India From Above

I loved watching the  two-part Nat Geo series  India From Above on Hotstar with polished audio commentary in Telugu. It presents an amazing aerial view of places in incredible India.

Shot beautifully with drone cameras mostly, it comes with subtitles in English & audio commentary in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla 

It tells engaging stories about life and people in diverse places across India. 

The 69-year old priest of a temple inside the Gir forest, Bharatdas Darshandas, lives alone in the company of wildlife. The priest's solitude is broken once every five years - when he steps out to cast his vote in the Indian national election.  

Episode 1 covers Prayagraj, Goa, Nandgaon, Sriharikota, Veraval, Kamuthi, Ladakh, Gir, Delhi, Jodhpur.

Episode 2 covers Rann of Kutch, Khichan, Chand Baori stepwell in Abhaneri, Loktak lake, Keibul Lamjao National Park (the only floating national park in the world), Vizhinjam, Cherrapunji, Bhedaghat, The Dhuandhar Falls, Lonar Lake, Nalka Border Observation Post

Interesting facts about India from the series -

* India covers 2.4% of the Earth's land mass.

* Indian accounts for 4% of the world's fresh water. 

* The Indian Monsoon delivers nearly 80% of annual rainfall. It has watered these lands for at least 40 million years.

* One third of the Indian population lives in cities 

* Delhi is a 2000 year old city that has been built and rebuilt nine times

* There were around 900 million Indians above the age of 18 in 2019. The number of eligible voters is larger than the combined population of US and the Europe Union. It makes India the world's largest democracy. 

Aerial India on Discovery+ is another 43 minute documentary that captures scenic sights from across India with some great visual story-telling.