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The following press release was issued by PBS. This program was closed captioned and described by NCI. Check with your local public television station to see if the descriptions will be available on the SAP audio channel.

HISTORIAN MICHAEL WOOD TAKES A DAZZLING JOURNEY THROUGH MODERN INDIA TO UNCOVER THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF
THE WORLD’S LARGEST DEMOCRACY AND A RISING ECONOMIC GIANT

THE STORY OF INDIA airs Mondays, January 5-19, 2009, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET on PBS.

India is a land of history and myth; opulence and poverty; spiritualism and science. Celebrated across the globe for its many-armed gods, cultural diversity and traditions, India has more recently become known for its computer technology, industrial production and the professional acumen of its educated, upwardly mobile middle classes. Only 60 years after India’s independence, the nation is now recognized as the world’s largest democracy and a rising economic giant.

Even though this ancient civilization is poised at the precipice of an immense economic expansion, India’s real fortune has always been its wondrous culture and the astounding diversity of its people. From the deserts of Turkmenistan to the Khyber Pass, from war-torn Iraq to the palm-fringed shores of Kerala, historian Michael Wood journeys across the Indian subcontinent and beyond to uncover the fabulous sights, the dramatic history and the dazzling achievements of the world’s oldest and most influential civilization. Destined to be the most detailed and revealing documentary ever produced on the subject, THE STORY OF INDIA airs Mondays, January 5-19, 2009, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET on PBS.

India’s history is filled with fascinating figures and amazing tales, including successive invasions from Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamburlaine, the Moghuls and the British. India has also been famous for its spiritual traditions, giving birth to four world religions and accepting many others. The subcontinent is home to great artistic traditions and an extraordinary spectrum of music, dance and literature, along with great leaders who have changed the face of the globe. India ushered in many aspects of modern science, including the decimal system and absolute zero, and gave rise to some of the most remarkable individuals in world history, including the Buddha, Mauryan emperor Ashoka, Moghul emperor Akbar the Great and political leaders Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.

THE STORY OF INDIA tells the stories of these ideas and individuals and their effect on its peoples and cultures. Home to more than a billion people, India is also a land of contrasts. It contains both the high-tech brilliance of Bangalore’s Silicon Valley and the primeval splendor of the Kumbh Mela festival, when 25 million pilgrims bathe in the sacred River Ganges on a single night: India is in touch with its ancient past, even as it accelerates into the third millennium.

In this six-part series, Wood embarks on a compelling journey through India, “seeking in the present for clues to her past, and in the past for clues to her future.” The deep-rooted equilibrium of India’s past has always shaped and sustained it, but do the teachings of the Buddha, Ashoka, Akbar, Gandhi and others still inform both India and the modern world? The answer to that question may predict not only India’s future, but the future of the world it occupies.

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Underwriters: Public Television Viewers, PBS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Producer: Maya Vision International
Description Funding: U.S. Department of Education

About PBS
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 90 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.

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