All language subtitles for BBC - Around the world in 20 years

'Hamriyah Dock, Dubai,

'an ordinary place
with a special significance for me.'

It was on this spot 20 years ago
that myself and my film crew

stepped aboard a wooden dhow called
Al Sharma, which took us down the
Persian Gulf and across to Bombay.

It was day 18 of our series
Around The World In 80 Days.

It was a journey that was to become
one of the most unforgettable

in my 20 years of travelling.

This traditional sailing ship known
as a dhow was my home for a week.

It had no radio,
no radar, and no cabins.

We slept on deck and
steered by the sun and the stars.

We ate what the crew ate, augmented
by the occasional fish caught
on the end of a hook and line.

'Just my luck the day I'm off
my food, I got two of the biggest
fish caught.'

Our crew, all Indians from Gujarat,
soon became friends,

laughing with me or more often at
me, showing me how and what to eat,

even looking after me
when I was ill.

HE GROANS

'It certainly makes me forget
the pain I had.'

It was only when the time came
to say goodbye

that I realised how much
I was going to miss them.

I've often wondered what happened to
the Al Sharma and her crew and her
captain, with whom we shared so much

during that eight-day voyage,
so I've come back here
to try and find out.

Dubai, where our journey began,
has transformed itself in 20 years,
growing literally by the minute.

This is an offshore property scheme
to be built on sand and shale
regurgitated from the seabed.

It's a new world, at least, that's
what the developers are calling it.

Let me explain.

I'm in the Persian Gulf
but I'm standing on Great Britain,

but this Great Britain is man-made.

When it's connected up
with over 300 other islands,

it's going to be part of
a mind-boggling property complex
called, modestly, The World.

This being Dubai, they're not
stopping there, they're already

building a neighbour out there,
which is going to be called,
equally modestly, The Universe.

The dredgers and graders still have
plenty of work to do on this new

world and so far, I can't see much
resemblance to anything in my atlas.

But the higher you go,
the more it begins to make sense.

Isn't that South America
down there on the left,

and Antarctica below it?

When it comes to fantastical
schemes, Dubai already has four.

The newly-opened,
1,500-room Atlantis Hotel resort

is only one of the properties
built on a giant palm tree.

To find out what life's like on a
palm tree, I visit John Kelly Quinn,

a Liverpudlian who lives tax free
in a gated community on Frond D.

This is the family room,
which leads out to the garden,

which is obviously a beach, as you
can see, and the pool there.

You've got your pool and the sea,
choice of bathing. That's
incredible. Fantastic.

Yeah, that is the sea, isn't it?
Yeah, that's not man-made.
Everything else is.

That's quite natural.
Yeah. And all this sand, that's...

This has all been
dredged up from the seabed.

As you can see, all the signature
villas over the water there.

Yes. They're rather grander. You've
got a lot of stars who live here.

Footballers? Lots of footballers.

Yeah? Beckham. Beckham?

I believe he's got a villa
here as well.

Simon Cowell, I believe has
got one here, Madonna. Oh.

I've never seen them.

Yeah. I'm looking forward to it.

Probably no Sheffield United
players. I'm sorry, Mike.

Modesty is not a word
you hear much in Dubai.

In the 20 years
since I was last here,

this has become a city
hooked on superlatives.

Anything the rest of the world
can spend, Dubai can spend more.

Anything the world can build,
Dubai can build bigger.

This is the tallest building in the
world, about 700 metres right now.

That's about 2,200 feet,

and most people are speculating

that it's going to get up about
3,000 feet or about 900 metres.

Dubai has been called
Las Vegas on steroids.

There seems no limit
to its vaunting ambition

as it sets about creating
the city of the future.

In Dubai, nothing is impossible.
Whatever you want, you can have.

The last time I skied was ten years
ago in America,

but who needs the Rockies when you
can have a metre of fresh-laid snow

every day of the year,

even when the temperature outside
is hot enough to fry an egg.

They don't manufacture much
in Dubai but snow they do make,

30 tons a day, 10,000 tons a year.

Is this a miracle or a flagrant
waste of the earth's resources?

I'll think about that
as I go shopping.

The Emiratis love shopping.

They've turned their traditional
souks and bazaars

into state of the art
temples of consumerism

to which foreigners and locals alike
are irresistibly drawn.

Dubai hopes to attract ten million
tourists a year by 2010.

The symbol of their ambition

is the iconic and exclusive
Burj Al Arab Hotel.

At its gala opening, Tiger Woods
hit a golf ball off the helipad.

Forget five star, the Burj Al Arab
is a seven-star hotel.

And they should know,
they awarded the stars themselves.

Of course, there is a price to pay.

Welcome to your Presidential Suite.

Fantastic. This way is the
living room with the private cinema.

Hm, private cinema. Indeed, yes.

How much would this...? Ha!
There's a bar in every room.

How much would a place like this
set you back

if I wanted to stay for a week, say?

It is �10,000 a night.

A night? �10,000 a night, mm.

And if I wanted to stay
an hour, do a special rate?

