India. A vast country, home to over a billion people, birthplace of illustrious ancient civilisations and today, a fast emerging global power. 70 years after independence, india is still a diverse, ever evolving assortment of cultures, creeds, religions and languages. Heading off the well worn tourist path, were on a journey which spans this vast subcontinent from east to west. Travelling from one of the driest places on earth. It is quite incredible, the sand. Its just crystal, hard cystals. White salt. You can probably taste it. To one of the wettest. These are areas really for the adventurous traveller. This isnt india on tap. Im on a quest to find out how history, religion and politics have shaped india. And also, meet the people who call this intriguing and sometimes overwhelming country, home. Its going to be an amazing journey. For thousands of years, india found its riches and influence through international trade. At the heart of this enterprise was the sea. And the state of gujarat, with a thousand miles of coastline, served as a shipping gateway africa, arabia and beyond. This is as far west as you can get in india. Its the influences from overseas that have helped make gujarat what it is today. The region is known as kutch. And its beaches are a popular Domestic Tourist attraction. This ancient port towns economy is still anchored in a much older maritime tradition. This is genuinely incredible. Im in heaven. A huge shipyard with boats and ships at various stage of construction, all made from wood. In an industry dominated by bulky and expensive container ships, these smaller, more agile vessels are still in huge demand. So here we are close up to these incredible hulks really. This ones in mid construction. We can actually go inside, which im going to see how they actually make these things. Apparently each of these takes about two and a half years to make. For many of the workers ship building is a family tradition. This ancient craft is now attracting unexpected new admirers. The region was home to one of the worlds earliest civilisations and can be traced back to prehistoric times. Its old Royal Capital is the city of bujh. Its glory days are kind of over. It was badly hit by the 2001 earthquake. Its a kind of melancholy about this area. This was once the real opulent centre of a rich empire, trading empire any way, and the hub was here. But what is still flourishing is the aso year old market, just a few minutes away, where the trading tradition continues. What do they sell here . They sell everything fruit, vegetables, fabric, grocery. You see all sorts of community, all cultural background can be seen in the marketplace. Here, as you can see, theyre like all different community, ethnic groups comes here. But the natural harmony was disrupted 70 years ago when the british left. The country was divided on religious grounds with muslims partitioned to the north in pakistan and hindus to the south in india. We drove out of the city towards the border with pakistan. Along the way, encountering some kutch herdsmen. Theyve been living here for 400, 500 years, since they migrated down south. Ever since the split, theres been tension between the two governments, but to these herdsmen National Borders and religious differences mean little. For the people of kutch, when we say india, pakistan or like hindu, muslim, its not that important. People are religious, of course. But they are like living in harmony and relationship between these two Different Group is brotherly. When two countries were created from one, indelible scars were left on the psyche of the subcontinent. Archive independence has not yet brought peace. Rejoicing turned quickly into horror and mourning. In traumatic scenes more than a Million People died in religious rioting. Many millions more were displaced. This all used to be one, but now its like divided in two. Now the border itself has become a tourist attraction. That way is pakistan. That way is pakistan about 70 kilometres up north. Thats where the border is. That lies in the middle of the area, which is of geographical value. At nearly 500 metres above sea level, the highest point allows us a dramatic view of this geological phenomenon, the desert, which continues into pakistan. I wanted to get up closer to this natural wonder. Its quite incredible. Its just cystals, hard cystals, white salt. Probably taste it. Really unusual to see Something Like this. The further out i walked, the less lovely it became. Its actually quite incredible. Its more like snow or sludge than white sand or cystals. When it gets wet around here, im deep into it. Whoa today, this shimmering wilderness is a healthy source of income for the region. Thanks mainly to a three month long festival throughout the winter. It is amazing what was a vast barren landscape has been transformed into this colourful complex, whereby night, theres live music and other performances and by day, theres plenty of activities and just here, what you might call the glamping headquarters. 