"MOTORBIKE HORN BEEPS" "India, a country bursting with colour and beauty." "I don't have words... for that." "With year-round warm weather and a low cost of living could it be the perfect place to retire?" "WAYNE SLEEP:" "I would love a different way of life where money might last longer and a wonderful climate." "I want to have a comfortable old age." "BOBBY GEORGE:" "Let's go somewhere and live like kings." "Your Majesty." "Inspired by the film." "eight well-known pensioners are enjoying a real life adventure in the city of Jaipur." "Ow!" "He's stolen it!" " LAUGHTER" "They've been living together for two weeks in a townhouse in the heart of the old city." "ls this the way to the market then?" " I don't know." "WAYNE:" "Well, we'll go that way." " Let's give it a go." "Hello." "They're starting to settle into life out here." "Oh!" "Sorry." "India has grown on me completely." "I feel totally at home here." "And are beginning to make friends with the locals." "Yeah, I think it could be much nicer to retire here than somewhere like Eastbourne." "LAUGHTER" "With one week left of their Indian adventure..." "Oh!" "Hit by a bull." "Madness." " MOTORBIKE BEEPS will they find a place where they could feel at home on the other side of the world?" "MIRIAM:" "You can't avoid loving this place." "Magical!" "BIRDS TWEET" "It's 5.45am, and Jaipur is starting to stir." "It's like getting up in the middle of the night." "Cor, dear, oh dear, I must be crazy." "Good moaning." "Not very early." "I've never done exercise this early in the morning ever." "With only a week to go before they leave India" "Wayne, Bobby and Jan are making the most of the time they have left." "It's a bit early, isn't it?" " Yeah, it's early but it's fresh now." "Their guide, Raju, is taking them to the city's Central Park." "This is one of the biggest park of Jaipur..." " Ah-ha." "Which opens at 5.30 in the morning." "And old people come here for jogging, walking, do yoga." "The park is popular with the older generation with many making use of the cooler morning temperatures for their daily exercise regime." "BOBBY:" "You don't see any of 'em with sticks." "None of them look ill." "They look fit and they look young." "Yeah, amazing." "Oh, it's great, it's so active." "WAYNE:" "I'm getting stiffer as I get older cos at this age you start to atrophy, your muscles start to, um, dissolve." "So I've got to get them back in gear." "Yeah!" " LAUGHTER" "Laughing yoga is thought to have started in Jaipur in the 1970s using self-induced laughter to improve well-being." "How weird!" "Makes me laugh just watching them." "Oh, ha-ha-ha, so." "YOGA GROUP:" "Yeah!" " LAUGHTER" "YOGA GROUP:" "Yeah!" " LAUGHTER" "Are you laughing genuinely or are you just making the noise of laughing?" "You're just going 'Ha-ha-ha-ha!" "'" "But then you're not finding things funny." "No, not funny." " It's not funny." "It is, er..." " Just a process." " Yes." "It's an exercise for the body." " It's an exercise of for the body." "You begin to laugh in, um, in a very mechanical way." "But then you end up sometimes laughing in a very genuine way looking at each other, then you're crying." " This lady hasn't stopped laughing since we arrived!" "LAUGHTER" "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" "They're all exercises, believe it or not." "For the body - for the lungs, for the stomach... for the legs, for the head, for the mouth." "I mean, it's yoga." "It's a yoga but they do it through laughter." "LAUGHTER" "Prolonged laughter is thought to promote well-being reducing symptoms of both stress and depression." "I enjoy a good laugh and sometimes I laugh so much I cry." "If I came to live here, I'd join the laughing club." "I mean, what is it?" "A laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you're on your own." "But there's one member of the group not finding it quite so amusing." "WAYNE:" "Come on, Bobby." " BOBBY:" "No, you carry on." "I'll laugh when it's funny." " WAYNE:" "Yeah, exactly, yeah." "If I went over my park and sat doing that they'd think I'm a nutcase." "I'd be looked up by the afternoon." "I'm relaxing much more into Indian society than I thought I ever would." "And when we came back from Agra I came back to the city and I thought, oh, we're back home again." "And I knew some of the streets, and I knew the walls, the pink walls and I'd been to that bazaar." "And I like this city." "SYLVESTER:" "Morning." "Morning everyone." " MIRIAM:" "Good morning." "How is everyone?" " SYLVESTER:" "Morning." " JAN:" "Morning." "ROSEMARY:" "Did you sleep well?" " Yes." "MIRIAM:" "I did because I took a pill." "ROSEMARY LAUGHS" "We went to laughter yoga." "Laughing yoga." " ROSEMARY:" "And, what was Bobby like?" "Bobby said he only came to look." "LAUGHTER" "It makes me feel great and, of course, I've oxygenated my body." "No, it was, it was great, it really was great." "And, again, all the friendliness." "It's the gentleness, the love that you feel, even from the people in the street." "How beautiful." "How beautiful." "This may sound very strange;" "I am feeling more of an integration with the Indians than anyone else." "Thank you." "I can speak two words of Hindu but I feel very much at home." "At home in the UK, Jan has lived on her own for the last 12 years." "I am alone." "My mother and my father died last year." "My son