Bharat Ek Khoj

I still remember how much I waited for the four amazing television shows on Doordarshan. Those days were simply the most glorious days of Doordarshan-

1. Vyomkesh Bakshi

2. Bharat Ek Khoj

3. Malgudi Days

4. Surabhi

'Bharat Ek Khoj' was aired for quite a long time. This was first aired in the year I was born. There were 53 episodes, each for a day of the week. 53 episode television series that dramatically unfolds the 5000 year history of India from its beginnings to the coming of independence in 1947. It is a series of explorations into the different periods of Indian history and was made in 1988 by the writer, director and producer Shyam Benegal. The serial is based on a book written by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India.

This series was telecast on Doordarshan. The starcast included Om Puri and Roshan Seth. Pandit Nehru was portrayed by Roshan Seth, who had previously portrayed Nehru in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi in 1982. With an amazing pictorial presentation of Roshan Seth and enchanting tough voice of Om Puri making the serial one of the best TV series aired in India along with Malgudi Days. Categorizing it with documentary, it is the best documentary aired in India along with Surabhi. It portrays the Indian history with some fictional stories to make it more interesting. The timeline and the historical records it provided was a good source of knowledge about Indian history.

The starting track is a great composition by Vanraj Bhatia derived from Rig Veda, Book 10, Hymn 129

नासदासीन नो सदासीत तदानीं नासीद रजो नो वयोमापरो यत |

किमावरीवः कुह कस्य शर्मन्नम्भः किमासीद गहनं गभीरम ||

सृष्टि से पहले सत नहीं था

असत भी नहीं

अंतरिक्ष भी नहीं

आकाश भी नहीं था

छिपा था क्या, कहाँ

किसने ढका था

उस पल तो

अगम अतल जल भी कहां था

सृष्टि का कौन है कर्ता?

कर्ता है वह अकर्ता

ऊँचे आकाश में रहता

सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता

वही सचमुच में जानता

या नहीं भी जानता

है किसी को नही पता

नही पता

नही है पता

नही है पता

वो था हिरण्य गर्भ सृष्टि से पहले विद्यमान

वही तो सारे भूत जाति का स्वामी महान

जो है अस्तित्वमान धरती आसमान धारण कर

ऐसे किस देवता की उपासना करें हम हवि देकर

जिस के बल पर तेजोमय है अंबर

पृथ्वी हरी भरी स्थापित स्थिर

स्वर्ग और सूरज भी स्थिर

ऐसे किस देवता की उपासना करें हम हवि देकर

गर्भ में अपने अग्नि धारण कर पैदा कर

व्यापा था जल इधर उधर नीचे ऊपर

जगा चुके व एकमेव प्राण बनकर

ऐसे किस देवता की उपासना करें हम हवि देकर

ऊँ! सृष्टि निर्माता, स्वर्ग रचयिता पूर्वज रक्षा कर

सत्य धर्म पालक अतुल जल नियामक रक्षा कर

फैली हैं दिशायें बाहु जैसी उसकी सब में सब पर

ऐसे ही देवता की उपासना करें हम हवि देकर

ऐसे ही देवता की उपासना करें हम हवि देकर

The list of episodes-

1. Bharat Mata Ki Jai
2. The Beginnings
3. The Arrival of the Vedic People (the Rigveda)
4. Caste Formation
5. Mahabharata Part 1
6. Mahabharata Part 2
7. Ramayana Part 1
8. Ramayana Part 2
9. Republics and Kingdoms
10. Negation and Acceptance of Life
11. Chanakya and Chandragupta Part 1
12. Chanakya and Chandragupta Part 2
13. Ashoka Part 1
14. Ashoka Part 2
15. The Sangam Period: Silapaddirakam Part 1
16. The Sangam Period: Silapaddirakam Part 2
17. The Classical Age
18. Kalidas and Shakuntala Part 1
19. Kalidas and Shakuntala Part 2
20. Harshavardhana
21. Bhakti
22. The Chola Empire Part 1
23. The Chola Empire Part 2
24. The Delhi Sultanate and Prithviraj Raso Part 1
25. The Delhi Sultanate and Prithviraj Raso Part 2
26. The Delhi Sultanate and Padmavat
27. Synthesis
28. The Vijayanagar Empire
29. Feudalism
30. The Fall of the Vijayanagar Empire
31. Rana Sanga, Ibrahim Lodi and Babur
32. Akbar Part 1 (Din-e-Ilahi)
33. Akbar Part 2
34. Golden Hind
35. Aurangzeb Part 1
36. Aurangzeb Part 2
37. Shivaji Part 1
38. Shivaji Part 2
39. Company Bahadur
40. Tipu Sultan
41. The Bengal Renaissance and Raja Ram Mohan Roy
42. 1857 Part 1
43. 1857 Part 2
44. Indigo Revolt
45. Mahatma Phule
46. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
47. Vivekananda
48. Extremists and Moderates
49. And Gandhi Came Part 1
50. And Gandhi Came Part 2
51. Separatism
52. Do or Die
53. Epilogue 

This series has been telecasted many times on Doordarshan and is a must for any intellectual. It has a characteristic Shyam benegal style of concentrating on mental conflicts rather than showing war details or opulence of courts. Anyone who keeps on branding Veda communal will have an idea of deep philosophy inherent in them by listening to the tracks. Costumes of all the ages have been captured very efficiently and some of the episodes are my favorite like one on civil disobedience in 1930, quit India in 1942 , Shivaji 1 (It is the only televised account of Shivaji in which his conflicts with local Hindu chieftains are shown). There were some episodes with more philosophical value rather than historical like one in which India law on parentage is illustrated by a boy being branded shudra though his mother was a vaisya, his biological father a Brahman and his adopted father was a kshatriya king or the one involving Ashoka's brother and how he turns to become a Buddhist monk. It is evident that more emphasis is placed on social and economic moorings. Now this may be depiction of Portuguese Mughal conflict for trade interests or an episode where small songs for each of six seasons were sung in traditional tones. I remember the days when it was being telecast and not many had heard of it and had any inclination for it as well. But those of us who did watch it- it was a lifetime experience, from Om Puri intro voice to the actors enacting the days and era gone by- it was mesmerizing for kids like us. What separated it from the Ramayana and Mahabharata of the days was the bare and realistic approach to the facts- It had no pomp or grandeur and there lied the strength of the director.

Timeless Nostalgia.....Continues :) 

Watch the episodes of Bharat Ek Khoj on You Tube here