No.

To get over the shock,
I head for the bar...

high on the 27th floor.

It seems a bit unexciting
to have a beer here, I know, because

I've just seen
the Presidential Suite.

Yeah. At �10,000 a night,
so people have something a bit more
exotic here, do they?

People actually what having here is
the world's most expensive cocktail

we have on offer.

I would expect you would
in a hotel like this.

It's a very Dubai thing
that, isn't it?

To have the biggest and most
expensive, so what's in
the world's most expensive cocktail?

It's made with 55-years-old
McClelland single malt Scotch whisky,

and the idea behind is to have
a really outstanding extraordinary

cocktail and the name,
for instance, is 27-321.

That symbolises the height
of Burj Al Arab, 321 metres,

and it's served on 27th floor
where we're sitting now in our bar.

So the name is the price
and the price is the name.

The price is the name,
that's �27,321?

Dirhams. Oh, dirhams. Oh, well.

In pounds, it's about �3,800. Yeah?

For a 55-year-old Scotch?

I mean, that's daylight robbery.

In the heart of the city
by the waterway they call The Creek,

I'm relieved to find that there is
something left of the Dubai

I remember 20 years ago.

Although the new city shimmers
in the background,

I've chosen to stay at one of oldest
hotels in Dubai,

it's been here over 30 years.

It's from here that I shall plan
the next step of my mission

to track down the Al Sharma
and the crew I got to know so well.

I've brought the original film
out with me, and it's here that
there are some important clues.

'And you, everyone here,
is from the same part of India.'

'Same country. Kutch Mandvi, yeah.'

Kutch Mandvi, that's
the nearest thing to an address.

I know that Kutch is in
the northern part of India,

and Mandvi is a town on its coast.

That evening, I find myself
thinking about my old friends.

Do they still live in Kutch Mandvi?
Are they alive or dead?

20 years is a long time.

I have a useful lead.

Close to the public beach on the
downmarket side of the Burj Al Arab

is the offshore sailing club where
I'm to meet a Captain Bill Nelson.

As head of Ports And Customs
20 years ago,

Bill helped me find a dhow.

Captain Nelson is now 86
and in poor health.

Despite all that,
he agrees to talk to me.

Captain Nelson, I think you didn't
find us the dhow directly,

you got someone to help us.
That's right, Kamis, Kamis Mohammed,

my assistant at the time.
I remember Kamis, very good,
helped us get provisions.

He's a very good fellow.
Is he still around?

He is still around.

In fact, he's the boss
at the control station at Port Dubai.

So, how would I get hold of him?
Er...3-4-5-1-2-4-0.

That is the operations room.

3-4-5-1-2-4-0. OK, ops room.

They will find him for you,
of that there's no doubt.

He helped buy me a blow-up bed,
I think.

Odd thing to go around with an
Emirati buying an inflatable bed
the first day you meet him.

Yes. It was very comfortable.

'My contact Kamis,
who works at the port,

'tells me the trading season

'has just resumed
after the summer monsoon.

'There are dhows heading all
over the Gulf

'down to Somalia and Zanzibar,

'and he's found one
going my way too.'

I associate Kamis with the old port
of Dubai where we took on last
minute supplies before setting out.

It still fizzes with life.

I take an Abra,
a water taxi, across the Creek.

This is one of the few pleasures
left in Dubai that's still cheap.

The journey costs only a few pence.

I'm heading for the office
of Ports And Customs

to meet Kamis again after 20 years.

I have high hopes.

His HQ is right on the neck
of the Creek.

If Al Sharma has passed this way,
he should know.

Ah-ha, could this be the man?

Kamis. Michael.

Hey! Welcome back.

How are you? Long time. How are you?

Fine, thank you. How are you?
Well, I never!

You don't look a day older.

Thank you very much. You've got
to say the same to me now.

No, no. I'm all grey and old.
Great to see you.

You're running the customs now,
I gather.

I do. I do, and I'm an advisor now
in Dubai...

Yeah. And I hear you're married now?
Yeah, enjoyed it. How many children?

Two. Two boys. Ah, very nice.

Do you know what happened to
Al Sharma, is it still sailing?

And more importantly,
what happened to the crew?

Unfortunately,
I don't know what happened.

That was the last time,
I've seen Al Sharma and the crew.

Right. So that day 20 years ago
when we sailed away from Dubai

was the last you saw of me and
the last you saw of the boat. Yeah.

Do you know where they were from?
From Gujarat.

Gujarat, I remember that.
You will have to go to Bombay.

Then from Bombay, you have to go to
Gujarat to ask for the family
by the name of Haroum.

They are the owners. Ah.
So they will remember their name.

Probably you will be able to find...

OK. Whatever you are
looking for with them.

OK. Well, that's good.

I suppose I shouldn't expect the
pieces to fall together

just like that but I can't disguise
a touch of disappointment.

Maybe sensing this,
Kamis has laid on a surprise.

Using his influence, he's persuaded
the crew of a dhow leaving Dubai

to take me along for a ride.