is in Australia." "And just sometimes I feel that aloneness." "Since meeting Emma, a Brit who lives nere as a single woman" "Jan has been exploring the possibilities of a move to India." "Now there's another part to the equation, um, I had never thought about India, but maybe." "A lot of people do it here, they have..." "With five days of her trip left." "Jan has been invited to see Emma's home." "Because you're kind of living with the family but within your own self-contained space." "Emma lives in a flat within a haveli, alongside her landlady, Sanglta and her extended family." "This is Sangita." " Oh, hello." " Namaste." " Namaste." "It's lovely to meet you." "Come." "Please come." " Really wonderful." "JAN:" "Now, for someone of my age, I would not want to be in an apartment by myself." "Yes." " And you're fully self-contained?" "I'm completely self-contained." "I have an apartment there." "So I'm completely self-contained within the building." "But I think what I said to you, what's really lovely to be in a building like this as part of an Indian family particularly if you're living here as a woman on your own is that you feel very protected, I can always go to Sangita for advice." "You know, if I ever have any problems, she's always there." "They become a family to you because you get up in the morning and you're sitting across having a cup of tea and you join them, and you talk." "You know, an awful lot of this is going in the UK because people are sort of living behind closed doors, they don't..." "I live in a big house divided into eight flats." "I really could die and nobody would know." "I could fall down the stairs, break my neck." "At least here you'd know I'd died, and you could arrange something." "LAUGHTER" "I'll be barging in your apartment, in and out!" "You'll be, you know, fed up of seeing me, without knocking." "Emma's monthly rent for her one-bed apartment is E300 with another £35 for a maid and cook." "This is absolutely..." " Yeah." " It's lovely." "So this is almost like a sort of traditional Indian haveli style." "I thought that would be quite good fun." "And then the other thing that I've got, which is quite nice, is a huge roof terrace." "JAN LAUGHS" " It's like having a whole other apartment." "Oh!" " Yeah." "And do you share it with other...?" " No, no." "This is my roof terrace, yes." " This is yours?" "!" "If we go over here, we'll have to be a bit careful of this monkey make sure he doesn't follow us or anything." "But what's quite nice is that you can see the forts on the hill from here." "See?" "Up there." " Oh, yes!" "I am thinking very genuinely I could do three or four months in India." "If I were to seriously come here I would like to do it the way Emma has done it." "I don't know, we'd have to start looking for you, if you wanted somewhere, wouldn't we?" "Well, I, I would like a Sangita." "I would like a roof terrace." " Right..." "Meeting people here who want to embrace me and take me into their family circle that to me is, wow, this is a new experience." "It's wonderful." "MIRIAM:" "Lovely." "Yeah, that's nice." "Getting ready for the dinner." " I'm not wearing a bra, so the..." "Ooh!" "Sorry about that." "ROY:" "Namaste." "India has started to cast its spell on the group." "It's fascinating, you know, you can walk down a busy road and you come across these great big animals, very placid." "Not frightened of humans, not frightened of cars." "Amazing." "For Bobby, the idea of retiring here has become a real possibility." "We're gonna do a bit of roaming today and see if we can see some property." "That's an old building, that." "And when you get a bit old and you gotta go up stairs like that you..." "I'd be in intensive care if I went up and down there all day." "BOBBY LAUGHS" "Alright mate, how are you?" "How are you, little one?" "You alright, eh?" "What's your name?" "Oh, he don't like me." "Bobby has made an afternoon appointment to meet a local estate agent and is rounding up some of the others to come along." "MIRIAM:" "Now, I'm gonna join in on your property expedition." "BOBBY:" "Well, if you're gonna live over here you want to see what the prices are and what they look like." "I don't like anything that's modern, you know." "No." " I like, um, Georgian style, that sort of thing, you know." "MIRIAM:" "Oh, that's wonderful." " That's what I like." "Um, I'll have a tea, can I, please?" "Sugar." "Sure, Bobby." " Stirred to the left." "James Bond, see, I'm a cheap James Bond." " You're a, you're a one, you are!" "BOBBY LAUGHS" "BOBBY:" "Oh, dear." "Am I talking better now, do you think?" "I think your diction's improved." " LAUGHTER" "With the average price of a three-bed home in Jaipur around £90,000 the prospect of buying a property seems worth exploring." "WAYNE:" "Help Miriam out, would you?" "I'm so relieved there's a lift!" "Bobby, Miriam, Patti and Wayne have come to see a luxurious gated development eight miles west of the city centre." "BOBBY:" "Fifth floor, look, here we go." "I would like to find out how much the property is over there." "What's the standard of their buildings like?" "See how they do their bricklaying and their floor laying." "I'd like to see that." "Oh, here we are, fifth floor." "Hello." "There isn't a week goes by where I'm not looking at the price of houses." "And, you know, living somewhere cheap