50,000 people have come here in the last month alone. I guess this is like a cross between a weekend festival and a resort. Its a honey pot for the booming middle classes in india, in what has been one of the Fastest Growing economies in the world. The revival of interest in kutch culture boosted by the festival has been a life line for one group of locals in particular. Folk musicians. Music in particular and its very, very rich over here. Previously they used to perform with their kettles, then afterwards, when they come home, theyd get together and spiritual songs are being performed. One person plays two flutes at the same time . Yes, yes. Now, for example, 500 kettles are there and only one zefer is there. He will sit below a tree and Start Playing this and whatever this musical notes, the kettles will not go out this afternoon range. Wow. And they enjoy the music so the milk output increases. Almost like meditation. Yeah, yeah. Things are change definitely, as you say tourism. So many Music Festivals are there. So they are invited in various parts of india and abroad. Of course, theyre very well paid. Not only do i get a demonstration, but also the privilege of playing along. As lead tinkler. Yet again, im made aware that kutch culture is all about a sense of community and certainly not about religious segregation. From the bottom of my heart, im telling you till today, in spiritual, in music forms, hindus and muslims sit together and perform today. For the next part of myjourney, im heading to the south east of gujarat, to the town ofjunagadh. The classic Indian Railway station. To me, nothing sums up this country better than the Indian Railway network. More than any political act, they say this is what unifies this country. I remember as a small child being on an indian train and being totally overwhelmed by it. But i love it. Ah, this feels imminent. Who knows when this is made, this train. It looks pretty damn old to me. But wow, look at that. Its a network that ferries millions of Passengers Daily across tens of thousands of track to nearly 7,000 stations. Its one of the worlds biggest employers. If theres one defining legacy of british rule, its the vast, sprawling, creaking Indian Railway network. Its still the lifeblood of the country today. Singing. Ill tell you this, you wouldnt get this on a suburban train on a cold wednesday morning in london or any other western city. This is unique. You know everyone on this carriage . Yeah. From the train journey . Trainjourney, yeah. Train friends. Excellent, you have a community. Very good. Is it lucky to have a seat on the train . Yes. You are very lucky. Shes very lucky. Very lucky 0k so here we are, the ancient fortified city of junagadh, crowded and noisy, as i expected. Lets go explore. Just a few minutes from the station, along a dusty, busy road stands this jaw dropping and little known architectural wonder. Built in the late 19th century, this is an elaborate mausoleum blending indian and european architecture. The intricate carvings took over a decade to complete and the whole structure reflects the opulence and influences of the time. Back in the day, under the british raj, there were hundreds of so called princely states run by maharajas and nawabs, powerful and wealthy men. There was one such character here, a nawab who made decisions which still has ramifications for relations between india and pakistan, even today. These nawabs led lavish life styles, in stark contrast to ordinary indians. The nawab ofjunagadh was no different. Archive the state celebrates the marriage with all the pomp and splendour of a princely wedding. Harish desai was ten in 19116 and recalls the splendour of the ceremony. Archive escorted by the royal guard, the bride groom drives in state through the streets. Before in him, theres a profusion of wedding gifts. All princes were there. Princely patrons with turbans on their heads. Dance girls used to be brought there, musicians and all that. That lasted for several days. And he recalls getting his first taste of this other world. For the first time, i saw bread, butter, sandwich, everything, because that was not known to us here. My father said you eat this, this is bread and this is butter. And i liked it. And there were small pastries. I still remember that made in england, london, there was huntley and palmer biscuits. Important thing is that the formal photograph of his highness. The nawabs own most legendary indulgence was his love of animals. He loved dogs, he was mad about dogs. I think almost all brands and varieties of dogs from all the world were here. He used to arrange marriages for dogs and celebrated parties and then they were sent for honeymoon. Sent for a honeymoon . Yeah, he used to do it. But with the advent of independence, the power and influence of indias royal rulers was coming to an end. Come partition, the muslim nawab wanted to makejunagadh part of the newly created islamic pakistan. Even though the town is more than 80 hindu and hundreds of kilometres from the border. Infuriated, the new Indian Government rallied its troops. The news started coming that the army is coming, in its compound, huge tanks and trucks and jeeps and artillery and guns and everything is there. Junagadh state was besieged on three sides also. An economic blockade was ordered, cutting off supplies of foot and resources into the region. Food. Eventually, junagadh acceded to india