Oh. Ah.

Hey. Yes!

They're Iranians, carrying a full
cargo across to Bandar-e Bushehr
on Iran's Gulf coast.

For a few hours, I can relive
what once took me a week.

'Will you write down...will you
write down...?'

Me. When I was a baby.

Well, this dhow isn't quite
as pretty as Al Sharma

and I'm only on it for an afternoon,

but already it brings back
intense feelings,

the feelings of being away
from the rest of the world...

And these guys I've only just met,
very cheerful, very friendly.

And it was extraordinary on the
other dhow during the eight days,

how mutual incomprehension in the
beginning gave way to friendship

and then genuine affection by
the end because we relied on them.

With all our technology
and our gadgets,

we depended on their seafaring
skills to get us to Bombay.

And I've never really had
a relationship like that

with any other group of people,

quite different from my own,
at any other time on my travels.

It was a unique relationship and
that's why I want to try

and find out if some of those guys
that we got to know so well

at that time are still around.

My next destination must be Mumbai,
Bombay as it was then,

and after that, Kutch Mandvi
is a strong possibility.

But I don't want to go all that way

unless I'm pretty sure
the captain and crew are there.

Whatever happens,
I need a few more answers.

'20 years ago,
I spent my first night in India

'here at the Taj Hotel, grubby
and unshaven after a week at sea.'

Welcome to the Taj, sir. Thank you.

'This time I'm greeted with
the full VIP treatment,

'garlanded with marigolds

'before being shown to the Rajput
suite, which has a famous history.'

The Rajput suite has had
quite a few celebrities

who've stayed in it over the years.

In fact John Lennon
and Yoko Ono stayed there,

and for five full nights they didn't
leave the room even once.

Please, after you. Yes. Not like
any hotel door I've ever known.

Oh, right. It's quite grand.

It is too actually.
HE CHUCKLES

I can see why he didn't want
to come out for five days.

The entire suite is in
a very Indian decor, as you can see.

Yeah. The Rajput
was a dynasty in India,

so the entire suite
is designed to give that feel.

Yes, it does, doesn't it?

So, it's unlike a hotel room,
it's like a palace, isn't it?

It's absolutely fabulous, and
the swing is very reminiscent

of the old days when queens liked
to sit and look at the ocean.

Oh, lovely, lovely.

That's amazing, I'll look
forward to that anyway.

So my bags will be sent up,
will they?

No. You're in room 276. Oh.

All right.

'News from room 276 is mixed.

'I've drawn a blank with
Kamis' contact Haroum

'but I've had a piece of luck.'

I have got a lead which comes
from the BBC files

of Around The World In 80 Days
and they tell us

that Dukaran Murji And Sons
were...the brokers

who organised Al Sharma's cargo.

I talked to a man there called
Digant Joshi and he had inherited

this business from his father, and
he reckoned that he could find out

some information about Al Sharma

and about whether the crew are still
around, which is very good news.

He said it'd take a couple of days,
he's got his business to run.

But that was, I thought, a very good
bit of news,

and hopefully something
will come through from him

in the next couple of days.

Very, very nice, it gives
me time to look around.

'This is Churchgate Station, one of
Mumbai's busiest commuter terminals.

'A lady called Jyoti Namasti
has agreed to meet me here

'and throw me into the city
at the deep end.'

How many people
cram on these trains every day?

6 million to 6.5 million people
travel every day

from north Bombay to south Bombay

and the same number back home
in the evening.

We've been described
as sardines in a box.

'But believe it or not,
this is the quiet time of day,

'the time to
see the tiffin wallahs in action.

'They carry on their heads
a half million lunchboxes

'containing hot meals
made by beautiful housewives

'for their husbands in the city.'

They will collect it,
push it on the trains in the suburbs.

It takes about half an hour
or an hour for it

to come to Churchgate Station
that you see here.

Outside the station,
the daily miracle begins.

The tiffin wallahs carry the lunches
across a busy road to be sorted.

How they're sorted is a mystery,

for the lunchboxes bear
neither names nor addresses.

The second counterpart
will take it out,

and the third man will reshuffle
all the tins away out.

That's what they're doing, that's
what the systematic chaos is.

The third man that reshuffle,
he puts two tins there,

one there, and he takes three
from there, four from there.

So they've been brought
from different suburbs,

they've been reshuffled here,
and they go to different offices.

But don't they lose the tiffin every
now and then? Not at all.

One in a trillion.
One in a trillion is lost?

American magazine Forbes says the
accuracy rate is 99.999%. Fantastic.

They have been given the Six Sigma
accuracy rate, as much as Motorola

and General Electric, and only in
Mumbai, nowhere else in the world.

They tried to call them to Italy
to have a system put there,

and they said, "Your trains are not
on time, so we can't do it."

Prince Charles was here,
he wanted to see them in action,

and he was so happy.
He gave three of them a free ticket

to come to his second marriage
to England. Really?

Do you think it's a bit selfish
of the Indian men

to expect a hot meal
every lunchtime delivered to them?

