years.

617
00:33:09,037 --> 00:33:10,373
You've made, I think, something
like eight world tours.

618
00:33:10,397 --> 00:33:12,237
Ninth, I returned this time.

619
00:33:12,317 --> 00:33:16,237
This was the ninth completed.

620
00:33:16,317 --> 00:33:18,237
Maharishi was the most powerful,

621
00:33:18,317 --> 00:33:21,477
magnetically charismatic
person I've ever met.

622
00:33:21,557 --> 00:33:24,357
He was also the happiest
person I ever met.

623
00:33:24,437 --> 00:33:26,557
He was filled with this energy

624
00:33:26,637 --> 00:33:29,197
that you wanted to be
near him all the time.

625
00:33:29,277 --> 00:33:31,237
All of us who were on his staff,

626
00:33:31,317 --> 00:33:33,677
we fought each other to
get into the room with him.

627
00:33:35,037 --> 00:33:36,333
It was just the
right time, anyway,

628
00:33:36,357 --> 00:33:37,717
there we were
waiting for someone-

629
00:33:37,797 --> 00:33:39,077
Waiting for a guru,

630
00:33:39,157 --> 00:33:40,573
- and he came.
- The great magic man to come,

631
00:33:40,597 --> 00:33:41,797
and he came, you know.

632
00:33:41,877 --> 00:33:43,637
There he was, he's just
talking about it all

633
00:33:43,717 --> 00:33:45,037
and he had great answers.

634
00:33:45,117 --> 00:33:47,797
'Cause he's got that
kind of thing, you know,

635
00:33:47,877 --> 00:33:49,837
and he got a twinkle in the eye.

636
00:33:51,157 --> 00:33:53,117
They told Maharishi
that they'd been seeking

637
00:33:53,197 --> 00:33:55,157
a spiritual experience.

638
00:33:55,237 --> 00:33:56,877
They'd been trying to
do it through drugs,

639
00:33:56,917 --> 00:33:59,237
but it just didn't
work, you know?

640
00:33:59,317 --> 00:34:02,477
And so he invited them to
come to Bangor, North Wales.

641
00:34:04,437 --> 00:34:07,077
Where he would be doing a
meditation retreat for 10 days.

642
00:34:29,037 --> 00:34:30,597
The Beatles seem to be

643
00:34:30,677 --> 00:34:32,693
among your supporters now,
how do you feel about that?

644
00:34:32,717 --> 00:34:35,717
They seem to be very
intelligent and I'm honoured.

645
00:34:35,797 --> 00:34:38,717
And so you think that if The
Beatles adopt your teaching,

646
00:34:38,797 --> 00:34:40,037
then they can spread it

647
00:34:40,117 --> 00:34:40,997
amongst other young
people in England?

648
00:34:41,077 --> 00:34:42,277
And much more,

649
00:34:42,357 --> 00:34:44,157
not only England,
but around the world.

650
00:34:44,237 --> 00:34:47,477
Because the word Beatle has
gone on in all the continents,

651
00:34:47,557 --> 00:34:51,157
and younger people are
fascinated by their name.

652
00:34:51,237 --> 00:34:52,837
What do you
think of The Beatles?

653
00:34:52,917 --> 00:34:54,797
Very good,
intelligent young boys,

654
00:34:54,877 --> 00:34:56,357
and there's great potential.

655
00:34:56,437 --> 00:34:58,317
And their music?

656
00:34:58,397 --> 00:34:59,757
Music I haven't heard,

657
00:34:59,837 --> 00:35:02,357
but because they are
appreciated all over the world,

658
00:35:02,437 --> 00:35:05,157
they must have something
very grateful in their music.

659
00:35:10,797 --> 00:35:12,397
I think he's trying to say

660
00:35:12,477 --> 00:35:14,637
is the things we're getting
into aren't that important.

661
00:35:14,717 --> 00:35:16,637
Money has taken over from God.

662
00:35:16,717 --> 00:35:18,637
Instead of trying
to get where God is,

663
00:35:18,717 --> 00:35:20,957
we all try and get the
biggest bank balance.

664
00:35:21,037 --> 00:35:22,357
That's what it seems to mean.

665
00:35:24,037 --> 00:35:26,317
Peace of mind
is like an ocean, very deep.

666
00:35:26,397 --> 00:35:29,957
And the activity's only
on the surface like that.

667
00:35:30,037 --> 00:35:33,797
So if the waves of the ocean
contact deeper level of water,

668
00:35:33,877 --> 00:35:35,917
then the wave becomes stronger.

669
00:35:35,997 --> 00:35:37,573
That means that we're
going to be happier.

670
00:35:37,597 --> 00:35:42,277
And much happier and
much more creative also.

671
00:35:54,877 --> 00:35:56,797
He was found in his
second floor bedroom,

672
00:35:56,877 --> 00:35:59,397
just after two o'clock this
afternoon by his housekeeper.

673
00:35:59,477 --> 00:36:02,477
Mr. Epstein has been
unwell now for some months.

674
00:36:02,557 --> 00:36:04,277
And he's been in the
habit of taking tablets

675
00:36:04,317 --> 00:36:05,517
to help him sleep at night.

676
00:36:07,277 --> 00:36:10,797
When Brian died, The
Beatles clearly were lost.

677
00:36:10,877 --> 00:36:13,277
They were like jelly, their
manager, their best friend,

678
00:36:13,357 --> 00:36:17,077
their man who they rely
on totally for their fame,

679
00:36:17,157 --> 00:36:20,277
for their fortune, you
know, their guide in life,

680
00:36:20,357 --> 00:36:21,397
was now gone.

681
00:36:24,917 --> 00:36:27,877
John, where would you be
today without Mr. Epstein?

682
00:36:27,957 --> 00:36:29,157
I don't know.

683
00:36:30,797 --> 00:36:33,357
I understand that Mr. Epstein
was to be initiated here?

684
00:36:33,437 --> 00:36:34,437
Mmm.

685
00:36:34,517 --> 00:36:35,757
When was he coming up?

686
00:36:35,837 --> 00:36:37,317
Was he coming up
in the afternoon?

687
00:36:37,397 --> 00:36:39,293
Coming tomorrow. Just
Monday, that's all we knew.

688
00:36:39,317 --> 00:36:41,757
I spoke to him
Wednesday evening,

689
00:36:41,837 --> 00:36:45,997
then evening before we first
saw Maharishi's lecture

690
00:36:46,077 --> 00:36:48,757
and he was in great spirits.

691
00:36:50,277 --> 00:36:51,157
I wanted Maharishi

692
00:36:51,237 --> 00:36:52,453
to bring him back to life again.

693
00:36:52,477 --> 00:36:54,397
You know, I, by this time,

694
00:36:54,477 --> 00:36:56,237
I'm giving him so much power

695
00:36:56,317 --> 00:37:00,037
and how extraordinary that
they were with Maharishi,

696
00:37:00,117 --> 00:37:03,637
who's now going to be, sort
of, their spiritual guru,

697
00:37:03,717 --> 00:37:06,197
but also that they
could lean on him,

698
00:37:06,277 --> 00:37:07,837
because they
trusted him so much.

699
00:37:07,917 --> 00:37:11,757
So, for that moment in
time, he replaced Brian.

700
00:37:13,317 --> 00:37:17,117
I understand that the Maharishi
conferred with you all?

701
00:37:17,197 --> 00:37:21,717
He told us not to get
overwhelmed by grief,

702
00:37:21,797 --> 00:37:25,317
and whatever thoughts we have
of Brian, to keep 'em happy,

703
00:37:25,397 --> 00:37:26,757
because any thoughts
we have of him

704
00:37:26,837 --> 00:37:28,757
will travel to him,
wherever he is.

705
00:37:44,797 --> 00:37:49,557
I come to India because of I
want to leave material world.

706
00:37:50,557 --> 00:37:51,557
Come to a simple country.

707
00:37:53,677 --> 00:37:57,237
Ganga is a holy river because
it comes from Himalayas

708
00:37:58,477 --> 00:38:00,357
and this place has much energy.

709
00:38:02,317 --> 00:38:05,997
And it come down, no? Takes
energy and comes here.

710
00:38:09,877 --> 00:38:10,917
The ashrams or monasteries

711
00:38:10,997 --> 00:38:13,197
of the various religious orders

712
00:38:13,277 --> 00:38:15,397
glimmer over the
smooth green water.

713
00:38:15,477 --> 00:38:18,157
Though the sun is
hot, the river is icy,

714
00:38:18,237 --> 00:38:20,797
flowing from a glacier
high up in the Himalayas,

715
00:38:20,877 --> 00:38:22,557
the land of the Gods.

716
00:38:22,637 --> 00:38:26,317
But Rishikesh, its name
means place of the wise ones,

717
00:38:26,397 --> 00:38:29,077
is far from being a
remote or desert region.

718
00:38:29,157 --> 00:38:31,477
Its one of the most celebrated
centres of pilgrimage

719
00:38:31,557 --> 00:38:32,557
in the whole of India.

720
00:38:34,557 --> 00:38:35,797
In the cool clear air

721
00:38:35,877 --> 00:38:37,957
of Rishikesh, North India,

722
00:38:38,037 --> 00:38:41,557
the meditation retreat
of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

723
00:38:41,637 --> 00:38:43,477
Flower-loving yogi
told reporters

724
00:38:43,557 --> 00:38:45,277
that his brand of peace of mind

725
00:38:45,357 --> 00:38:46,877
could only be truly appreciated

726
00:38:46,957 --> 00:38:48,757
by intelligent men of the world

727
00:38:48,837 --> 00:38:52,237
with rewarding activities
and high incomes.

728
00:38:52,317 --> 00:38:54,957
The purpose of life is the
expansion of happiness.

729
00:38:55,037 --> 00:38:56,837
Anyone can find the way.

730
00:38:56,917 --> 00:38:59,757
That's the basic teaching
of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

731
00:38:59,837 --> 00:39:01,637
Are The Beatles really
going to find happiness

732
00:39:01,677 --> 00:39:03,197
here in Rishikesh?

733
00:39:03,277 --> 00:39:05,253
Are they really going to
become, as Maharishi hopes,

734
00:39:05,277 --> 00:39:07,397
the practical
philosophers of the age?

735
00:39:07,477 --> 00:39:10,357
Or must they return
home unsatisfied?

736
00:39:10,437 --> 00:39:12,797
Eternal, rich, young
men victims of a fad,

737
00:39:12,877 --> 00:39:14,557
looking for something, anything,

738
00:39:14,637 --> 00:39:16,477
to make their lives worth while.

739
00:39:25,437 --> 00:39:27,957
I was a reporter.

740
00:39:28,037 --> 00:39:32,237
I'd heard that the best
thing that a reporter can do

741
00:39:32,317 --> 00:39:35,757
is to beat all the other
reporters in getting to the news.

742
00:39:37,157 --> 00:39:39,077
A friend of mine read

743
00:39:39,157 --> 00:39:43,997
that The Beatles were coming
to stay with the Maharishi.

744
00:39:44,077 --> 00:39:46,557
And he said, "Saeed, do
you know what it means?

745
00:39:46,637 --> 00:39:51,357
The whole world and its
media is going to be here."

746
00:40:04,517 --> 00:40:06,397
The idea is to beat them.

747
00:40:06,477 --> 00:40:08,757
How do you beat them?

748
00:40:08,837 --> 00:40:13,677
"Ah," I said, "the idea
is to become a disciple.

749
00:40:14,997 --> 00:40:18,117
If I become an insider,
I'll get the story."

