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Dard-e-Ganga

 

Around 5000 B.C., the Aryans, a nomadic tribe from the Steppes of Central Asia entered India through the Punjab and brought with them the Hindu religion based on the 4 great texts called The Vedas. For the Aryans, their most sacred river was the now extinct Saraswati, which they revered as their mother river. However, by the end of the second millennium, as the Aryans spread southward to cover the entire Indo-Gangetic plain, the Ganga or Ganges replaced the Saraswati as the most sacred river.

Of all the places along the Ganga, Benares is perhaps the oldest living city in the world.

The Ganges at Benares may appear muddy and dirty and is the receptacle of all the sewage and waste of the city, the ashes of the dead and the diseases of the millions who bathe in it. However, what is important is not the bacterial purity of the river, but its ritual and symbolic purity.

Because of the overwhelming reverential impact of the Ganges on hundreds of millions of Hindus, a real life paradox today haunts the citizens of Benares. For how long can they continue to ignore the gap between the ritual purity of the river and it’s actual level of cleanliness. This gap was largely ignored by the residents of Benares during the 20th century. Today, this divide is so wide that combined with global warming and climate change, it threatens the very life of the river.

The source of the Ganga is the Gangotri glacier.

The combined impact of global warming, deforestation and rampant tourism has resulted in the glacier receding almost a kilometer in the last three decades.

According to projections, given this rate of recession as a benchmark, most of the glaciers in the Himalayas will melt away in the next thirty to forty years.

Perennial rivers like the Ganga will be reduced to a rain fed seasonal stream that will stand no chance of regeneration. This could happen within 30 years.

In such a situation, towns and cities along the Ganga will be abandoned when the river runs dry. India’s beliefs and culture will die within this lifetime.

With India’s economy poised to grow at almost ten percent annually, drastic measures need to be taken to prevent a climate change catastrophe. This has to be a concerted effort combining steps taken by government agencies, private industries and citizens of the country. It is time to wake up and worry like mad. “Dard-E-Ganga” looks at all these issues and is a chilling wake up call for all Indians.

Renowned Bollywood character actor Rajesh Vivek has done the Hindi voice over.

Series Title: Dard-e-Ganga
Format: HD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Duration
– 1 x 60 minutes
Language:
Hindi

Temples in the Clouds

Temples in the Clouds is a story of a challenging paragliding safari by Sir James Mallinson and Enrico Patuzzi in the Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas.

Both these friends, one from the UK and the other from Italy, are lovers of India and are fascinated by Hindu Mythology. The Dhauladhar range of mountains within the foothills of the Himalayas, are home to many centres of Mother Goddess worship situated in different temples. One such ancient temple is the temple of the Goddess Himani Chamunda Devi situated at a height of 2500 meters and requiring a full days climb to reach it from the bottom of the Kangra valley.

The Goddess Chamunda Devi is a manifestation of the wrathful form of the Goddess Durga. Because of the relative inaccessibility of the temple, cloistered as it is, within the mountains, getting there by road is in itself a feat of endurance. Getting there by paraglider is an even greater test of skill, endurance, faith and commitment. It is these qualities that are tested as both Mallinson and Patuzzi are repeatedly thwarted in their quest to reach their destination.

Ultimately, faith prevails and they are successful in landing within the precincts of the temple. Their journey has been completed; their skill tested; their endurance stretched and their faith reinforced.

The film has some amazing aerial visuals shot with cameras strapped on the bodies of the paragliders. It is an unusual personal human interest journey of two friends and their quest to succeed in flying to the temple of Himani Chamunda.

Series Title: Temples in the Clouds
Channel
 – Travel Channel (UK), RAI (Italy)
Format – Digi Beta
Duration
: 1 X 55 Minutes
Language: English

Official Selection

  • Officially selected at Phangan film Festival 2009, Thailand
  • Officially selected at 2008 Kendal Mountain Festival Film Competition.
  • Officially selected at Film South Asia ’09

Awards

  • Special Jury Mention award at Film South Asia 2009.
  • Won “Icarus of the Morning Off” award at the ICARE DU CINEMA 26th edition of International Film Festival of Free Flight, 2008.
  • Nominated for a ROSCAR finalist for the Judges Choice Award Category at Wild Talk Africa 2008.

The Cradle of Terror

 

The Cradle of Terror is a 45-minute documentary that examines Pakistan’s role in promoting and sustaining the forces of terror under the grab of Jihad and also looks at the role that the Pakistani state played in Nuclear Proliferation, under the auspices of Dr. A.Q Khan.

Series Title: The Cradle of Terror
Format: Digi Beta
Duration
: 1 X 45 Minutes
Language: English

Nuclear Tango – Why a hero fell from grace

 

“Nuclear Tango-why a hero fell from grace” is an hour long documentary that investigates and puts together why Dr. A.Q. Khan, the father of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program was made to take the rap and accept responsibility for having orchestrated the Pakistan –North Korea nuclear relationship.

The film establishes the critical role that Pakistan has played in nursing North Korea to establish itself as a potent nuclear power with a delivery capability. This assistance was guided by the Chinese Government, through the identified efforts of General Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of the Peoples Liberation Army, who in CIA parlance, was the case officer for this exchange between the Pakistani’s and the North Koreans.

The Chinese helped Pakistan put together the machinery to manufacture nuclear weapons through the uranium enrichment route and directed Pakistan to divulge this to North Korea. As a quid pro quo, the Chinese assisted the North Koreans in developing ballistic missiles and instructed them to route this to Pakistan. In this manner, the Chinese avoided getting sanctioned by the Clinton Administration, yet succeeded in their strategic goals of maintaining the “nuclear heat” on Japan, India and South Korea.

Furthermore, the spin-off of this mother of all conspiracies was the diffusion, to Al-Qaida and Libya and Iran of this dual use technology and the wherewithal to deploy it productively, both as weapons of terror and mass destruction by the Pakistani ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) controlled politico-military establishment in Pakistan.

Because the Libyans blew the whistle on the Pakistanis and revealed that the Libyan nuclear program was developed exclusively with Pakistani help, the issue of this proliferating and clandestine nuclear trade became public. The rest is history. Though Dr. Khan was censured for the eyes of the world, the truth is that as a loyal citizen of Pakistan, he willingly became the fall guy.

Series Title: Nuclear Tango – Why a hero fell from grace
Channel
 – Israel Broadcasting Authority
Format – HD
Aspect Ratio:
16:9
Duration
– 1 x 50 minutes
Language: English

Official Selection

  • Officially selected for IDFA-Docs for sale, Amsterdam, 2006
  • Krakow Film Market, 2007