Well, it's still
a woman's privilege to cook,

and men in India...

this is a male-dominated country,
to a certain extent.

Times are changing very fast,

but then they would love
to have a hot meal.

They are a little spoilt, Indian men,

so they expect a hot
meal from the wife.

Like, I am working,
he still gets a hot meal.

It's an example of the paradox
that is Mumbai,

a state of chaos in which
everyone knows what they're doing.

Like this laundry,
to which Jyoti has brought me

for practical
as well as scenic reasons.

It's quite an extraordinary place.
This is the biggest open-air laundry

unique to Mumbai,

where the dhobis or the washermen
wash the clothes here.

There are 500 of them and this
is the biggest laundry in Mumbai.

The stone is supplied to him
by the government.

It's passed on from father to son.

They pay nothing for the stone.
He uses a cake of soap, not of a very
high quality, but see the clothes.

They're sparklingly white.

I actually had
this quite good pair of trousers

and we were filming
in Dubai on the dhow

and the dhow's absolutely covered
in tar and they're a real mess.

Could they do them here,
do you think?

Oh, yes, the dhobis do
an excellent job. Yeah.

You will see them, see the whiteness
of the clothes, see the dirty water,

and they will wash it. In five
minutes, it will dry in the hot sun.

And they iron it for you and
send it back to your hotel.

Let's see how the mark is.
Here they are, shall I show them
to you? There we are.

You see it's on the back there.

No problems. That's oil, isn't it?

It is oil. The washing machine
will not take it out, but the dhobis
will do an excellent job.

I thought I was going to have
to throw them away.

Hello, hello, erm...

Look at that, oil, I think.

Oil, tar,
is it possible to save the trousers?

Yes, he will. There he goes...

Giving them a go, yeah.

With the brush,
with the cake of soap. Yeah.

And he will hit it.

We've got at home, we've got a whole
cupboard, my wife's got stain
removers...every kind of stain.

Oh, they don't work in India.

No. This works. This works.

So, he's washed them now,
and now he's...

Hitting it on the stone,
the dirt comes out.

The buttons are broken, your wife
will have to redo the buttons.

Don't say that, I'll do them myself.
Yes, I know what you mean.

So, that's the price you pay
for getting them really clean.

Has he done it? Yes. He's putting
it in the clean water now.

He's dipped it in the clean water.

Brilliant. I wish I'd brought
all my laundry.

None of the clothes are lost.

Maybe a few buttons are broken,
that's the only thing. Yeah.

I tell you, never better. Thank you.

They've never looked cleaner.

'I return to the heart of Mumbai,

'crisp and spotless in the trouser
area to the Cafe Leopold.

'It's cheap and cheerful,
and I'm told is a favourite haunt

'of talent spotters looking for
Western extras for Bollywood films.

'Ah, my luck is in.

'All I need now is to make myself
look irresistible, but...subtly.'

Hello. Hi, there. Hi. Michael.

I'm Wasim. How are you?

I'm very well, very well. I'm
sitting waiting to be discovered.

You are? Yes, I'm told
that's what happens here.

I'm actually a coordinator myself.

Ah. Yes, I'm coordinating
for some extras in a Bollywood movie.
And what pay do they get?

They would be paid around 1,000
rupees for an eight hours' job,

normally six to eight hours.

�10?

That's slave labour.

That's 1,000 rupees and
that's a lot of money in India.

What if you have a dialogue
part, what if you've got words?

It's the same thing.
Is it? More or less, yes.

So what kind of part would you see
a 65-year-old man like me playing?

Maybe a manager, a big cog
in a big office, you know. Really?

CEO of a big company,
like Microsoft or something.

CEO, now you're talking.
CEO, that's right.

Right on. I usually only do vicars.

'I don't get the part,
our dates clashed,

'but I do get something better,

'the chance to meet one of the
legendary figures of Bollywood,

'writer producer and director
Mahesh Bhatt.

'He's currently shooting a new film

'at a beachside villa
outside Mumbai.'

Hello, Michael! Come, come.

Ah, Mahesh, what an honour
to meet you.

Thank you very much indeed.

Hello, nice to meet you.
Hello, how are you?

How was your journey, a long drive?

Yes, yes, yes. Come into my parlour.

Come into my parlour
said the spider to the fly. Ah.

The fly will be on camera.

'Mahesh Bhatt's latest film
is called Jashn, Celebration.'

The sea will not have an animal...

'The picture features Bollywood
starlet Shahana Goswami

'and Pakistani heart-throb
Humayun Saeed.'

Do you know your fellow actors?
No, we've all met for the first
time...the first time we've met.

In fact, one of them has just
been killed. Terribly sorry,
you got the part.

Oh, dear. Nothing to do with us,
was it?

It's become quite a fad to be
in this industry

and people are leaving
their investment banking jobs

and coming into, you know,
being ADs for 10,000 rupees

from the 20 like jobs.

So, it's quite inviting and I think
everyone wants to be kind of

in the field, if not necessarily
an actor or an actress, but yes,

there's a huge influx of
people coming into this world.