750
00:40:18,197 --> 00:40:21,237
So I walked in, you
had to make some excuse

751
00:40:21,317 --> 00:40:22,877
if you're a drug addict,

752
00:40:22,957 --> 00:40:25,197
if you had failed,
if you are a junkie,

753
00:40:25,277 --> 00:40:28,637
he whispered a mantra,
a chant, in my ear,

754
00:40:31,197 --> 00:40:34,677
Which I'm not supposed
to share with anybody.

755
00:40:34,757 --> 00:40:38,317
Then I went in, and
again, and again,

756
00:40:38,397 --> 00:40:39,637
until all the sadhus

757
00:40:40,997 --> 00:40:43,477
who were going to be his
managers recognise me.

758
00:40:43,557 --> 00:40:46,397
The password was
jaguar will live,

759
00:40:46,477 --> 00:40:48,397
you said jaguar will
live then you were in.

760
00:40:50,317 --> 00:40:55,197
From Hardwar, to Rishikesh,

761
00:40:56,757 --> 00:40:59,077
across Lakshman Jhula.

762
00:41:13,837 --> 00:41:16,397
I was taking aback.

763
00:41:16,477 --> 00:41:18,637
It was like a locust storm.

764
00:41:20,117 --> 00:41:23,957
Journalist, after
journalist, after journalist,

765
00:41:24,037 --> 00:41:26,637
hundreds of them,
"What's going on?

766
00:41:26,717 --> 00:41:28,837
They're not letting us in."

767
00:41:28,917 --> 00:41:30,837
I said, "They're not
letting anybody in."

768
00:41:32,957 --> 00:41:35,437
Overnight, I went
off to Rishikesh,

769
00:41:35,517 --> 00:41:38,557
with quite a few people
from all over India.

770
00:41:38,637 --> 00:41:41,637
And it was very difficult to
even know where The Beatles,

771
00:41:41,717 --> 00:41:44,517
where the ashram was,
because it was so fortified.

772
00:41:44,597 --> 00:41:46,477
Fortified in the
sense that, you know,

773
00:41:46,557 --> 00:41:47,797
there are a lot of police,

774
00:41:47,877 --> 00:41:49,757
there was a lot of
bundobust in there.

775
00:41:49,837 --> 00:41:52,677
The whole day, we would
just, early morning, wake up,

776
00:41:52,757 --> 00:41:56,157
somebody said, "Hey, The Beatles
are coming to the Ganga."

777
00:41:56,237 --> 00:41:58,037
And so we'd all rush up there

778
00:41:58,117 --> 00:41:59,517
and wait there for
two, three hours,

779
00:41:59,597 --> 00:42:01,197
but nothing would
happen, you know.

780
00:42:01,277 --> 00:42:04,877
But it was like a celebration,
it was like an exhibition,

781
00:42:04,957 --> 00:42:07,957
'cause, you know, there
was so much of joy.

782
00:42:10,877 --> 00:42:14,117
One day, Maharishi
called me in and he said,

783
00:42:14,197 --> 00:42:17,397
"The Beatles are gonna be
arriving in a few days,

784
00:42:17,477 --> 00:42:20,917
but I want you to go
fix up their rooms."

785
00:42:22,637 --> 00:42:26,717
They put me in charge to make
their rooms nicer.

786
00:42:26,797 --> 00:42:28,437
I would have them paint this,

787
00:42:28,517 --> 00:42:30,117
they'd drop so much
paint on the floor,

788
00:42:30,197 --> 00:42:32,037
then they'd have
to paint the floor.

789
00:42:32,117 --> 00:42:34,357
Anyway, we had curtains put up.

790
00:42:34,437 --> 00:42:39,237
We had mirrors, we even had
toilet fixtures that worked.

791
00:42:40,517 --> 00:42:41,877
They have mattresses
on their beds.

792
00:42:43,557 --> 00:42:45,197
There's a fan club
of real beetles

793
00:42:45,277 --> 00:42:47,157
waiting to welcome them,

794
00:42:47,237 --> 00:42:49,237
but the hardest thing about
the life they lead here

795
00:42:49,317 --> 00:42:51,517
are the beds they'll sleep on.

796
00:42:51,597 --> 00:42:54,757
A hard wooden base, a simple,

797
00:42:54,837 --> 00:42:56,637
rather than a spartan existence.

798
00:43:00,117 --> 00:43:01,557
When they did arrive

799
00:43:01,637 --> 00:43:04,997
he introduced them to
me and said to them,

800
00:43:05,077 --> 00:43:08,117
"If you want to anything,
get a hold of Nancy.

801
00:43:08,197 --> 00:43:11,277
Nancy will be my ears and eyes
in case you need anything,

802
00:43:11,357 --> 00:43:12,677
you let me know through her."

803
00:43:24,397 --> 00:43:29,157
So I found my way and I
went to the gate and I said,

804
00:43:29,237 --> 00:43:30,277
"Jaguar will live."

805
00:43:30,357 --> 00:43:33,077
"Ah," they said.

806
00:43:33,157 --> 00:43:35,677
Oh, there was a hell
of commotion outside.

807
00:43:35,757 --> 00:43:37,957
"How did this bastard get in?"

808
00:43:38,037 --> 00:43:41,637
I said, "I'm just a
devotee of the Maharishi"

809
00:43:41,717 --> 00:43:45,877
So anyway, I entered and
there under the tree,

810
00:43:45,957 --> 00:43:50,437
Maharishi, George,
John Lennon, Paul,

811
00:43:50,517 --> 00:43:53,837
their respective
ladies, a whole galaxy.

812
00:43:53,917 --> 00:43:55,757
I mean, I can't keep
describing them.

813
00:43:55,837 --> 00:43:57,357
I need a photograph.

814
00:43:57,437 --> 00:43:58,517
So I called the sadhus.

815
00:43:59,917 --> 00:44:02,757
I said, "Look, I'm
having difficulty

816
00:44:02,837 --> 00:44:05,157
managing this on my own,

817
00:44:05,237 --> 00:44:08,277
I immediately assumed the
role of publicity manager

818
00:44:08,357 --> 00:44:10,117
for the Maharishi."

819
00:44:10,197 --> 00:44:12,557
So I said, "Here's
a name, Raghu Rai.

820
00:44:12,637 --> 00:44:14,717
You go outside, call him in.

821
00:44:17,397 --> 00:44:20,037
This man came, who
was from the ashram,

822
00:44:20,117 --> 00:44:23,357
and he says, "Mr. Naqvi
wants to see you."

823
00:44:23,437 --> 00:44:25,237
I said, "Give me two minutes."

824
00:44:25,317 --> 00:44:29,557
So I went in, I put a big
zoom lens on my camera

825
00:44:29,637 --> 00:44:32,237
and put it inside my labaada.

826
00:44:32,317 --> 00:44:37,037
So when I'm walking nobody can
see if I'm carrying a camera.

827
00:44:37,117 --> 00:44:40,557
So I walked with him for
about eight, 10 minutes.

828
00:44:40,637 --> 00:44:42,757
One sadhu was standing there.

829
00:44:42,837 --> 00:44:46,797
So he was standing next to him,
so Saeed said, "Look there."

830
00:44:47,837 --> 00:44:48,997
I was shocked.

831
00:44:50,437 --> 00:44:51,637
Then I turned around

832
00:44:51,717 --> 00:44:54,957
and I saw that guy sadhu
standing next to us.

833
00:44:55,037 --> 00:44:56,037
And I said.

834
00:45:00,197 --> 00:45:03,597
So he goes to get a
glass of water for me,

835
00:45:03,677 --> 00:45:05,477
and Saeed says,
"Hurry up, hurry up."

836
00:45:05,557 --> 00:45:07,117
In those days,

837
00:45:07,197 --> 00:45:10,357
we didn't have auto focus,
auto exposure cameras,

838
00:45:10,437 --> 00:45:11,717
so you had to set the focus set

839
00:45:11,797 --> 00:45:14,077
and the exposure, everything.

840
00:45:14,157 --> 00:45:18,957
And I take just one picture,
nicely focused and proper.

841
00:45:21,917 --> 00:45:25,157
Under the tree, Maharishi
Yogi and The Beatles.

842
00:47:30,357 --> 00:47:33,597
See this building, this is
the building where they lived.

843
00:47:33,677 --> 00:47:37,597
This room, I'll
show you this side,

844
00:47:37,677 --> 00:47:40,797
this is the room of John Lennon.

845
00:47:40,877 --> 00:47:42,397
John Lennon stayed here.

846
00:47:42,477 --> 00:47:45,757
Other Beatles were
staying in these rooms,

847
00:47:45,837 --> 00:47:48,677
along with their
wives and family.

848
00:47:54,637 --> 00:47:57,557
So when Beatles came,
I was a little kid.

849
00:47:57,637 --> 00:48:01,157
We were enjoying the whole
atmosphere and the jungles

850
00:48:01,237 --> 00:48:04,277
and Beatles and the
Maharishi, we were very close.

851
00:48:04,357 --> 00:48:06,677
We never find he's a
celebrity, or some big thing,

852
00:48:06,757 --> 00:48:07,957
we should not go near him.

853
00:48:09,237 --> 00:48:11,277
So this was the
place where Maharishi

854
00:48:11,357 --> 00:48:13,797
used to converse with
Beatles and guests.

855
00:48:13,877 --> 00:48:18,557
Straight we can see River
Ganga, clear water and forest.

856
00:48:18,637 --> 00:48:21,757
There was a raised
platform, rectangular shape.

857
00:48:21,837 --> 00:48:24,957
It was used for posing with
the visitors and Beatles

858
00:48:25,037 --> 00:48:26,597
for the group photographs.

859
00:49:09,317 --> 00:49:11,237
Maharishi's
disciples can wander in peace

860
00:49:11,317 --> 00:49:14,117
amongst the trees and bungalows,

861
00:49:14,197 --> 00:49:17,477
or meditate in some quiet
spot overlooking the Ganges.

862
00:49:18,837 --> 00:49:20,677
He doesn't require you
to give anything up

863
00:49:20,757 --> 00:49:22,997
except drugs and
a week's salary,

864
00:49:23,077 --> 00:49:25,637
in The Beatles case around
11,000 pounds a piece.

865
00:49:27,797 --> 00:49:29,013
What exactly
have you been doing,

866
00:49:29,037 --> 00:49:30,037
how do you meditate?

867
00:49:30,117 --> 00:49:32,077
You sit down, you relax,

868
00:49:32,157 --> 00:49:36,157
and then you repeat a sound to
yourself, and it sounds daft,

869
00:49:36,237 --> 00:49:39,517
but it's just a system of
relaxation and that's all it is,

870
00:49:39,597 --> 00:49:41,037
and there's nothing more to it.

871
00:49:42,677 --> 00:49:46,317
By expanding the conscious
capacity of the mind,

872
00:49:46,397 --> 00:49:48,237
mental capacity
will be stronger,

873
00:49:48,317 --> 00:49:50,077
thought power will be great,

874
00:49:50,157 --> 00:49:51,917
and when the
thought power great,

875
00:49:51,997 --> 00:49:55,237
then the thought will find
their fulfilment more easily.

876
00:49:57,597 --> 00:50:01,557
You go into do those
interstellar spaces,

877
00:50:01,637 --> 00:50:05,437
where the spaces ultimately
shrink into your being.

878
00:50:05,517 --> 00:50:10,277
Now, this gibberish goes on
and on and on relentlessly,

879
00:50:12,157 --> 00:50:15,997
and you have these
people close their eyes.

