Ganges with Sue Perkins

Thanks NfkD.

I think it’s part of Wateraid Jalima. In villages women often wait until evening to go to the loo in the bush and don’t go alone.

This link explains (partly) the hygiene and population problems:
www.d.umn.edu/~lars1521/India&birthcontrol.htm

It is shocking to think that that lack of sanitation in thriving country like India, with a burgeoning economy, is worse than it used to be in this country when the worst of slum housing had five families sharing an outside toilet. They were the first on the agenda to be cleared. I don’t know where abouts on India’s agenda are it’s poor, but it doesn’t seem that they will be feeling the benefits of its newly acquired wealth and world status any time soon.

There are more mobile phones in India than toilets, whether in house or shared.

The politics there stinks and Modi is worse

NfkD that sounds like a good scheme. Was it in this programme that women were frightened to go out in the bush to go to the toilet and were thrilled that one toilet was going to be provided for the village?

I haven't seen the programme, but I'm not a fan of Sue Perkins.
I know a little bit about India as younger son and family live there. They live on a mountain though, not in a big town. I've had two long visits there.
Even so there are hygiene problems, especially drinking water, as contents of toilet etc go straight into a river. From which the drinking water comes. DiL had typhoid fever once. (Or cholera? not sure.)You have to purify every drop of water.
In the villages the poverty is such that they allow girl babies to die, and also help the elderly on their way out.
They have a small house surrounded by conifers and there are herds of wild cattle which are allowed to plod and poo all over the place. Called gaur.
The most striking thing is the gulf between the rich and the poor, as others have said.

A small gesture I know but we have twinned our loo. www.toilettwinning.org

Our guide explained that the central government does put aside for sanitation and waste disposal etc and has banned the caste system, but the problem is the money doesn't reach its destination. More often than not it gets diverted to provide an official with a swimming pool or such. The caste system is like a very extreme version of our class system a hundred or so years ago. We are going to return to India. Its a wonderful country in so many ways, but we'll be avoiding big cities. I can't cope with them.

And their space programme! How can they invest in this when so many have no proper sanitation or homes?

I hope so NfK, I think the problem was that the girls did not want to go to boarding school and be separated from their father and siblings. That little girl looked as if she needed a lot of help.

The number of children portrayed living on the streets, earning their own living like the boys diving for rupees contrasts so sharply with the extreme wealth of some in India.

Ginny Joanna’s breathy voice drives me bonkers too although I think she’s got her heart in the right place I liked what she tried to do for the Ghurkers

When Sue saw what had happened to that young girl there was a quiet aside that she would have to do something to help. I suspect whatever she does will be private and not open to media scrutiny.

I prefer Simon Reeve

I was looking forward to this series but the patronising, rather rune approach taken by Sue Perkins put me off. Joanna Lumley is increasing a parody of herself and I like her for it. I loved her approach to India and the emotional connection she clearly has.

I agree we all see things differently ginny because to me Joanna Lumley's 'sweet and lovely' is all tongue in cheek. Her looks to camera are hilarious and I will never forget her trying out a special seat (can't recall where) which has a hole in it and a fire is lit underneath for ladies to be cleansed in the down below area!

We all see things differently don’t we. I have watched this series and the last one. I like Sue Perkins and feel that she cares about the things she sees .
Joanna Lumley drives me potty, I find her a bit ‘sweet and lovely’.

After about 10 minutes of Sue Perkins silly chat we gave up on the programme, which is a shame as I love travel programmes usually.

merlotgran yes, I was upset by her reunion with the young girl whom she met on her last visit and I too thought that she may have been abused when she was sleeping on the streets. I did feel that Sue could have followed her progress more and, had it been me and I was relatively well-off, I would have tried to help her and all her family to get off the streets and live a safer life.

We can't help everyone I know but she surely could have done more?
I found the encounter distressing.

The thread about extreme wealth and poverty seems even more pertinent to India

Nobody does travel ( with no patronising) like Palin.
Although I quite enjoyed her last series ( around Vietnam?) she seems ill at ease in India ( the thought of all those tigers?)

I found her quite disturbing and hyper and yes very patronising she’s a strange character not one I really warm to It should have been a good programme I like Reggie Yates not actual a travel reporter but a very thoughtful young man who visits places with a different perspective

I agree about Joanna Lumley. She can give a wry look to camera without a hint of offence.

I felt so sorry for the young girl Sue re-visited who is now so obviously a victim of abuse of some kind. Her cheerful hopes of a bright future seemingly gone.

I didn't really like the last series she did and haven't really watched this one. Even though this sort of programme is about the place, it's important that there is a warmth and a connection with the people who live there; Joanna Lumley does that incredibly well, as does Levison [sp] Wood; I did find that lacking in the series I saw with Sue Perkins. I will give this one a go, though; I do like her as a comedian, but not sure that her type of humour lends itself to this sort of programme. Because of something my ex said many years ago [can't remember what it was exactly] I sometimes, when sitting in the garden and hearing a rustling on the other side of the fence, wonder what it would be like to live where there are tigers .

I loved it and found Sue Perkins very watchable. So colourful and a joy, even though there were some quite hair raising conditions to be encountered!

I agree with others that Sue Perkins comes across as being patronising, and really quite rude, considering that many of those around her wouldn't have understood what she was saying to the cameras. It did nothing to enhance the programme at all.