Silent, silent.

'Mahesh may be a Bollywood veteran
but his appetite for film seems
undiminished.'

Action.

'He's seen Bollywood evolve from
escapist song and dance spectaculars

'to more realistic dramas like
the one they're shooting today.'

Cut it...very good.

'In an industry where an on-screen
kiss was taboo for years,

'Mahesh has been a liberating,
often controversial figure.'

I am one of those film-makers
who's been accused

of introducing soft porn to
Bollywood, and I plead guilty to
that, if you call it soft porn.

If we had to seduce the consumer
into the cinema halls, we needed to
change the way we were making movies.

So we kind of eroticised our movies,

we put in this sexual component
a little more stronger

than it was used by predecessors,
and we kind of raised the bar.

Can you give me an example of this,

like you see
a couple in bed together?

Yeah, I mean you had passionate
kisses now and you also had...

premarital sex.

You also had live-in couples.

We also had a man and woman getting
into multi-partner relationship,

so all that started happening,

and that was what
the young felt comfortable with

because that was their life.

And I would say that
the younger generation

is less hypocritical
than the earlier generation.

The earlier lot wanted sex but
it wanted it through the back door.

The mantra of our predecessors

was good people fall in love,
bad people have sex.

Back in the city, I've had a call
back from my contact Digant Joshi.

He runs the biggest dhow operation
in Mumbai from his HQ in the
busy streets near Princess Dock.

His head office,
I eventually find it, is hardly what
you'd expect of a shipping mogul.

Digant's information
is not at first encouraging.

What news of Al Sharma?

Al Sharma, when you were there
20 years back,

the owner was Taled Mohammed.

They went bankrupt
and he cannot maintain the launch.

So, just eight months, nine months
back, he sold it to someone else,

and that person was taking
the launch from Veraval,

Gujarat to Jamsala for the repairing.

Hm. During that voyage,

Al Sharma sank into
the waters, six to eight months back.

So I just missed seeing it.

Just missed.
And did the crew survive?

Crew were saved by another launch...

..which was plying
along with Al Sharma.

Would this be the same crew
that I sailed with 20 years ago?

Different crew because
the owner sold it to somebody else

and all the crew were changed.

Any news of Captain Suliman
and the crew?

Captain Suliman is in Mandvi.

Kutch. Mandvi.

Mandvi has two portions, one is a
Mandvi and one is a Salaya Mandvi.

Right. Which is near the sea.

So you can go to Salaya Mandvi

and ask anybody about the captain
of Al Sharma,

Suliman,
and you can easily get about.

What's the best way
of getting to Mandvi?

You can take train from Mumbai
which goes to Bhuj. Yeah.

The train name is Kutch Express.

You can go to Bhuj and from Bhuj,
the Mandvi is 60 kilometres
away from Bhuj.

'One thing Indians take
very seriously is astrology.

'Before I leave, there's someone
I'd very much like to meet again.

'Janjit Upall was
the hotel's resident astrologer

'and when I consulted him 20 years
ago, he was uncannily accurate.'

Can you tell me now
what lies in store for me
in the next two or three months?

As it's boat sailing, it's
a pleasant journey and on schedule.

If not you may even try
to complete it ahead of schedule.

If you've lost some time,
there are more possibilities
of your recovering that time.

You are full of
a spirit of adventure.

He's agreed to give me an update.

We're hoping to try and find
the crew of Al Sharma.

Have you any idea from the charts
and what you find out

whether we will find them,
whether we'll be lucky?

Yes, you will, you will.

You will find them and you
will get interesting input too.

Will they be pleased to see me?

Very much pleased to see you.

Very much pleased to see you.

I was going to ask you about, you
know you saw me 20 years ago,

and with chart like that,

can you tell enough
to talk about my character?

Do you have any sort of
feelings about that? Yes.

According to your chart, you come
over as a very emotional person.

Very emotional, family oriented,

I would say even a spiritual person.

I mean you read more meaning to life
than what is apparent.

You question life,

and I must say that your work,
the journeys around the world

to the mountains, to north world,
Himalayas, Tibet,

it was not only a journey

to make something
spectacular which you have made,

but it was a journey within the self.

It was rediscovering yourself.

So do you think that this travelling
that I've done in the 20 years

since I saw you,
which I never expected to do,

is that part of an ongoing process?

Do you think I'll ever just say,
"Stop, that's it?"

No, it's an ongoing process.

Journeys will carry on and
you will keep travelling.

That's part of your nature.

Do you hear that, Helen? Sorry.

The journey goes on.

'The journey goes north now.

'I find myself booked on the Kutch
Express under the name of Mr Polin.

'I only hope that's me.

'The overnight sleeper will take me
northwest via Ahmedabad in Gujarat

'to the terminus at Bhuj, capital of
the old princely state of Kutch,

'close to the Pakistan border.'

I think I'm up there.

Hello, can I squeeze in? Thank you.

No, no. Thank you very much,
that's very kind.

Sit with the little girl.
A boy or girl?

Girl. A girl, yeah.