880
00:50:16,077 --> 00:50:20,197
And the more
unintelligible it gets,

881
00:50:20,277 --> 00:50:24,717
the more profoundly
affected they pretend to be.

882
00:50:24,797 --> 00:50:29,557
Because, I can't really imagine
anyone being moved by words

883
00:50:29,637 --> 00:50:34,317
which are patently
and absolutely absurd.

884
00:50:34,397 --> 00:50:36,517
His lectures were in the nature

885
00:50:36,597 --> 00:50:39,957
of this kind of arcane nonsense.

886
00:50:40,037 --> 00:50:44,157
Nothing succeeds like
success, and it succeeded.

887
00:50:44,237 --> 00:50:45,477
Are you a business man?

888
00:50:45,557 --> 00:50:49,397
I don't deal with
money directly,

889
00:50:49,477 --> 00:50:52,197
but I'm conducting the
movement in 50 countries.

890
00:50:52,277 --> 00:50:54,237
I can't be said to
be no businessman,

891
00:50:54,317 --> 00:50:56,077
even though I'm not
dealing with money.

892
00:50:57,917 --> 00:51:00,917
I was a young girl, 21 or 22,

893
00:51:00,997 --> 00:51:03,957
so there I was in
this beautiful ashram,

894
00:51:04,037 --> 00:51:07,117
I was taken to
meet the Maharishi.

895
00:51:07,197 --> 00:51:11,197
He asked me to come close to
him, I did, too close in fact.

896
00:51:11,277 --> 00:51:14,357
He said, I'm going to whisper
something in your ear,

897
00:51:14,437 --> 00:51:16,637
the mantra, then he said,

898
00:51:16,717 --> 00:51:19,717
"I want you to go down
into my prayer room,

899
00:51:19,797 --> 00:51:22,037
and I want you to
concentrate upon that mantra

900
00:51:22,117 --> 00:51:24,677
You're going to feel
like a new person."

901
00:51:26,357 --> 00:51:29,477
And I actually believed that
this was going to happen to me.

902
00:51:31,117 --> 00:51:35,077
It was a dark room and there
was some incense burning

903
00:51:35,157 --> 00:51:37,757
and there was some things
hanging on the wall.

904
00:51:37,837 --> 00:51:39,917
And I started
repeating the mantra.

905
00:51:39,997 --> 00:51:40,997
I repeated it,

906
00:51:42,197 --> 00:51:44,397
and the only feeling
that I remember

907
00:51:44,477 --> 00:51:47,797
there was this intense desire
to escape from that place.

908
00:51:49,077 --> 00:51:52,157
I went near the
Maharishi and he said,

909
00:51:52,237 --> 00:51:54,357
"How do you feel my daughter?

910
00:51:54,437 --> 00:51:56,677
Do you feel like a
different person?"

911
00:51:56,757 --> 00:51:58,637
I said, "Actually I don't."

912
00:51:58,717 --> 00:52:02,117
He looked at me and he said,

913
00:52:02,197 --> 00:52:03,837
"I going to whisper
another mantra."

914
00:52:05,637 --> 00:52:08,277
"Back you go,
repeat that mantra.

915
00:52:08,357 --> 00:52:10,237
You might have to
spend a little longer."

916
00:52:11,477 --> 00:52:13,277
By now, I was in control.

917
00:52:14,437 --> 00:52:16,717
I repeated the mantra,

918
00:52:16,797 --> 00:52:19,557
and within half an
hour I came upstairs.

919
00:52:19,637 --> 00:52:21,957
I gave him a glorious account

920
00:52:22,037 --> 00:52:25,357
of how I felt like a
totally new human being.

921
00:52:25,437 --> 00:52:27,477
I felt like a different
person all together.

922
00:52:28,477 --> 00:52:30,317
That was the only way to escape.

923
00:52:30,397 --> 00:52:33,077
And I walked out into freedom.

924
00:52:38,557 --> 00:52:40,997
Maharishi really influenced

925
00:52:41,077 --> 00:52:44,677
The Beatles songs and
lyrics tremendously,

926
00:52:44,757 --> 00:52:46,477
starting with
"Across The Universe"

927
00:52:46,557 --> 00:52:50,597
which is written right after
The Beatles learned meditation.

928
00:52:50,677 --> 00:52:53,797
In that song, it
says "jai guru deva,"

929
00:52:53,877 --> 00:52:57,117
and Maharishi used to use
that expression all the time.

930
00:52:57,197 --> 00:53:00,557
Now once more.

931
00:53:04,277 --> 00:53:06,477
It is in praise of the guru.

932
00:53:06,557 --> 00:53:10,237
So John Lennon put that into
the song, jai guru deva.

933
00:53:10,317 --> 00:53:13,597
And then he said, "om," and
om is the primordial sound

934
00:53:13,677 --> 00:53:16,157
that underlies and gives
rise to the universe.

935
00:53:21,397 --> 00:53:23,157
Just the exposure
to mantras, I mean,

936
00:53:23,237 --> 00:53:24,893
the idea was a repetitious
sound could create

937
00:53:24,917 --> 00:53:26,557
an altered state
of consciousness

938
00:53:26,637 --> 00:53:28,557
and you get it in,
"Hello, Goodbye,"

939
00:53:28,637 --> 00:53:30,077
you get in goo goo g'joob.

940
00:53:30,157 --> 00:53:32,997
Repetitious sounds
creeping into their songs,

941
00:53:33,077 --> 00:53:34,557
whether deliberately or not.

942
00:55:17,157 --> 00:55:18,677
I lived for three
days in a cottage

943
00:55:18,757 --> 00:55:20,237
at a camp in Rishikesh,

944
00:55:20,317 --> 00:55:22,997
just a hundred yards
from The Beatles.

945
00:55:23,077 --> 00:55:25,757
I remember sitting
around a bonfire at night

946
00:55:25,837 --> 00:55:28,877
with The Beatles, and Mike
Love of The Beach Boys,

947
00:55:28,957 --> 00:55:32,157
And Donovan, and others
singing and playing the guitar.

948
00:55:33,757 --> 00:55:36,597
It was a cold, cold
evening, and at some point

949
00:55:36,677 --> 00:55:39,957
I muttered to the person
next to me, "I'm freezing."

950
00:55:40,037 --> 00:55:42,397
A man seated just ahead of me,

951
00:55:42,477 --> 00:55:46,197
wrapped in a huge brown
grey blanket heard me.

952
00:55:46,277 --> 00:55:50,357
He said, "Move up, love, come
and share my blanket with me."

953
00:55:50,437 --> 00:55:52,397
It was George Harrison.

954
00:55:52,477 --> 00:55:53,757
I should have said yes,

955
00:55:53,837 --> 00:55:56,077
but by then I had
successfully cultivated

956
00:55:56,157 --> 00:55:57,917
an air of nonchalance

957
00:55:57,997 --> 00:56:01,677
and looked at George like
he was a nobody and replied,

958
00:56:01,757 --> 00:56:04,557
"No, thanks, George, I'm fine."

959
00:56:04,637 --> 00:56:07,917
Four regrettable words that
I could never take back,

960
00:56:09,157 --> 00:56:11,717
and that have haunted
me all my life

961
00:56:11,797 --> 00:56:13,797
for what could have
been, but never was.

962
00:56:17,357 --> 00:56:22,237
The person who was actually
sincere about meditation,

963
00:56:22,317 --> 00:56:27,077
about Indian culture, Indian
music was George Harrison.

964
00:56:28,437 --> 00:56:31,357
Maharishi said of
all The Beatles,

965
00:56:31,437 --> 00:56:34,917
George is the most advanced,
and this is his last life.

966
00:56:36,237 --> 00:56:38,357
George wanted to understand

967
00:56:38,437 --> 00:56:41,397
why he was chosen to be famous.

968
00:56:41,477 --> 00:56:44,957
He found curious that
he, a boy from Liverpool

969
00:56:45,037 --> 00:56:47,557
who otherwise would have
had a very menial job,

970
00:56:47,637 --> 00:56:50,437
was selected and was famous.

971
00:56:50,517 --> 00:56:52,597
And he wants to know the answer.

972
00:56:55,037 --> 00:56:57,117
Really the
only reason to be living

973
00:56:57,197 --> 00:57:00,237
is to have complete
full knowledge,

974
00:57:00,317 --> 00:57:02,117
full bliss consciousness.

975
00:57:02,197 --> 00:57:05,517
Everything else is just
mundane and secondary.

976
00:57:05,597 --> 00:57:07,397
The purpose is to transcend

977
00:57:07,477 --> 00:57:09,757
from this relative
state of consciousness

978
00:57:09,837 --> 00:57:11,677
to an absolute state
of consciousness.

979
00:57:14,357 --> 00:57:19,117
Maharishi said, John Lennon
has many more lives to go,

980
00:57:20,797 --> 00:57:23,237
and he must not give into
his weakness for women,

981
00:57:23,317 --> 00:57:24,797
or it will ruin him.

982
00:57:26,117 --> 00:57:27,637
Keeping company with himself,

983
00:57:27,717 --> 00:57:29,357
it could be part
of the treatment,

984
00:57:29,437 --> 00:57:31,117
John stalked along
the shady paths.

985
00:57:33,437 --> 00:57:36,037
John Lennon when he
first arrived, he was grey,

986
00:57:36,117 --> 00:57:38,837
he'd been heavily into
drugs, he just looked awful.

987
00:57:38,917 --> 00:57:41,037
And then little by little,

988
00:57:41,117 --> 00:57:43,197
you saw the change that
came over this man,

989
00:57:43,277 --> 00:57:46,357
he had pink cheeks, he
started to be very sociable,

990
00:57:46,437 --> 00:57:49,237
he was out playing his guitar,
chatting with other people,

991
00:57:49,317 --> 00:57:50,957
and he was having
such a lovely time.

992
00:57:52,797 --> 00:57:54,317
Meditation worked
all right, you know,

993
00:57:54,397 --> 00:57:57,037
you can handle each day better

994
00:57:57,117 --> 00:57:58,717
than I could handle it before.

995
00:57:58,797 --> 00:58:01,277
I was mediating 8 hours a
day and things like that.

996
00:58:01,357 --> 00:58:04,557
And it was really some
trip, like acid was nowhere.

997
00:58:04,637 --> 00:58:07,277
Just sitting there just
muttering some word in a room,

998
00:58:07,357 --> 00:58:09,517
that's the biggest trip
I've ever had in life.

999
00:58:11,877 --> 00:58:15,477
Ringo is always in meditation,

1000
00:58:15,557 --> 00:58:17,957
and he goes by
feeling and heart.

1001
00:58:18,037 --> 00:58:21,637
Whereas the other Beatles
too much brain is in the way.

1002
00:58:23,597 --> 00:58:25,517
Ringo enjoyed
a peace of togetherness

1003
00:58:25,597 --> 00:58:28,877
with Mrs. Ringo, it was
a very peaceful scene.

1004
00:58:28,957 --> 00:58:30,677
Ringo Starr, two or three days,

1005
00:58:30,757 --> 00:58:33,037
he sees all this
and he declares,

1006
00:58:33,117 --> 00:58:37,877
"It's like a Butlin holiday
camp," and disappears, he left.

1007
00:58:38,877 --> 00:58:40,597
And then there were three.

1008
00:58:42,117 --> 00:58:43,797
Ringo and his wife, Maureen,

1009
00:58:43,877 --> 00:58:46,357
stayed at the
ashram for 10 days.

1010
00:58:46,437 --> 00:58:49,957
Ringo's allergies cause
problems with the ashram food.