and the nawab fled to pakistan. Yet to this day, 70 years on, his great grandson still lays claim to junagadh. And the episode lingers as a reminder of the last days of the raj in india. And 65 kilometres down the road, the nawabs legacy as an animal lover extraordinaire continues, with the most regal of creatures. Now, lions may have iconic status here. Theyre a royal symbol. Theyre in hindu mythology. But at the beginning of the last century, they were threatened with extinction. Im going somewhere now, which is the only natural abode of the asiatic lion. The nawab preserved vast tracts of this land to provide a habitat. These lions are smaller and paler than their african relatives. And these are their modern day protectors, indias first female forest rangers, the so called lion queens. Now theyre part of a team that performs more animal rescues than any other wildlife park in the world. On average, the unarmed rangers cover 25 kilometres a day and have to tackle venomous snakes, leopards and poachers as well as lions. If they did get agitated, how would you be able to tell from the animal . How would you know if youre safe or not with being this close to the animal . And it did get dangerous early on in her career here. Applications from women for these posts have rocketed and the rangers are role models and trail blazers in the region today. 0oh look, look at that mouth the good news is that from once being in danger of extinction numbers have climbed to over 500. The next much more welcome problem is if the sanctuary is actually big enough for their growing population. So the first part of my travels across india come to a close. But next week, i head to the north east of the country. Im on the banks of the mighty river and about to go to a very spiritual place. The amount of people crammed on here as well its going to be an experience a region that prides itself on tradition and creativity, and a passionate desire to protect this unique part of the world forfuture generations. Good morning, and a happy new year to you. Before we leap ahead into 2018 and what the weather has in store for the week ahead, lets just take a quick look back at what 2017 brought us. For ennerdale, in cumbria, on the 15th of may, over six inches of rain in 2a hours. It was a hot day though at heathrow, on the 21st ofjune. 3a degrees. 0ur hottest day of the year. In terms of wintriest weather, well, that was sennybridge, in the brecon beacons, on the 11th of december, with 31cm, around a foot, of snow. Winter, of course, isnt over by far. A very mobile and rather mild picture overall though across the British Isles for the week ahead. You may well have seen a low there to the south, which will get very close to the south coast this new years day. Strong gusty, maybe even damaging winds along the south coast through the first half of new years day and quite a bit of rain too. It becomes a little bit more showery as we get into south wales, and there should be some sunshine to the north of that before we meet another area of low pressure thats developing across western scotland and Northern Ireland. That will bring some strong winds through the early part of the day, and sink its way into southern scotland, Northern England and continue to feed showers into Northern Ireland through the afternoon. Further south, our other low pulls off into the continent. We should see more in the way of sunshine. Sunshine too for northern scotland. But a chilly story here, just 3 degrees in edinburgh. And then overnight, the showers clear, the isobars open and, with clear skies, temperatures are going to dip away significantly for early tuesday. First day back at work in the new year, have the ice scraper and the de icer ready, because it looks like we could see a fairly widespread frost. The clear skies short lived though. Another area of low pressure swinging its way in from the atlantic, through the day. Rain, some snow for the hills of Northern England and the mountains of scotland. Briefly rather mild though to the far south. Another area of low pressure comes whizzing in overnight tuesday, into wednesday. Very squally winds in association with this low. Windy day across the board on wednesday, with some heavy and thundery showers possible too. Temperatures typically around average for the time of year, somewhere between the 6 10 degree mark. Perhaps a little bit chilly again first thing on thursday as the winds fall light during the small hours of thursday. But into the day, another area of low pressure coming into the south and west, some more heavy rain and a risk by then of localised flooding. A windy and wet start to 2018. Hello, happy new year, this is a first with rogerjohnson. Huge crowds gather all over the world to celebrate the start of 2018. Bong. Spectacular fireworks and big when brought into new year despite warnings about the weather and travel problems. Good morning, its monday the 1st of january. Elsewhere in the news this morning five british people, including an 11 year old girl, are confirmed to have been killed when a sea plane crashed in australia yesterday. Firefighters have been battling a blaze in a Multi Storey Car Park in liverpool which has destroyed up to 1,400 vehicles