And what's your name?

Vanya. Vanya.

She loves trains. Yes.

Very good, yes.

Thank you, very good.
Thank you very much.

Five. Five, thank you.

Anyone else want one?

'As dawn breaks,
we're in Gujarat,

'home state
of the hero of Indian Independence,

'Mahatma Gandhi, and hopefully
the crew of Al Sharma as well.

'We've come a long way north
in the night to a part of India
I don't know.'

This is Gandhidham Junction because
Gandhi was born very near here

and of course he died.

He was assassinated exactly 60
years ago, the Father of India,

so, a rather important man
from the Gujarat point of view.

It's also why Gujarat is dry,
a dry state.

He encouraged the men not
to drink cos it was bad for them.

So it's dry, and from what I hear,
largely vegetarian as well.

The people are supposed to be
very jolly.

'The Kutch Express is running
over an hour late,

'but we're up country now and
no-one seems in much of a hurry.

'Nor does it help that stretches of
the railway are single track,

'though still maintained
with meticulous zeal

'not a little reminiscent
of the old days of the Raj.

'20 stops and 15 hours
after leaving Mumbai,

'we reach the end
of the line at the town of Bhuj.

'Bhuj is the capital of Kutch,
and I take a couple of hours to look
around before going on to Mandvi.

'There are some fine buildings
to see in Bhuj,

'but few of them escaped
the devastating earthquake

that shook the town on January 21,
2001, Republic Day,

'when the people of Bhuj,

'like the rest of the country,
should have been celebrating.

'There was a colossal loss of life
and no-one was untouched.

'The Mahara of Kutch lost
three-quarters of his palace,

'and what remains standing looks as
if it could fall down any minute.

'Now the only occupants
of its marble halls are birds

'that nest in the rotting ceilings.

'Portraits stare into the void,

'and dust covers the trophies
of an era long past.

'Out in the centre of Bhuj, optimism
has returned to the rebuilt streets

'and people don't talk much
about the earthquake.

'But no-one's forgotten.

'Manjana Maycha has not forgotten.'

They started shouting, "Earthquake,
earthquake," and I came out.

Yeah. As soon as I came out,

the shop was collapsed.

The shop you'd just been in
collapsed behind you? Behind me.

You were a second away from being
crushed yourself. Yes, yes, yes.

And what was the scene
outside here, were just people...

They started running
and crying and shouting.

People, animals, dogs,
just running here and there.

What did you do, did you just run?

No, I just went
and stand in the corner.

Oh, you must have prayed,
did you pray?

Yes, yes, of course.
SHE LAUGHS

Well, your prayers were answered
cos you're still here,

but it was awful for the town,
wasn't it?

I mean, it was a big loss of life.
Yes.

Nearly 100,000.

Nearly 100,000?

All the locals.
All over Kutch. Yeah.

'The one thing I miss
as I walk these hot streets

'is a refreshing glass of cold beer.

'I'm told there's only
one place I might get one.'

Gujarat is the only
dry state in the whole of India

but if you're a foreigner,
you can get an exemption,

and I'm told that I have to turn up
with a copy of my passport,

which I've got,
a little note of that,

and also a certificate
of where I'm staying.

So I'm going to see if I can
get a permit for the time I'm here,

see whether the system of
exemptions really works.

'The surroundings
aren't exactly convivial.'

Give me your passport.

He's writing down the place where
I shall be staying in...Mandvi.

Getting thirsty.

Still get a stamp in your passport.

You will sign here. OK.

What do I do now?
Where do I buy the liquor?

Just here. Oh, right, I'm sorry.

I didn't see that at all. OK. Hello.

What do we think?

Ten beers, one spirit?

OK, fine. The spirit's for him.

'Well, at last I have the beer,
but I'm not allowed to drink it

'until I'm at my hotel,
and that's another 40 miles away.

'Mandvi, coastal town,
45,000 inhabitants,

'main business, shipbuilding.

'Best-kept secret, resort hotel
right by the beach.'

You can see it, yeah.
Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, thank you.

Thanks very much,
I hope that will cover it.

Thank you.

Good. It's a dangerous ride.

'The grandly-named
Mandvi Palace Beach Resort

'may turn out to be a row of tents

'but these are no ordinary tents,
these are five-star tents.

'Possibly even seven-star tents.

'Each one has a double bed,
en-suite bathroom and loo,

'and air conditioning.

'Oh, it's a tough life.'

Thank you very much. Oh!

Cool, cool, lovely, cool.

'And in the evening
with the sun well over the yardarm,

'I finally get around to that beer.

'Now, what exactly am I doing here?

'This tented camp was first set up

'by the Mahara of Kutch
to accommodate those private guests

'who'd come to visit
him at his country palace,

'which is right next door
to the camp...

'and open to the public.

'Having never met a Mahara before,
I decide to pay him a visit.

'By the time I reach the palace,
I'm getting a bit twitchy,

'but my gosh is it worth the walk!'

Did your family have this
specially designed?