1011
00:58:50,037 --> 00:58:51,397
He was allergic
to so many things

1012
00:58:51,477 --> 00:58:53,997
that he took two
suitcases to India.

1013
00:58:54,077 --> 00:58:56,837
One had his clothes
and the other one

1014
00:58:56,917 --> 00:58:59,477
was stuffed with
cans of Heinz beans.

1015
00:59:01,077 --> 00:59:03,837
But the primary reason
that Ringo and Maureen left

1016
00:59:03,917 --> 00:59:06,637
is because they
missed their kids.

1017
00:59:06,717 --> 00:59:08,797
Maharishi, I
thank him, you know,

1018
00:59:08,877 --> 00:59:10,973
all the time I thank him for
giving me what it gave me.

1019
00:59:10,997 --> 00:59:12,397
So I'm glad I've got it

1020
00:59:12,477 --> 00:59:14,357
in case I ever wanna
go into it again,

1021
00:59:14,437 --> 00:59:16,357
you know, you can't lose,
if you learn something.

1022
00:59:32,637 --> 00:59:35,397
Maharishi wanted to
take them off on a trip

1023
00:59:35,477 --> 00:59:37,317
to the Himalayas.

1024
00:59:37,397 --> 00:59:40,677
A company, Ganja's
Helicopter Services.

1025
00:59:45,077 --> 00:59:47,317
I'd always wanted
to become a pilot.

1026
00:59:48,597 --> 00:59:50,397
I became the chief
pilot for the Maharishi.

1027
00:59:51,957 --> 00:59:55,797
And I flew everybody,
including the prime minister,

1028
00:59:55,877 --> 01:00:00,557
and Mahatma Gandhi
also, and The Beatles.

1029
01:00:00,637 --> 01:00:02,117
Paul kept on saying,
"Me, me, me,"

1030
01:00:02,197 --> 01:00:03,597
because he wanted to get in.

1031
01:00:03,677 --> 01:00:05,277
And John said, "No, me, me, me."

1032
01:00:05,357 --> 01:00:08,637
And anyway, finally, John just
pushed him aside and went in.

1033
01:00:10,277 --> 01:00:13,157
I'm flying John on my left
and the Maharishi on my right.

1034
01:00:13,237 --> 01:00:16,037
And the Maharishi
lent across me,

1035
01:00:16,117 --> 01:00:19,077
as you know, he had a
lot of hair and beard,

1036
01:00:19,157 --> 01:00:21,277
it was difficult for me
to fly the helicopter.

1037
01:00:22,717 --> 01:00:25,837
He was telling John down
there in the mountains,

1038
01:00:25,917 --> 01:00:29,157
people lived there, they never
went down to the valleys,

1039
01:00:29,237 --> 01:00:31,237
and they're praying
all the time.

1040
01:00:31,317 --> 01:00:33,437
So John said, "What are
they're praying for?"

1041
01:00:33,517 --> 01:00:36,197
So the Maharishi said "They
are praying that we crash."

1042
01:00:36,277 --> 01:00:38,637
And John said, "Goodness, why
do they want us to crash?"

1043
01:00:38,717 --> 01:00:40,717
They said, "Well, they're
on the mountaintop

1044
01:00:40,797 --> 01:00:43,197
with hardly any food.

1045
01:00:43,277 --> 01:00:46,477
And I'm in Rishikesh with
all the celebrities there,

1046
01:00:46,557 --> 01:00:48,157
and all the money in the world."

1047
01:00:48,237 --> 01:00:52,397
So John said, "Maharishi,
if you don't move

1048
01:00:52,477 --> 01:00:56,797
your head and hair their
prayers will be answered."

1049
01:00:56,877 --> 01:01:00,717
And of course, I started
laughing and everybody did.

1050
01:01:00,797 --> 01:01:02,117
He had a sense of humour.

1051
01:01:22,597 --> 01:01:26,997
They were visiting Dehradun,
George, John, and Paul.

1052
01:01:27,077 --> 01:01:29,437
He said this Saturday,

1053
01:01:29,517 --> 01:01:32,717
they're having
celebration in the ashram

1054
01:01:32,797 --> 01:01:37,157
to celebrate the birth
of George Harrison wife.

1055
01:01:37,237 --> 01:01:41,037
If I could could bring some
other musicians along with me,

1056
01:01:41,117 --> 01:01:42,677
they'll be very happy.

1057
01:01:42,757 --> 01:01:45,597
So I said, I told them,
"Okay, I can arrange it."

1058
01:01:51,957 --> 01:01:55,237
So we all sat down,
Maharishi gave us a lecture,

1059
01:01:55,317 --> 01:01:57,397
and then I was asked to play.

1060
01:01:57,477 --> 01:01:59,757
There was a composition
with George Harrison,

1061
01:01:59,837 --> 01:02:04,037
"With In, Without You," which
was based on Dhrag Jhug,

1062
01:02:04,117 --> 01:02:06,597
so I decided to play that.

1063
01:02:06,677 --> 01:02:09,077
And then George was
excited about it.

1064
01:02:10,757 --> 01:02:12,757
And I smiled at him, he
smiled and he waved at me.

1065
01:02:14,317 --> 01:02:17,877
At that time, Nick sang with me,

1066
01:02:17,957 --> 01:02:20,837
and Nick was just
a visiting teacher.

1067
01:02:20,917 --> 01:02:23,157
Now tell me where did
that famous photo of us?

1068
01:02:23,237 --> 01:02:25,037
Was it in the middle
or was it over here?

1069
01:02:25,117 --> 01:02:26,117
Here?

1070
01:02:26,157 --> 01:02:27,357
Okay.

1071
01:02:27,437 --> 01:02:28,797
- In this area, in this wall.
- Okay.

1072
01:02:32,717 --> 01:02:35,797
I have such vivid memories
of that birthday party

1073
01:02:35,877 --> 01:02:39,477
where so much music was
played, so much glamour.

1074
01:02:39,557 --> 01:02:42,597
Pattie Harrison there
in her mauve sari.

1075
01:02:42,677 --> 01:02:45,357
Part of our mission
was to bring her

1076
01:02:45,437 --> 01:02:48,917
George Harrison's birthday
present to her, the dilruba.

1077
01:02:48,997 --> 01:02:51,597
It was so relaxed
coming from Britain.

1078
01:02:51,677 --> 01:02:56,077
The Beatles were impossible
to see or touch or reach,

1079
01:02:56,157 --> 01:02:58,437
and here it was a completely
different atmosphere.

1080
01:03:00,037 --> 01:03:03,037
They were absolutely natural,
all the musicians there.

1081
01:03:03,117 --> 01:03:07,837
I think I spoke to Donovan,
Mike Love, Paul Horn,

1082
01:03:07,917 --> 01:03:11,237
and of course, Paul McCartney,
Jane Asher, John Lennon,

1083
01:03:11,317 --> 01:03:12,997
I don't think I spoke
to George Harrison

1084
01:03:13,077 --> 01:03:16,197
because he was so tied
up in both the occasion

1085
01:03:16,277 --> 01:03:19,077
of his wife's birthday
and also the music.

1086
01:03:19,157 --> 01:03:22,477
He really was playing
music and enjoying music

1087
01:03:22,557 --> 01:03:25,077
and absorbing Indian music.

1088
01:03:25,157 --> 01:03:27,797
There was no pretence about
it. He was completely hooked.

1089
01:03:30,557 --> 01:03:33,917
The music started
off being very Indian

1090
01:03:33,997 --> 01:03:36,477
and played on
Indian instruments,

1091
01:03:36,557 --> 01:03:39,917
but then you could say it
deteriorated into a birthday party

1092
01:03:39,997 --> 01:03:41,797
with the "Happy Birthday" song,

1093
01:03:41,877 --> 01:03:45,917
and the British national
anthem for some curious reason.

1094
01:03:45,997 --> 01:03:49,837
As the evening went on and
perhaps people got a bit fidgety,

1095
01:03:49,917 --> 01:03:52,117
we went outside and
enjoyed fireworks.

1096
01:03:52,197 --> 01:03:53,717
Of course, I went away feeling

1097
01:03:53,797 --> 01:03:56,597
that perhaps the meditation
was all a bit of a lark,

1098
01:03:56,677 --> 01:03:59,237
because they enjoyed themselves
so much in the evening.

1099
01:04:02,437 --> 01:04:05,317
George Harrison was thinking

1100
01:04:05,397 --> 01:04:08,797
mostly of playing
better, serious music,

1101
01:04:08,877 --> 01:04:10,837
which belonged to the world.

1102
01:04:10,917 --> 01:04:13,797
But John Lennon was a
serious human being.

1103
01:04:13,877 --> 01:04:15,837
He was not very talkative,

1104
01:04:15,917 --> 01:04:18,637
but he's thinking
was very beautiful.

1105
01:04:18,717 --> 01:04:22,717
So I was slightly more
fascinated by John.

1106
01:04:25,597 --> 01:04:28,357
I think they gave me so
much respect, you know.

1107
01:04:28,437 --> 01:04:30,797
They treated me very
well, they called me, sir.

1108
01:04:30,877 --> 01:04:33,717
And I was feeling
strange, you know.

1109
01:04:33,797 --> 01:04:35,837
I told them, "Don't
call me, sir, no no no."

1110
01:04:37,917 --> 01:04:40,077
They could not have
seen me at all,

1111
01:04:40,157 --> 01:04:42,957
there was no need
for what they did.

1112
01:04:43,037 --> 01:04:45,877
Success had not gone
to the head, you know.

1113
01:04:45,957 --> 01:04:47,917
They were simple human beings.

1114
01:04:52,117 --> 01:04:53,317
We came up the path here,

1115
01:04:53,397 --> 01:04:55,797
we were killing time
and The Beatles meantime

1116
01:04:55,877 --> 01:04:57,837
had come back to their bungalow

1117
01:04:57,917 --> 01:04:59,917
and they were on the roof,
not just The Beatles,

1118
01:04:59,997 --> 01:05:01,637
but many of the musicians
were on the roof

1119
01:05:01,677 --> 01:05:03,997
of the bungalow playing music.

1120
01:05:04,077 --> 01:05:07,677
And it's the most memorable
thing of my day here,

1121
01:05:07,757 --> 01:05:09,317
was hearing this music,

1122
01:05:09,397 --> 01:05:11,277
which was of course
unrecorded music,

1123
01:05:11,357 --> 01:05:15,157
it was just being
created at that time.

1124
01:05:15,237 --> 01:05:16,797
And we felt we were
in the, you know,

1125
01:05:16,877 --> 01:05:18,677
witnessing the first time round,

1126
01:05:18,757 --> 01:05:20,557
the first version of this music.

1127
01:05:34,957 --> 01:05:37,877
The word was coming
to the Maharishi

1128
01:05:37,957 --> 01:05:40,837
that they had suspended
their meditations

1129
01:05:40,917 --> 01:05:44,477
and that they were sitting and
composing music and things.

1130
01:05:46,117 --> 01:05:48,037
We were there
for about six weeks,

1131
01:05:48,117 --> 01:05:52,477
and during that time was no
pressure from the outside world.

1132
01:05:52,557 --> 01:05:55,117
There was no pressure
of them being Beatles,

1133
01:05:55,197 --> 01:05:57,997
and their creative
juices just overflowed.

1134
01:05:59,397 --> 01:06:02,157
They wrote all the songs
from "The White Album."

1135
01:06:02,237 --> 01:06:04,997
They worked out gradually
what they wanted us to do

1136
01:06:05,077 --> 01:06:07,477
for the rest of their
time as Beatles.

