I've was a great fan of Bharat Ek Khoj when it aired in the good old days of 1988. I've been wanting to watch it ever since. It was hard to get the Tapes (DVDs, VCDs, etc.) at one point and then it was hard to make time for it. Finally, I've started watching it on the iPhone during my commute. One episode a day every few days so hopefully over the next few months I will watch them all. I will try to put some notes for each episode. Things that typically struck me. A much more complete synopsis is provided at the refocus India website. They've done a pretty good job if you want to get a good chronological and episodic detail of the entire series.

So, to get started, here are some thoughts from Episode 1.

In which Nehru tries to understand what is this India that we want to love? This India that we want to win? What makes us one in some inexplicable way even though our history could not possibly have had this concept of a nation state. Is it the key landscapes, structures or the key people from the past that we've come to define as India (or more appropriately "Bharat".)

There isn't, of course, an easy answer as to what has made us - "us"

He makes a really interesting point which rings true today as well that while there is something that ties the nation together, there is no doubt that local lifestyles are still paramount and the unity, as it exists, is despite that. That makes it only harder to comprehend what is the tie that binds?

In the end he seems to resign to the realization that the unity is mostly to be enjoyed, as there is pleasure in it, at a seminal level that questioning it doesn't solve. It has to be understood by looking at everything again. By rediscovery - his discovery of India.