'The Mahara, or to give him
his full title,

'His Highness Sri Pragmalji
Mandansinji III,

'couldn't have been more friendly
as he invites me in.

'He is descended
from a very old Kutch family,

'and talks nostalgically of the days
of an independent Kutch

'before it was absorbed into Gujarat

'and had to accept a less relaxed
regime.'

Do you think that there's any
good reason why people shouldn't
buy alcohol in Kutch or Gujarat?

There is a slight problem here.

Kutch is a part of
Gujarat state,

which we were not a part of Gujarat
state ever in the history.

And Gujarat state unfortunately
is Gandhian in the sense

that they believe in prohibition
and things like that,

which is not necessarily
very congenial to tourism.

Mahatma Gandhi probably thought that
a lot of people wasted their income

on unnecessary things like alcohol,

and which is not very healthy.

But I'm sure, I am sure...

I have had the pleasure in my life

of meeting Mahatma Gandhi
and getting his autograph etcetera.

I'm sure if he was alive today,

he would have relented on that,
but I'm sure that in due course

er...the change will come.

'I wouldn't want anything
to change here,

'not at sunset
and not on this fantastic beach,

'which is by the way
owned by the Mahara, as is the sea.

'Or at least it is at high tide
when the waves break onto his beach.

'But now it's back to business.
Today is the day I must track
down the captain.'

Well, now we've got this far,
I actually found out where he lives.
I'm going to see him.

I think it's probably just as well

I'm just going to have one last look
to see what he looks like.

And this is where
I'm introduced to the captain.

'Hello, hello.' 'Good afternoon.'

Very eager, that's right...

'Very well, do you speak English?'
'Yes.' 'Good.

'Where are you going to?

'Are you going to Bombay?'

'I'm going to Bombay, yes.'

'Good, I need a boat.'
'Yes.' 'To take me to Bombay.'

'Yes. Why not? I take you to Bombay.'

Yeah, that's fine, that's fine.
I think I should remember him.

Well, I'm in the centre of Mandvi

but it's not the sort of place that
has maps or street plans,

so I know I've got to get to Saliya

cos I was told that by Digant
in Bombay,

so I'll just have to go and ask
for Saliya.

The end of the journey begins.

Excuse me, er...Sal...
Saliya. Saliya.

Oh, it's over there?

Saliya.

Can you tell me...

Where is Saliya?

Saliya. Where?

Mandvi. Mandvi, yeah.

Mandvi, Saliya. It's over there?
THEY SPEAK NATIVE TONGUE

Thank you. Aabhaar.

'Salaya or Saliya, and I'm still not
quite sure which it is, proves to
be on the other side of the creek.

'It's served by a distinctly
no-frills ferry service.'

Here I come.

Ooh. Thank you.

Hello, boys.

I'm going to Saliya.

Hey, nice outfit.

'Once in Saliya, I've a chance to
show off my few words of Gujarati.

Excuse me, sirs,
Captain Hassan Suliman

Kya rey che?

Up here? I follow this?

'As Digant Joshi had forecast,
here in Suliya everyone I talk to

'seems to know the captain,
or be related to him.'

Excuse me, Captain Hassan Suliman,
OK? Kya rey che?

Thank you.

Thanks.

'All directions lead to
the waterfront, and extraordinarily,

'there's a dhow being built right
outside the captain's front door.'

This is the one.

'This won't be such a surprise for
the captain, he knows I'm in town,
but it'll be a surprise for me.

'I've no idea
how he or I will react.'

Will it be him? Will it be me?

Hey! Michael, how are you?

How are you, Michael? It is you!
I recognise you.

How are you, Michael?

Oh, I'm very well, very good indeed.

Yes. Come in, come in. Oh, yes.
Mikel, you used to call me, Mikel.

OK, you come in. You've become
a big man, a very big man.

And I've become a grey haired man.

But you now very big now.
Very big, pah!

'We catch up with each other
as he takes me on a walk
through the shipbuilding yards.'

How big was Al Sharma?

'Al Sharma was tiny compared
to some of the 2,000-ton dhows
they're building here now.

'But still they build them
in the time-honoured way,

'by hand and eye
and physical strength.'

This is good strong wood.
Where's the wood from? Malaysia.

Malaysia. Malaysian, ah.

The wood is coming from Malaysia.

You have now...

Only one girls. One girl, yes. Yes.

Married with Anwar, you know Anwar?

With Anwar? Yes, that's right.

And the marriage was at a big, big
thing. Yeah, yeah.

A lot of big party, big feast.

Big feast! You pay.

Yeah! Many times, it'll be
for 18 years we are married.

Yes, that's good, yes. Whoops.

'Often in these last few days, I've
tried to visualise where the captain

'and his crew might live,

'and this location is
right out of central casting.

'I ask the captain if he'd heard

'about the programme
we made together.'

So did people...

All over the world,
you know the BBC World Service?

Yes, BBC World Service.

Famous in the world.
And what do your friends say?

Yeah. They like it? Yeah.

Like it, I like it. Good. Very good.

20 years from now,
another 20 years. Yeah.

