The Story of India

Yeah the title is quiet tempting I should say. But I tell you it is no history. I really am not good at history, especially Indian history. It is that much more complicated to understand the dynasties. It is very very fascinating for a curious person, because he will get that much more catalyst and impetus as he is thrown into the world of Indian mythology collaborated with Indian myths and history. I was really blown away when I saw a documentary by Micheal Wood about "The Story of India".

Being a historian and working with BBC, Micheal has found out lot of fascinating links between the history of India, to the history of the world. When he illustrates each and every links in his documentary, it quiet clearly shows, how good this guy in mastering the data he has collected. I first saw one of his shows in BBC prime time, when I was in Israel. From then on, I have been following this guy. I even picked up some of his documentary DVDs from Landmark. Starting from the harappa and mohenjo daro times, the aryans, the Kushans, the Gupta dynasty and the roots of Buddha has portrayed in his documentary like they were happening today.

The camera work in his docmentaries I should say spell binding. I never thought that India was so beautiful. He has started the story from a temple down south in my native town "Madurai" Tamil Nadu. The "Meenakshi Amman" temple built there still stands today. It is the biggest temple in the whole of India. I have got lost many a times in this temple in my childhood days when I had been there with my parents. Most of the temple is very much preserved even today.

This temple has inspired even Micheal woods to write a book about his South Indian trip named as "The smile of Murugan-A South India Journey", which I am planning to read as my next book. The way he goes about in explaining each and every aspect is commanding. A great documentary and a must see for all of them who are curious about Indian history. Not to forget, he is also made lot of other documentaries like the "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1997)"; "In Search of Myths and Heroes (2005)". I also found this wikipedia link about him. Check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wood_(historian)



I tell you guys, this guy is far far better than anyone whom you would have come across. It illustrates to me the significance of Indian History. When my school teachers tired to pour their efforts and teach me its significance, I never got it. When a guy from England does the same thing, in a rather artistic way, I am spellbound. But it is the same India then and now. :) :)