Abstract:

"Containing nearly a sixth of the world's population, India is home to almost a billion people, more than half of whom live in rural villages. This program porvides an overview of topics such as the caste system as it exists in the holy Hindu town of Varanasi and the massive pilgrimages to Allahabad, where millions of Hindus come to ritually bathe at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers. Also discussed are arranged marriages; local trades in Agra, site of the matchless Taj Mahal; Sikhism in the city of Amristar, the Indian/Pakistani tug-of-war for Kashmir; and the plight of small farmers, driven from their holdings by powerful landowners."