1137
01:06:09,557 --> 01:06:10,853
Other than when they're
we in the studio,

1138
01:06:10,877 --> 01:06:12,797
they didn't get to spend
a lot of time together

1139
01:06:12,877 --> 01:06:14,557
So in India, they
were suddenly together

1140
01:06:14,637 --> 01:06:16,357
like sort of mates again.

1141
01:06:16,437 --> 01:06:19,797
So they could sit out and play
in the way that John and Paul

1142
01:06:19,877 --> 01:06:22,957
used to play in the council
house where Paul had grown up.

1143
01:06:24,877 --> 01:06:27,197
And you've got Mike Love
from The Beach Boys is there

1144
01:06:27,277 --> 01:06:29,877
so they've got that whole
tributary of American music

1145
01:06:29,957 --> 01:06:31,237
that had influenced them,

1146
01:06:31,317 --> 01:06:33,277
and Donovan with this
kind of folk tradition

1147
01:06:33,357 --> 01:06:35,997
and Paul Horn, who was a jazz
flautist, he was there too,

1148
01:06:36,077 --> 01:06:37,997
so you've got a
lot of interesting,

1149
01:06:38,077 --> 01:06:39,517
sort of, streams coming in.

1150
01:06:44,157 --> 01:06:45,717
I'll show you the stairs here.

1151
01:06:47,397 --> 01:06:50,557
They'd sit here on these stairs.

1152
01:06:50,637 --> 01:06:53,237
There here was bamboo
structure here,

1153
01:06:53,317 --> 01:06:55,037
as a fence, those days.

1154
01:06:55,117 --> 01:06:57,357
They'd come and they'd
make new song there,

1155
01:06:57,437 --> 01:07:00,397
staying here, sitting
on the stairs.

1156
01:07:00,477 --> 01:07:03,557
And that side,
Prudence were living,

1157
01:07:03,637 --> 01:07:08,037
Maharishi told her to be inside,
stay with their practises.

1158
01:07:10,157 --> 01:07:14,917
Mia Farrow's sister Prudence
way ahead of anybody else.

1159
01:07:16,237 --> 01:07:18,357
As soon as she
entered her thing,

1160
01:07:18,437 --> 01:07:23,237
she went into meditation
and she has not emerged,

1161
01:07:24,077 --> 01:07:26,477
it's already 24 hours.

1162
01:07:26,557 --> 01:07:27,837
So she's serious.

1163
01:07:29,077 --> 01:07:31,837
They would invite her outside.

1164
01:07:31,917 --> 01:07:34,557
"Hello, Prudence, come
out, come out, Prudence."

1165
01:07:34,637 --> 01:07:35,877
And she won't come.

1166
01:07:35,957 --> 01:07:38,917
And then they made a
song, "Dear Prudence."

1167
01:07:42,477 --> 01:07:44,117
I think one
that's kind of interesting

1168
01:07:44,197 --> 01:07:48,317
is when I came back from a
tiger hunt with my eldest son,

1169
01:07:48,397 --> 01:07:51,237
when we came walking in,
he said to Maharishi,

1170
01:07:51,317 --> 01:07:55,517
"I shot a tiger today,
is that bad karma?"

1171
01:07:55,597 --> 01:07:58,517
Sitting there observing
this was John Lennon,

1172
01:07:58,597 --> 01:08:00,637
and John said,
"Don't you call that

1173
01:08:00,717 --> 01:08:02,597
slightly life destructive?"

1174
01:08:02,677 --> 01:08:04,997
And I said, "It was
the tiger or us."

1175
01:08:08,317 --> 01:08:10,597
Maharishi glared
at Nancy the whole time

1176
01:08:10,677 --> 01:08:12,317
they were talking about it.

1177
01:08:12,397 --> 01:08:15,717
Life destruction is life
destruction, end of story.

1178
01:08:15,797 --> 01:08:17,717
That's how the song,

1179
01:08:17,797 --> 01:08:21,677
"The Continuing Story Of
Bungalow Bill" originated.

1180
01:08:21,757 --> 01:08:25,637
It was John's answer to
Nancy's paltry excuse.

1181
01:08:27,717 --> 01:08:29,077
Because Mike Love was there

1182
01:08:29,157 --> 01:08:30,517
and they knew The
Beach Boys music,

1183
01:08:30,597 --> 01:08:32,997
it was this kind
of friendly rivalry

1184
01:08:33,077 --> 01:08:34,477
of them wanting
to top each other.

1185
01:08:34,557 --> 01:08:35,837
But "Back in the U.S.S.R."

1186
01:08:35,917 --> 01:08:38,037
Is just like a parody
of a Beach Boys song,

1187
01:08:38,117 --> 01:08:40,557
but instead of being about
the USA, it's about Russia,

1188
01:08:40,637 --> 01:08:42,757
and it was a very
novel idea at the time

1189
01:08:42,837 --> 01:08:44,277
to think of a rock and roll song

1190
01:08:44,357 --> 01:08:46,133
that appeared to be
celebrating Russian culture

1191
01:08:46,157 --> 01:08:47,877
and had all these Russian names

1192
01:08:47,957 --> 01:08:49,797
and Russian places
being mentioned.

1193
01:08:53,157 --> 01:08:54,477
Opposition members today

1194
01:08:54,557 --> 01:08:57,997
demanded in inquiry into
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

1195
01:08:58,077 --> 01:09:01,797
Alleging that Rishikesh have
become a centre of conspirage.

1196
01:09:01,877 --> 01:09:03,997
The issue was raised
by Mr. K. Anirudhan

1197
01:09:04,077 --> 01:09:07,517
after a radio transmitter
was found on a bus

1198
01:09:07,597 --> 01:09:10,237
near the antibiotics
factory in Rishikesh

1199
01:09:10,317 --> 01:09:12,917
belonging to a foreigner.

1200
01:09:12,997 --> 01:09:15,557
The furor broke
out in parliament.

1201
01:09:15,637 --> 01:09:18,997
It was led by the communist,
backed by the socialists,

1202
01:09:19,077 --> 01:09:23,757
and they said that there was
a CIA camp in the ashram,

1203
01:09:23,837 --> 01:09:26,597
and the Maharishi were
getting all these foreigners,

1204
01:09:26,677 --> 01:09:29,517
including The Beatles,
to destabilise India.

1205
01:09:31,717 --> 01:09:35,477
I give the CIA total
credit for sponsoring

1206
01:09:35,557 --> 01:09:38,837
and initiating the entire
consciousness movement,

1207
01:09:38,917 --> 01:09:41,637
counterculture
events of the 1960s.

1208
01:09:43,437 --> 01:09:46,957
This was exactly the
time when Indira Gandhi

1209
01:09:47,037 --> 01:09:49,037
was making friends
with the Soviet Union.

1210
01:09:51,997 --> 01:09:53,557
Today we're going
to show you a cases

1211
01:09:53,637 --> 01:09:55,557
of attempted espionage by agents

1212
01:09:55,637 --> 01:09:58,677
of the Sino-Soviet
Intelligence System.

1213
01:09:58,757 --> 01:10:02,557
If you recognise the way a
Sino or Soviet agent operates,

1214
01:10:02,637 --> 01:10:05,757
both in finding someone
vulnerable to subversion,

1215
01:10:05,837 --> 01:10:08,317
as well as in their
technique of ensnaring him

1216
01:10:08,397 --> 01:10:10,557
and applying pressure
to get him to play ball.

1217
01:10:12,157 --> 01:10:16,757
The KGB sent their top
man in India, Bezmenov,

1218
01:10:16,837 --> 01:10:19,517
to the ashram to check
out the Maharishi.

1219
01:10:21,837 --> 01:10:23,197
My function was to discover

1220
01:10:23,277 --> 01:10:26,717
what kind of people
attend this school.

1221
01:10:26,797 --> 01:10:30,477
Yes, there are some
influential opinion makers

1222
01:10:30,557 --> 01:10:32,317
who come back with
the crazy stories

1223
01:10:32,397 --> 01:10:34,037
about Indian philosophy.

1224
01:10:35,797 --> 01:10:38,837
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a
great spiritual leader,

1225
01:10:38,917 --> 01:10:41,157
or maybe a great
charlatan and crook,

1226
01:10:41,237 --> 01:10:43,757
depending from which side
you're looking at him.

1227
01:10:43,837 --> 01:10:47,197
Beatles were trained at
his ashram, Mia Farrow,

1228
01:10:47,277 --> 01:10:51,117
and other useful idiots from
Hollywood visited his school,

1229
01:10:51,197 --> 01:10:53,357
and they returned back
to the United States,

1230
01:10:53,437 --> 01:10:56,197
absolutely zonked out of
their minds with marijuana,

1231
01:10:56,277 --> 01:10:59,037
hashish and crazy
ideas of meditation.

1232
01:11:01,077 --> 01:11:02,837
Maharishi used to always say,

1233
01:11:02,917 --> 01:11:06,477
"You can never create peace
through signing treaties,

1234
01:11:06,557 --> 01:11:10,757
through legislation, through
any kind of external means.

1235
01:11:10,837 --> 01:11:12,557
The only way to
create world peace

1236
01:11:12,637 --> 01:11:15,437
is for people to meditate."

1237
01:11:15,517 --> 01:11:16,757
See, if you carefully look

1238
01:11:16,837 --> 01:11:19,157
at what Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi is teaching,

1239
01:11:19,237 --> 01:11:21,117
is that most of the problems,

1240
01:11:21,197 --> 01:11:23,557
most of the burning
issues of today,

1241
01:11:23,637 --> 01:11:26,597
can be solved simply
by meditating.

1242
01:11:26,677 --> 01:11:30,397
Don't rock the boat,
don't get involved,

1243
01:11:30,477 --> 01:11:33,117
just sit down, look at
your navel and meditate,

1244
01:11:33,197 --> 01:11:35,757
and things, due to
some strange logic,

1245
01:11:35,837 --> 01:11:39,997
due to cosmic vibration will
settle down by themselves.

1246
01:11:41,557 --> 01:11:46,237
The single aim of spiritually
regenerating every man

1247
01:11:46,317 --> 01:11:49,437
everywhere in the world,
and creating peace.

1248
01:11:52,357 --> 01:11:54,077
You can get control of yourself

1249
01:11:54,157 --> 01:11:56,077
just by sitting quietly,

1250
01:11:56,157 --> 01:12:00,677
and by turning off from the
external problems we have,

1251
01:12:00,757 --> 01:12:02,637
and all this society,

1252
01:12:02,717 --> 01:12:04,797
you can go inside yourself

1253
01:12:04,877 --> 01:12:06,637
where it's always
calm and peaceful.

1254
01:12:07,957 --> 01:12:09,957
This is exactly what the KGB

1255
01:12:10,037 --> 01:12:11,997
and Marxist Lenin's
propaganda want,

1256
01:12:12,077 --> 01:12:15,277
to distract their
attention and mental energy

1257
01:12:15,357 --> 01:12:20,117
from real issues into non-issues,
into non-existent harmony.

1258
01:12:21,637 --> 01:12:23,917
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
obviously is not on the payroll

1259
01:12:23,997 --> 01:12:27,637
of the KGB, but whether
he knows it or not,

1260
01:12:27,717 --> 01:12:28,957
he contributes greatly

1261
01:12:29,037 --> 01:12:31,437
to demoralisation
of American society.