We maybe see each other again.
Yeah.

I'll be very old man,
you'll have to push me. OK.

How many years after,
you come next time to Mandvi?

Oh, I don't know.

I don't know. I have to ask my wife.

'Later in the day when I come
back to the captain's house,

'I bring my DVD player
and Hassan, in turn,

'brings together some old faces
from Al Sharma's crew.'

Hi, thank you. Thank you.

I might just have to... Oh, no disc.

'We gather round, the chief
engineer, the second engineer,

'the cabin boy Anwar now married
to the captain's daughter

'and father of three boys,
and of course the captain himself.'

You see, I have to wear glasses now.

Yeah. When I last saw you,
I could see very, very clearly

and now I have to wear these.
Where are you? There you are.

Oh, there we go, look.

'I board our dhow, Al Sharma,
which means candlelight in Arabic.'

Look at me, look at my silly socks
and the funny hat.

There you are.

'The captain has made sure the place
is scrupulously clean,
he assures me...'

Yes, there you are.

Anwar was a very small boy there.
Yes, yes, yes.

We've got some more here of Anwar.

Now he's captain, big captain.

Are you a captain now?
For 14 years. Fantastic.

There we are, that's right,
going out.

HE LAUGHS

Sad. Yeah. Sad to see the ship.
Sad that it's no longer around.

And who's that?

THEY SPEAK NATIVE LANGUAGE
Dead. He's dead?

Kasim. Kasim, yes, expired.
Yes, expiry.

Is this Dejilanti? Yes, ex-man.

Chief Officer, dead. Ah, right,
chief officer. Now dead, yeah.

He for four years dead.

Oh, right, yeah.
Salimamman, Ramsey-mamman, and er...

Kasim. Three men is dead. Oh, yes.

THEY LAUGH

'The plumbing is basic, they favour
the hole in the barrel system.'

THEY LAUGH

'The boat is scorchingly hot
by day and suicidal at night,

'but once installed one enjoys
direct contact with nature.

'This is rather a shock
and causes my bowels to lock
solid for three days'.

Oh, yes.
THEY LAUGH

I didn't know how to use that
at first.

Ah, there you go!

It was very useful.
Look at that there.

Look at the chillies, yeah.

'Whilst Ali Mamoun,
the cook, produces three meals
for 22 people every day.'

He's making chapattis.
THEY LAUGH

He's making so many chapattis,
look at that. Expecting company?

There must be 40 chapattis there.
Stop it! Stop making chapattis!

Very good food there, very nice.

Kedgeree, kedgeree,
you know kedgeree?

Yes, that's right. Kedgeree.

Mohammed is coming.
Mohammed Suliman.

'Mohammed was Al Sharma's bosun.

'He's the captain's
brother and Anwar's father.

'Both of them had told me
that he wasn't well,

'so I'm doubly happy
that he's come to join us.

'He does seem to perk up a bit
when he sees himself on film.

Yes, good crewman and all together.

Here is Kasim listening
to the music,

listening to Bruce Springsteen.

LAUGHTER

Now this is putting the sail up,
I remember.

SINGING

For the open sail. Yes.
Pull up there.

Yes, and you sang your song.

THEY SPEAK IN NATIVE LANGUAGE
AND LAUGH

Yes, very sweet.

And strong. Now Anwar is captain.
I know, I know.

But he's not changed.

'Very good.'

There's me saying, "Very good."
Fat lot you did, Palin.

Yeah, "very good." Oh, yes. Ha ha.

'So we sit and watch ourselves
when we were 20 years younger,

'until we come to the final sequence
of the voyage

'where I bid them all farewell
for the last time.'

Ah, yes!
LAUGHTER

Yeah, lovely smile.

'Bye bye.' Ah, look.

Goodbye. There you are, goodbye.

'I'm very sad to leave
Captain Hassan and his crew.

'We entrusted our lives
to these people,

'and they responded

'with unquestioning generosity
and openness.

'I know I shall never again on
this journey enjoy such simple and

'straightforward friendships as I've
made with the crew of the Al Sharma.

'At this moment,
it's almost impossible to accept

'that I shall never see them again.'

There we are. I didn't believe
I would never see you again,

and it's just as well,
because I've seen you again!

Excellent, there you go.

Well, now we do another
programme together. Other one?

Yeah. We get another boat out.

We'll do it all over again. OK. OK?

'Then after tea and
all manner of hospitality,

'it's time for another farewell.'

Thank you so much,
it's great to see you again.

OK, how many years
you thinking you come here?

Shall we leave it another 20?
More 20?

Real mature men. OK, sir.

Thank you,
good luck to all your family.

It was lovely to meet them all,
and great to see the shows again.

OK, goodbye. See you soon.

20 years will go by very quickly.

OK, sir, bye, goodbye. Goodbye.

OK. Goodbye, sir.

'Whatever plans Hassan and I
might make,

'I'm pretty sure that both
he and I know

'that this time the chances are
we shall not see each other again.

Goodbye, sir. Careful, please.

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