E1- Flush Toilets (Dholavira) (Arabic)

U • History • Education

The Indus Valley Civilisation, circa 3000 years ago, created the first integrated city toilet system know to man. And yes, the toilets flushed How did they do it To understand that, we visit Dholavira and discover that not only the sanitation and drainage systems, the city planning, the water storage and water management systems were more advanced than in some of the modern cities today. The IVC also gave us many other inventions that are in common use today – things such as buttons, bangles, rulers. The thing is – buttons for clothes, bangles and ornaments, and the flush toilet – are the things that define modern civilisation. Which brings us to the very interesting query – did the IVC actually invent modern civilisation, albeit in ancient times

Director: Deesh Mariwala

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    E2- Bodhidharma (Arabic)
    21 min

    A 60 year old Tamil monk, carrying nothing but his patra bowl arrives in China. He is an illtempered, profusely bearded and wideeyed barbarian who trains the monks at Shaolin in a handtohand combat form – which then becomes Shaolin Kung Fu. The practice of Zen and unarmed combat spreads all across the East – Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, and takes various forms especially Chinese action flicks, where most heroes behave much like Bodhidharma – the Tamil Monk. Who was Bodhidharma Where did he come from Why did he go to China Where did he learn to fight From the traditional Silambam and Kalaripayuttu masters of South India to the Far East, this is a story that needs to be told.

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    E3- Sushruta (Arabic)
    21 min

    It is 600 years B.C.E. and the oldest city in the world, Varanasi is home to a man who transformed lives of people by surgery. Using tools and techniques available in that ancient time, he instituted a system of surgery and operation which at that time made him an outcast in society, but which left behind a legacy that is an important part of medical history today.This is the story of surgery, practiced by Sushruta – the father of modern medicine. His tools and techniques remain virtually unchanged 2600 years later. How did he become so skilled The answers unfold in the Banaras Hindu University in Banaras, with a contemporary surgeon explaining Sushruta’s techniques.

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    E4- Tipu Sultan's Rockets (Arabic)
    20 min

    The first rockets to be used as weapons were fire arrows in China, then Korea, and then by the Mongols of Genghis Khan. However, the effect of fire arrows was more psychologically than physically destructive. However, in the mid 1700s, in the kingdom of Mysore, the valiant fighter and the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan along with his father Haidar Ali developed a new kind of weapon. Unlike earlier rockets they built theirs out of iron –making a hollow tube into which an explosive was placed. These new rockets were not only far more dangerous and could cause great damage to anything they struck, but also had an effective range of over 2 kilometres. Tipu Sultan used these effectively against the British forces, wreaking great havoc among the British armies, before he was ultimately defeated. However, those rockets of Tipus became the blueprint for the Congreve rocket, which the British used to defeat Napoleon, and were the forerunners of all rocket artillery. And today the rockets have not only taken the shape of missiles , they also are the technology behind satellites. Tipus Rocket has come a long way

Language

Hindi

Genre

History, Education

Director

Deesh Mariwala