1262
01:12:39,357 --> 01:12:42,437
Paul McCartney and his
girlfriend, Jane Asher,

1263
01:12:42,517 --> 01:12:44,957
stayed for five
weeks and they left

1264
01:12:45,037 --> 01:12:48,397
because Jane had a theatrical
commitment back in London.

1265
01:12:50,797 --> 01:12:51,677
This presumably

1266
01:12:51,757 --> 01:12:53,677
is your first big meditation,

1267
01:12:53,757 --> 01:12:56,037
and what effect
has it had on you?

1268
01:12:56,117 --> 01:12:57,677
I think it calms you down.

1269
01:12:57,757 --> 01:12:59,237
It's hard to tell

1270
01:12:59,317 --> 01:13:01,357
because it was so
different life out there.

1271
01:13:01,437 --> 01:13:03,037
It'd be easy to tell
now that I'm back

1272
01:13:03,117 --> 01:13:04,877
and we're doing
some ordinary thing

1273
01:13:04,957 --> 01:13:06,877
to see just what it does.

1274
01:13:09,557 --> 01:13:12,517
They were four working
class guys from Liverpool.

1275
01:13:12,597 --> 01:13:16,237
They had an innate sense of
not being taken advantage of.

1276
01:13:16,317 --> 01:13:17,957
So when they get
together with Maharishi,

1277
01:13:18,037 --> 01:13:21,717
Maharishi is inevitably
tempted to capitalise

1278
01:13:21,797 --> 01:13:25,157
on his sudden worldwide fame

1279
01:13:25,237 --> 01:13:26,917
because of The
Beatles association.

1280
01:13:28,277 --> 01:13:30,437
They realise that
maybe Maharishi

1281
01:13:30,517 --> 01:13:33,077
had been using them all
along for publicity,

1282
01:13:33,157 --> 01:13:35,077
ever since the final record,

1283
01:13:35,157 --> 01:13:38,197
that was "by The Beatles
Spiritual Teacher,"

1284
01:13:38,277 --> 01:13:40,117
it said on the album.

1285
01:13:40,197 --> 01:13:44,237
So John and George started a
think something fishy is here.

1286
01:13:44,317 --> 01:13:46,077
He's using us for publicity.

1287
01:13:47,797 --> 01:13:51,357
So they began to hear little
bits of news here and there,

1288
01:13:51,437 --> 01:13:52,997
from the grapevine of, you know,

1289
01:13:53,077 --> 01:13:55,437
your Maharishi's planning
this and planning that,

1290
01:13:55,517 --> 01:13:58,597
and you're gonna be in it
and they're going, "Are we?"

1291
01:13:58,677 --> 01:14:01,997
Maharishi kept promising ABC

1292
01:14:02,077 --> 01:14:04,877
that he would do a
special with The Beatles.

1293
01:14:04,957 --> 01:14:06,317
And The Beatles kept saying,

1294
01:14:06,397 --> 01:14:08,037
"We're not gonna
do this special,"

1295
01:14:08,117 --> 01:14:11,677
but Maharishi kept
promising it over and over.

1296
01:14:11,757 --> 01:14:13,597
There comes a time in late '67,

1297
01:14:13,677 --> 01:14:15,677
when Paul and
George go to Sweden,

1298
01:14:15,757 --> 01:14:18,677
basically to tell the Maharishi
to cool a bit, you know.

1299
01:14:18,757 --> 01:14:20,997
"Don't start making
plans that involve us

1300
01:14:21,077 --> 01:14:22,637
without telling us first."

1301
01:14:22,717 --> 01:14:24,077
We're glad to have you here.

1302
01:14:24,157 --> 01:14:25,397
- Thank you.
- Thank you.

1303
01:14:25,477 --> 01:14:28,077
We do appreciate
your music and...

1304
01:14:29,557 --> 01:14:30,437
That's a posy, yes?

1305
01:14:30,517 --> 01:14:32,517
The smell of the flowers.

1306
01:14:32,597 --> 01:14:34,957
We only decided
to come yesterday,

1307
01:14:35,037 --> 01:14:37,557
just to pop over to
have a little chat.

1308
01:14:37,637 --> 01:14:38,917
Yes, yes.

1309
01:14:38,997 --> 01:14:41,037
And when The Beatles
were in Rishikesh,

1310
01:14:41,117 --> 01:14:44,397
he, without their knowledge
was having the discussions

1311
01:14:44,477 --> 01:14:45,917
with a Hollywood film company

1312
01:14:45,997 --> 01:14:48,317
called Four Star International.

1313
01:14:52,317 --> 01:14:54,237
Maharishi promised them

1314
01:14:54,317 --> 01:14:56,437
that they could have
exclusive rights

1315
01:14:56,517 --> 01:15:00,557
to make a film about Maharishi
and about Maharishi's guru.

1316
01:15:00,637 --> 01:15:03,077
But unfortunately, Maharishi
made the same promise

1317
01:15:03,157 --> 01:15:04,557
to someone else.

1318
01:15:04,637 --> 01:15:08,037
He had given rights to
Four Star Productions.

1319
01:15:08,117 --> 01:15:11,997
The lawyer arrived in Rishikesh
with a signed contract.

1320
01:15:12,077 --> 01:15:15,037
They gave exclusive
rights to film Maharishi

1321
01:15:15,117 --> 01:15:17,477
for the next five years.

1322
01:15:19,157 --> 01:15:22,397
Some suits arrive from
Hollywood and a crew,

1323
01:15:22,477 --> 01:15:24,677
and John and George were going,

1324
01:15:24,757 --> 01:15:27,077
"We didn't want this, you
know we are here to meditate,

1325
01:15:27,157 --> 01:15:29,237
we don't want these
film people here."

1326
01:15:29,317 --> 01:15:31,477
And there was a
confrontation with Maharishi

1327
01:15:31,557 --> 01:15:33,837
about, "Why you're doing
this, we told you not to"

1328
01:15:35,317 --> 01:15:36,917
In any case,

1329
01:15:36,997 --> 01:15:39,117
The Beatles became quite
disillusioned about that.

1330
01:15:39,197 --> 01:15:41,917
The film was really
kind of a deal breaker,

1331
01:15:41,997 --> 01:15:43,437
and they got very angry

1332
01:15:43,517 --> 01:15:46,517
because they had been
granted exclusive rights

1333
01:15:46,597 --> 01:15:49,517
to do this film, and now
another film company is there.

1334
01:15:49,597 --> 01:15:51,157
So the whole thing
just fell apart.

1335
01:15:56,277 --> 01:15:58,157
I don't know what
happened, I still don't know.

1336
01:15:58,237 --> 01:16:01,397
But I know there many rumours
around, but John said,

1337
01:16:01,477 --> 01:16:04,477
"That's it we're, we're
going, were going."

1338
01:16:04,557 --> 01:16:08,397
But I know John wants to come
back to England and see Yoko,

1339
01:16:08,477 --> 01:16:11,797
and so any little excuse
and John was ready to go,

1340
01:16:11,877 --> 01:16:13,357
'cause we'd been
there for weeks.

1341
01:16:14,717 --> 01:16:16,877
Well, it was only
John who was upset.

1342
01:16:16,957 --> 01:16:19,277
John dragged George along.

1343
01:16:19,357 --> 01:16:21,997
And I still think it
was when Magic Alex came

1344
01:16:22,077 --> 01:16:23,517
from the Apple Corps group.

1345
01:16:27,437 --> 01:16:30,957
Alexis Margas was one of
The Beatles associates.

1346
01:16:31,037 --> 01:16:33,117
In fact, he was
very close to John,

1347
01:16:33,197 --> 01:16:35,757
and sort of attached
himself to John's hip,

1348
01:16:35,837 --> 01:16:38,517
and Cynthia really
didn't like Alexis.

1349
01:16:38,597 --> 01:16:42,117
She was very concerned about
this Svengali influence

1350
01:16:42,197 --> 01:16:44,557
that he was having on John.

1351
01:16:44,637 --> 01:16:48,477
John had introduced
Alex as, "My new guru."

1352
01:16:48,557 --> 01:16:51,557
He was this electronics marvel.

1353
01:16:51,637 --> 01:16:53,837
Supposedly, he
introduced himself

1354
01:16:53,917 --> 01:16:57,397
as somebody who is like
Edison and Marconi combined,

1355
01:16:57,477 --> 01:17:00,597
but in fact, he was
just a TV repairman.

1356
01:17:00,677 --> 01:17:02,557
He's just a friend of
ours who's in electronics.

1357
01:17:02,597 --> 01:17:04,237
Oh yeah.

1358
01:17:04,317 --> 01:17:06,597
He's called Alex, and he's
great, he's a Greek fella.

1359
01:17:06,677 --> 01:17:08,053
-And he's invented things-
-You know he's Greek.

1360
01:17:08,077 --> 01:17:10,037
He's invented incredible things.

1361
01:17:11,717 --> 01:17:13,557
He was a minx,
yeah, naughty, little boy.

1362
01:17:13,637 --> 01:17:15,997
You see, he wanted to
have power over John,

1363
01:17:16,077 --> 01:17:18,917
so he would, you know,
create all these things,

1364
01:17:18,997 --> 01:17:20,557
pretending he's a scientist.

1365
01:17:20,637 --> 01:17:22,717
He said, "Oh, here's this
one from new wallpaper,

1366
01:17:22,797 --> 01:17:24,277
but it's all speakers,

1367
01:17:24,357 --> 01:17:27,637
so the whole room will
have this one big speaker."

1368
01:17:27,717 --> 01:17:30,637
So he loved all that,
controlling John.

1369
01:17:30,717 --> 01:17:33,877
So clearly and obviously
Maharishi was in the way.

1370
01:17:34,877 --> 01:17:36,477
One night, John and Maharishi

1371
01:17:36,557 --> 01:17:38,437
were having this
wonderful rapport,

1372
01:17:38,517 --> 01:17:40,957
and I, you know how
you can see sometimes

1373
01:17:41,037 --> 01:17:43,877
when a person let's the
mask drop from their face,

1374
01:17:43,957 --> 01:17:47,557
and I could see this
really dislike of Maharishi

1375
01:17:47,637 --> 01:17:49,597
on Magic Alex's face.

1376
01:17:49,677 --> 01:17:52,757
It disturbed me and I felt
something was going wrong.

1377
01:17:54,037 --> 01:17:56,437
No one ever saw him meditating.

1378
01:17:56,517 --> 01:17:57,637
And as a matter of fact,

1379
01:17:57,717 --> 01:18:00,237
he admitted that
he came to India

1380
01:18:00,317 --> 01:18:04,117
for the purpose of getting The
Beatles away from Maharishi.

1381
01:18:04,197 --> 01:18:08,997
Alexis said, "Oh, it's because
we don't want Maharishi

1382
01:18:10,757 --> 01:18:14,277
to have that much
influence over the boys."

1383
01:18:16,397 --> 01:18:19,277
I'm totally
convinced that Magic Alex

1384
01:18:19,357 --> 01:18:22,437
made a friend of one of the
young women at the ashram,

1385
01:18:22,517 --> 01:18:25,597
and he got her to
tell John Lennon

1386
01:18:25,677 --> 01:18:28,157
that she was having
sex with Maharishi.

1387
01:18:28,237 --> 01:18:30,317
Is this just horrified all of us

1388
01:18:30,397 --> 01:18:31,797
when this whole thing happened.

1389
01:18:33,117 --> 01:18:35,957
I believe that
Maharishi made a pass.

1390
01:18:36,037 --> 01:18:37,637
And the reason I believe it

1391
01:18:37,717 --> 01:18:41,157
is because he made a pass
at many women that I knew.

1392
01:18:41,237 --> 01:18:43,357
Wasn't the first
or the last one.

1393
01:18:44,917 --> 01:18:46,797
Well I remember
Maharishi saying that, you know,

1394
01:18:46,877 --> 01:18:48,437
"If you haven't an
ugly woman over here,

1395
01:18:48,477 --> 01:18:50,557
and a beautiful
woman over there,

1396
01:18:50,637 --> 01:18:52,077
it's just easier
for your attention

1397
01:18:52,157 --> 01:18:53,477
to go to the more beautiful."

1398
01:18:56,637 --> 01:18:59,037
John and George
didn't believe it at first,

1399
01:18:59,117 --> 01:19:01,157
but finally Alexis
convinced them

1400
01:19:02,557 --> 01:19:04,757
and then went and got
taxis for all of them

1401
01:19:04,837 --> 01:19:06,637
before they could
change their mind.

1402
01:19:08,317 --> 01:19:10,957
While they were waiting
for the taxis, John wrote,

1403
01:19:11,037 --> 01:19:13,717
"Maharishi, Maharishi,
what have you done?

1404
01:19:13,797 --> 01:19:15,997
You made a fool of everyone."

1405
01:19:16,077 --> 01:19:18,957
The song had a lot
of expletives in it,

1406
01:19:19,037 --> 01:19:23,197
and George said, "You can't
say that, that's ridiculous"

1407
01:19:23,277 --> 01:19:26,637
So John changed the
lyrics to "Sexy Sadie."

1408
01:19:28,317 --> 01:19:30,517
Yeah, "Sexy Sadie," it was
actually called "Maharishi."

1409
01:19:30,597 --> 01:19:32,437
And it was a put
down in the Maharishi

1410
01:19:32,517 --> 01:19:34,557
in very vicious terms.

1411
01:19:34,637 --> 01:19:36,357
I don't think the
chance of it getting out

1412
01:19:36,437 --> 01:19:39,077
with the words that
John had originally,

1413
01:19:39,157 --> 01:19:40,757
but basically denounces him

1414
01:19:40,837 --> 01:19:42,157
and says he was
a bit of a rogue.

1415
01:19:44,637 --> 01:19:46,917
John dragged George along

1416
01:19:46,997 --> 01:19:50,157
and then he just
bolted from the ashram.

1417
01:19:50,237 --> 01:19:52,117
I think Maharishi was a mistake.

1418
01:19:52,197 --> 01:19:53,517
What do you
mean he was a mistake?

1419
01:19:53,597 --> 01:19:55,237
We made a mistake.

1420
01:19:55,317 --> 01:19:57,093
We thought there was more
to him than there was,

1421
01:19:57,117 --> 01:19:59,837
you know, but he's human,

1422
01:19:59,917 --> 01:20:01,357
and for a while we
thought he wasn't,

1423
01:20:01,397 --> 01:20:02,957
you know, thought he was a.

1424
01:20:35,197 --> 01:20:36,917
The Beatles, they
were opening us up

1425
01:20:36,997 --> 01:20:40,157
to different experiences
in various ways, you know.

1426
01:20:40,237 --> 01:20:43,277
Indian philosophy
and Indian music.

1427
01:20:43,357 --> 01:20:44,917
And then when they
went to Rishikesh,

1428
01:20:44,997 --> 01:20:47,597
you know, it was the
idea of Indian travel.

1429
01:20:47,677 --> 01:20:51,117
It's like, "Wow, looks
nice over there, you know,

1430
01:20:51,197 --> 01:20:53,397
they're enjoying themselves
in the sunshine."

1431
01:20:55,717 --> 01:20:58,837
There'd been a hippie trail,
an embryonic hippie trail,

1432
01:20:58,917 --> 01:21:01,357
in the early sixties, a
few people had gone out.

1433
01:21:01,437 --> 01:21:04,237
The whole point being
that you drove over land,

1434
01:21:04,317 --> 01:21:07,997
the ultimate destination was
in fact Katmandu in Nepal.

1435
01:21:08,077 --> 01:21:11,277
I'm sure The Beatles inspired
lots of people to go,

1436
01:21:11,357 --> 01:21:13,437
because this little
trickle of people

1437
01:21:13,517 --> 01:21:16,677
on the hippie trail beforehand
suddenly turned into a flood.

1438
01:21:20,397 --> 01:21:22,597
Did you enjoy
the trip over to India?

1439
01:21:22,677 --> 01:21:26,877
Yes, The journey was terrible,
but the trip was all right.

1440
01:21:26,957 --> 01:21:28,877
There was a report that we get

1441
01:21:28,957 --> 01:21:29,717
-we got a very bad report-
-Yeah its true,

1442
01:21:29,797 --> 01:21:30,797
we smashed him.

1443
01:21:32,597 --> 01:21:34,037
You didn't like him,

1444
01:21:34,117 --> 01:21:35,773
or you didn't have the patience
and decided to go home.

1445
01:21:35,797 --> 01:21:38,357
We were there four month
so, George and I were.

1446
01:21:38,437 --> 01:21:40,637
Did you think
this man was on the level?

1447
01:21:40,717 --> 01:21:42,397
I don't know what level he's on,

1448
01:21:42,477 --> 01:21:46,197
but we had a nice holiday in
India and came back and rested.

1449
01:21:48,597 --> 01:21:51,117
Maharishi looked visibly frail

1450
01:21:51,197 --> 01:21:53,957
and without his
usual effervescence.

1451
01:21:55,277 --> 01:21:57,797
His brilliant and
beautiful yogic radiance

1452
01:21:57,877 --> 01:22:01,037
was reduced to
grey and to ashen.

1453
01:22:01,117 --> 01:22:02,677
He became physically sick

1454
01:22:02,757 --> 01:22:06,197
when the chorus moved
from Rishikesh to Kashmir.

1455
01:22:07,557 --> 01:22:09,557
He's still a nice fella,
and everybody's fine,

1456
01:22:09,637 --> 01:22:11,717
but we don't go out
with him anymore.

1457
01:22:13,277 --> 01:22:15,757
When the Rishikesh
experience finished,

1458
01:22:15,837 --> 01:22:18,517
Paul, John and Ringo
just kind of carried on,

1459
01:22:18,597 --> 01:22:20,277
resumed with their lives,

1460
01:22:20,357 --> 01:22:23,437
but for George, India was
never a five minute thing.

1461
01:22:23,517 --> 01:22:26,077
India was a lifetime devotion.

1462
01:22:26,157 --> 01:22:27,557
And he wasn't just
gonna give it up

1463
01:22:27,637 --> 01:22:29,637
because of the way
that Rishikesh finished

1464
01:22:29,717 --> 01:22:31,477
with a bit of a sour taste.

1465
01:22:31,557 --> 01:22:33,997
India for him was something
that he continued to push.

1466
01:22:36,597 --> 01:22:38,877
George didn't
want to go back to London.

1467
01:22:38,957 --> 01:22:41,037
George was still
in meditation mode,

1468
01:22:41,117 --> 01:22:43,837
and he didn't want to go
straight back to see the press.

1469
01:22:43,917 --> 01:22:46,677
So he said, "Let's go down
to Kerala, just for a week."

1470
01:22:48,277 --> 01:22:50,317
And it was very calm
then, and then, you know,

1471
01:22:50,397 --> 01:22:54,517
he wanted to slowly come
back into the business life,

1472
01:22:54,597 --> 01:22:57,957
as it were, in London,
slowly, in his way.

1473
01:23:01,117 --> 01:23:02,357
I mean, because everybody,

1474
01:23:02,437 --> 01:23:04,797
all of a sudden
became an individual.

1475
01:23:04,877 --> 01:23:08,517
John, Paul, Ringo and George.

1476
01:23:08,597 --> 01:23:12,117
The Maharishi phase
faded out, you know,

1477
01:23:12,197 --> 01:23:15,557
but the Indian aesthetics
and the etiquettes

1478
01:23:15,637 --> 01:23:17,277
remained with everybody.

1479
01:23:17,357 --> 01:23:20,397
Using the influence of
Indian music and the culture.

1480
01:23:22,277 --> 01:23:24,837
You know, when you look
back at The Beatles story

1481
01:23:24,917 --> 01:23:28,597
on their return to the
UK in the spring of 1968,

1482
01:23:28,677 --> 01:23:30,317
there was still the comradery

1483
01:23:30,397 --> 01:23:33,437
that saw them through the
madness of Beatlemania.

1484
01:23:33,517 --> 01:23:35,797
Soon to dissolve as
the fraught sessions

1485
01:23:35,877 --> 01:23:37,957
of "The White Album" began.

1486
01:23:38,037 --> 01:23:41,477
Working separately most of
the time and not as a unit,

1487
01:23:41,557 --> 01:23:44,437
and with Ringo quitting the
band for a short period,

1488
01:23:44,517 --> 01:23:47,517
remarkably, they delivered
what many would call

1489
01:23:47,597 --> 01:23:49,197
one of their greatest albums.

1490
01:23:50,757 --> 01:23:52,117
When The Beatles were in India,

1491
01:23:52,197 --> 01:23:54,077
Maharishi told them,

1492
01:23:54,157 --> 01:23:57,237
if they don't continue
meditating regularly

1493
01:23:57,317 --> 01:23:58,877
their band would break up.

1494
01:24:03,317 --> 01:24:05,517
Now, does this mean a business

1495
01:24:05,597 --> 01:24:08,397
or emotional split
within The Beatles?

1496
01:24:08,477 --> 01:24:10,037
I should think a bit of both.

1497
01:24:10,117 --> 01:24:12,117
It's probably to do with
growing up and to do with

1498
01:24:12,197 --> 01:24:13,693
there was a time when there
were just four of them

1499
01:24:13,717 --> 01:24:16,117
but now they're married
and there are children.

1500
01:24:26,157 --> 01:24:29,437
I was born in 1971.

1501
01:24:29,517 --> 01:24:33,357
Same time around when
Beatles broke up.

1502
01:24:33,437 --> 01:24:34,717
I mean, even like,

1503
01:24:34,797 --> 01:24:38,397
I guess it's about 50
odd years or something,

1504
01:24:38,477 --> 01:24:40,597
it still sounds fresh.

1505
01:24:40,677 --> 01:24:42,277
It sounds amazing.

1506
01:24:43,397 --> 01:24:44,717
The world would have been like,

1507
01:24:44,797 --> 01:24:47,357
so shit without them, you know?

1508
01:24:47,437 --> 01:24:49,677
The world is so much
better to live in

1509
01:24:49,757 --> 01:24:50,997
with that music around.

1510
01:24:52,597 --> 01:24:54,557
The songs that they made
in India, in Rishikesh,

1511
01:24:54,637 --> 01:24:56,877
I had no idea and out of them

1512
01:24:56,957 --> 01:24:59,797
some of the songs like
"Blackbird," like "Dear Prudence,"

1513
01:24:59,877 --> 01:25:01,437
like these are some of the songs

1514
01:25:01,517 --> 01:25:04,797
that I used to perform in
my old band in Chennai.

1515
01:25:04,877 --> 01:25:07,557
To have known that they have
written these songs in India,

1516
01:25:07,637 --> 01:25:09,597
it just gave it so
much more meaning

1517
01:25:09,677 --> 01:25:11,917
because I used to
connect to these songs

1518
01:25:11,997 --> 01:25:13,557
as a classical musician,

1519
01:25:13,637 --> 01:25:16,597
more than a person who
loves English music.

1520
01:25:18,157 --> 01:25:19,757
I was born in '74,

1521
01:25:19,837 --> 01:25:22,677
so for me to get to know The
Beatles happened much later.

1522
01:25:22,757 --> 01:25:25,477
We were not really born at
the time when the dressing,

1523
01:25:25,557 --> 01:25:27,957
how a Beatles haircut or
the dress that they wore

1524
01:25:28,037 --> 01:25:30,837
really attracted us, I
mean, we didn't see that.

1525
01:25:30,917 --> 01:25:33,917
We only heard the music.
It's purely the music.

1526
01:25:33,997 --> 01:25:37,077
It sounded very
simple, very catchy,

1527
01:25:37,157 --> 01:25:39,637
and you could, you know,
have a high recall.

1528
01:25:39,717 --> 01:25:42,117
So whenever you heard a
song, you would remember it.

1529
01:25:42,197 --> 01:25:44,717
But when you sat
down to work on it,

1530
01:25:44,797 --> 01:25:47,077
to try and see if you
can sing that song,

1531
01:25:47,157 --> 01:25:50,397
that is when you realise
the complexity of it.

1532
01:25:50,477 --> 01:25:52,877
I don't know how it was
appreciated when it was released,

1533
01:25:52,957 --> 01:25:55,917
but it's something that
is still relevant today.

1534
01:26:05,237 --> 01:26:07,517
They came to see, in
the fullness of time,

1535
01:26:07,597 --> 01:26:09,037
in particular, in George's case,

1536
01:26:09,117 --> 01:26:12,117
George discovered from
gathering evidence

1537
01:26:12,197 --> 01:26:15,317
what exactly happened at the
end of their stay in Rishikesh,

1538
01:26:15,397 --> 01:26:17,037
and how Alexis Margas,

1539
01:26:17,117 --> 01:26:19,957
Magic Alex had cooked
up this whole thing.

1540
01:26:21,237 --> 01:26:23,357
George always loved Maharishi,

1541
01:26:23,437 --> 01:26:24,997
and toward the end of his life

1542
01:26:25,077 --> 01:26:26,797
he went back to see Maharishi.

1543
01:26:28,117 --> 01:26:30,197
George said to Maharishi,

1544
01:26:30,277 --> 01:26:32,477
"I came to apologise"

1545
01:26:32,557 --> 01:26:35,917
and Maharishi asked "For what?"

1546
01:26:35,997 --> 01:26:38,717
And George replied,
"You know, for what."

1547
01:26:40,197 --> 01:26:42,597
Maharishi apparently
said to George,

1548
01:26:42,677 --> 01:26:46,037
he believed that The
Beatles were angels on earth

1549
01:26:46,117 --> 01:26:48,877
and that they were not guilty
of any crime themselves.

1550
01:26:48,957 --> 01:26:51,037
So when George came
away from that meeting,

1551
01:26:51,117 --> 01:26:53,517
he felt cleansed of his guilt

1552
01:26:53,597 --> 01:26:56,877
of the method of their
departure back in 1968.

1553
01:26:58,997 --> 01:27:00,357
I got into India,

1554
01:27:00,437 --> 01:27:02,797
I think that was the
one thing in my life

1555
01:27:02,877 --> 01:27:05,117
that I could have done
without everything else,

1556
01:27:05,197 --> 01:27:10,117
but that one thing of getting
in touch with what's inside

1557
01:27:10,197 --> 01:27:13,357
through Maharishi and Ravi
Shankar and indie music.

1558
01:27:15,677 --> 01:27:18,517
And as for the others,
well they all warmed again

1559
01:27:18,597 --> 01:27:22,037
to the culture and the
spirituality of India.

1560
01:27:22,117 --> 01:27:23,637
The only way we can
change the system

1561
01:27:23,717 --> 01:27:25,717
is by changing it non-violently,

1562
01:27:25,797 --> 01:27:28,157
because they've done the
violent for millions of years.

1563
01:27:28,237 --> 01:27:30,557
I think the only way to
do it is Gandhi's way,

1564
01:27:30,637 --> 01:27:33,157
and that's nonviolent,
passive, positive,

1565
01:27:33,237 --> 01:27:34,637
or whatever they
call it these days.

1566
01:27:36,597 --> 01:27:40,397
John Lennon spoke kindly of
Maharishi in other interviews.

1567
01:27:40,477 --> 01:27:42,997
Ringo and Paul have
both said the same,

1568
01:27:43,077 --> 01:27:45,997
everything became okay
again, in the end.

1569
01:27:47,557 --> 01:27:50,197
Years ago, we studied
meditation with the Maharishi.

1570
01:27:50,277 --> 01:27:51,957
He was one of the ones
that wasn't a fake.

1571
01:27:52,037 --> 01:27:53,373
There were a lot of
them around that time

1572
01:27:53,397 --> 01:27:55,357
who were into Rolls
Royces and chicks.

1573
01:27:55,437 --> 01:27:57,117
He wasn't one of them.

1574
01:27:57,197 --> 01:27:58,997
I actually met him
quite recently.

1575
01:27:59,077 --> 01:28:00,597
He lives in the Netherlands now,

1576
01:28:00,677 --> 01:28:05,397
and I took Stella, my daughter
and James, my son with me.

1577
01:28:06,397 --> 01:28:07,797
And he is a spry old codger,

1578
01:28:07,877 --> 01:28:09,877
he in his eighties and
he's still working,

1579
01:28:09,957 --> 01:28:10,957
he's still going.

1580
01:28:19,917 --> 01:28:23,477
The day when Maharishi
died, there was a big storm.

1581
01:28:25,997 --> 01:28:29,237
The water from the river
Ganges came whirling up

1582
01:28:30,677 --> 01:28:33,317
and it showered in this area.

1583
01:28:33,397 --> 01:28:35,237
The local folks who
came here to pay

1584
01:28:35,317 --> 01:28:37,317
their tributes to
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

1585
01:28:37,397 --> 01:28:39,157
were amazed to see this
supernatural thing.

1586
01:28:39,237 --> 01:28:41,837
It was a power of Maharishi

1587
01:28:41,917 --> 01:28:45,317
which brought Gunga on
this top of mountain.

1588
01:28:54,397 --> 01:28:56,157
When I first came
here 10 years ago,

1589
01:28:56,237 --> 01:28:59,157
this was just jungle,
ruins and jungle.

1590
01:28:59,237 --> 01:29:00,613
And we would sneak
in through the back,

1591
01:29:00,637 --> 01:29:02,197
there were cracks in the wall,

1592
01:29:02,277 --> 01:29:04,677
and you would smoke pot
and see leopards at night.

1593
01:29:04,757 --> 01:29:07,237
This is what people did.

1594
01:29:07,317 --> 01:29:10,037
So I take tourists into the
ashram, I show them everything,

1595
01:29:10,117 --> 01:29:13,117
and I'm trying to bring
them back into 1968

1596
01:29:13,197 --> 01:29:15,797
and give them some of the
experience of The Beatles here.

1597
01:29:17,477 --> 01:29:19,173
Tourists that come here,
they really appreciate it.

1598
01:29:19,197 --> 01:29:22,077
They really appreciate to
have the sense for The Beatles

1599
01:29:22,157 --> 01:29:24,957
as a historical entity.

1600
01:29:28,237 --> 01:29:30,557
My experience when I went
to The Beatles ashram

1601
01:29:30,637 --> 01:29:32,517
was super magical.

1602
01:29:32,597 --> 01:29:34,677
These huge superstars,

1603
01:29:34,757 --> 01:29:37,717
you wouldn't really think that
they'd go to a really simple,

1604
01:29:37,797 --> 01:29:41,117
no-frills ashram in Rishikesh.

1605
01:29:44,037 --> 01:29:45,997
The most exciting
thing about music

1606
01:29:46,077 --> 01:29:49,837
is the way that it has the
capacity to shift cultural norms

1607
01:29:49,917 --> 01:29:51,637
and expand people's minds,

1608
01:29:51,717 --> 01:29:54,357
and in India, that's
exactly what The Beatles did

1609
01:29:54,437 --> 01:29:57,197
by bridging the gap
between East and West

1610
01:29:57,277 --> 01:30:00,117
in a country that was very
much under this, you know,

1611
01:30:00,197 --> 01:30:03,317
dark cloud of colonial rule.

1612
01:30:03,397 --> 01:30:07,157
Which in many ways created
a culture of apology

1613
01:30:07,237 --> 01:30:11,717
for being Indian and a reverence
for whatever was foreign.

1614
01:30:11,797 --> 01:30:13,557
That what was so powerful

1615
01:30:13,637 --> 01:30:17,397
is for the most powerful
band in the world

1616
01:30:17,477 --> 01:30:19,797
to come and revere our culture.

1617
01:30:21,277 --> 01:30:23,597
They had descended in
our part of the country,

1618
01:30:23,677 --> 01:30:26,997
and they had embraced the
spiritual narrative of India,

1619
01:30:27,077 --> 01:30:28,317
and they had come to Rishikesh,

1620
01:30:28,397 --> 01:30:32,117
and there were images
of them with Mahesh Yogi

1621
01:30:32,197 --> 01:30:36,997
and then suddenly we
look, they are one of us.

1622
01:30:39,197 --> 01:30:40,517
As kids, as Indian
kids, you know,

1623
01:30:40,557 --> 01:30:42,237
we're always rebelling
against our culture.

1624
01:30:42,317 --> 01:30:43,693
And then you realise
that like something

1625
01:30:43,717 --> 01:30:45,957
that is so influential
in pop culture,

1626
01:30:46,037 --> 01:30:48,157
took a lot of
influence from India.

1627
01:30:48,237 --> 01:30:51,557
My introduction to them
was I happened to be part

1628
01:30:51,637 --> 01:30:54,237
of the age of
illegal downloading,

1629
01:30:54,317 --> 01:30:56,197
at the time of like
Napster and stuff.

1630
01:30:56,277 --> 01:30:59,037
We used to have "The
White Album" on CD.

1631
01:30:59,117 --> 01:31:01,077
That was my first
introduction to The Beatles.

1632
01:31:01,157 --> 01:31:03,237
We still felt it's influence

1633
01:31:03,317 --> 01:31:06,957
even though we were born like
in the eighties and nineties.

1634
01:31:07,037 --> 01:31:09,437
India is considered this
place where you could go

1635
01:31:09,517 --> 01:31:12,357
for a spiritual
awakening, for meditation,

1636
01:31:12,437 --> 01:31:14,957
so I think The Beatles came
to India to look for that.

1637
01:31:15,037 --> 01:31:16,997
And in some ways they
really did find that.

1638
01:31:21,237 --> 01:31:23,597
I guess that's a small gift
that India gave the world

1639
01:31:23,677 --> 01:31:25,197
through The Beatles.

1640
01:31:29,197 --> 01:31:30,677
The happiest time in life,

1641
01:31:30,757 --> 01:31:33,277
one of the happiest
times was in India.

1642
01:31:33,357 --> 01:31:35,637
I mean, it was
just such a groove.

1643
01:31:35,717 --> 01:31:37,517
And it was such a pure thing,

1644
01:31:37,597 --> 01:31:40,277
everything is slightly
more in perspective.

1645
01:31:41,357 --> 01:31:42,237
The whole of life

1646
01:31:42,317 --> 01:31:43,877
should be a spiritual experience

1647
01:31:43,957 --> 01:31:47,997
because we are spirits who
are just encased in bodies.

1648
01:31:48,077 --> 01:31:50,477
People forget that and think
they're just this body,

1649
01:31:50,557 --> 01:31:53,597
but we're actually
spirits in bodies.