would help me enormously!" "Hello, sir." " Lovely." " Lovely jubbly." "So, I'm gonna show you the flat, a three-bedroom flat and I hope you like it." "Please." "MIRIAM:" "If my partner would follow me to India if she would be prepared to try it then it's a very possible thing." "This is the kitchen?" " Yes." " Okay." " That's the kitchen." "PATTI:" "Ooh!" "Actually it comes raw." "Then you have to furnish it how you want." "We buy the shell?" "Yeah." "You buy the shell." " PATTI:" "Then you do whatever you like with it." "You do whatever you like with it." " WAYNE:" "I see." " PATTI:" "Okay." "WAYNE:" "Nice pool." "PATTI:" "It's good to see the blue of the pool, isn't it?" "MIRIAM:" "Yeah." "That's a big selling point." "WAYNE:" "Yes." " PATTI:" "A pool." " MIRIAM:" "For us it would be." "WAYNE:" "Yeah, we would, we like..." " MIRIAM:" "That would be a big selling point." "PATTI:" "What is that building over there?" "Er, that's the clubhouse." " Oh, that's the clubhouse." "The complex also has tennis courts, a games room, a pool ha" and a café." "MIRIAM:" "What does it, what does this cost as it is, as a shell?" "Ah-ha!" " PATTI LAUGHS" " Ooh-ha-ha-ha-ha!" "WAYNE:" "Yes, we went to laughing school this morning." "Ha-ha-ha!" "ESTATE AGENT:" "That's how the government safeguards our people." "I see, okay." " PATTI:" "How much is it to rent?" "Right." "I could quite easily manage that and, er, maybe that would be the best thing to do cos then if you got fed up with it you could go to another part of India." "But Bobby is less impressed." "The tap's on the piss, look." "You know what I mean?" "See, the tap ain't even straight." "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear." "The thing that's disappointing is you can't buy a place here." "You have to have an Indian on the deeds with ya, and that's, I wouldn't like that." "No way." "But you could live quite comfortable if you find the right place to rent." "Wayne has settled into the rhythm of Indian life and now enjoys navigating the streets of downtown Jaipur." "Havoc on the roads." "Cows everywhere." "And everybody with just a bright smile on their face." "Hello." "I'm learning yet again by the local people." "The feeling of happiness, serenity, relaxation." "It's all part of a spiritual awakening." "Before he came to India." "Wayne underwent surgery for cancer." "WAYNE:" "I did have a bit of a scare earlier in the year." "And when you've had a bit of a scare it makes you reflect more." "Hiya." " Hi, how are you?" "WAYNE:" "I've always felt this spiritual feeling inside of me but I've never nurtured it." "And I don't want it to be gone and it be too late for me to realise if it's there." "Wayne isn't the only one who's discovered their spiritual side." "BELL RINGS" "Meditation, I think, has now been my big thing." "This is a wonderful feeling, this feeling of almost like serenity." "And this I have to transfer to when I go home." "Rosemary has taken up meditation at a local ashram and Wayne has decided to join her." "He's never done meditation." "I don't know about meditation, I don't know if I can meditate." "I just, just..." " Just, just be here and now." "Thank you." "Thank you." " TEACHER:" "And nothing else." "MAN CHANTS" "TEACHER:" "Hare om." " WAYNE:" "Hare om, meaning?" "Meaning, the Hare, the God is the om." " MAN:" "He's the God's Hare Krishna." "WAYNE:" "Yes, Hare Krishna." "No, no, no." "Hare means om." "Om is the first, er, first sound in the universe." "WAYNE:" "Oh, being..." " And from the sound coming everything." "The popularity of meditation is growing rapidly in the UK and is believed to significantly help high blood pressure as well as boost the immune system." "Chant 1, mantra." "TEACHER CHANTS" "Inner calmness is reached through the repetition of a mantra, a sound or simply regular breathing." "TEACHER:" "Rub your palms." "Massage your eyes and face." "Thank you so much." "Actually that's relaxed, that's relaxed me." "Has it relaxed you?" " Mm." "WAYNE:" "This is why I'm in India." " ROSEMARY:" "Yeah." "To find something." " ROSEMARY:" "Yes, yes." "WAYNE:" "The meditation was the most significant point for, for me." "It relaxed me so much." "And when you receive something as holy as that like meditation, and seeing their complete dedication to it it makes you humbled." "Look, one, two... three, four... five six... seven, eight." " ROSEMARY:" "I count 15 so far." "WAYNE:" "Look at these." " Where did that one come from?" "Look at that one there." "That's beautiful." " I know, it's just come up." "Look at those purple ones." " I know." "ROSEMARY:" "Don't you think this is wonderful?" "Look at that!" "Look how big the sun is, you can see the bottom part as it goes down." "WAYNE:" "Here we go." "MIRIAM:" "Ooh, I like this." "Allow me to take you to your carriage." "The group have settled into local life but before they go there's a side to India the artistes of the group are keen to explore." "I don't know enough about the culture." "I just don't know about it." "Their hosts have arranged for a local tuk-tuk driver, Dinesh to show the group the traditional cultural heart of Jaipur." "MIRIAM:" "Right." "One of the things that would delight me is to be taught about the music and the dance of India." "WAYNE:" "I don't know what we're gonna be looking at." "I don't see much culture here at the moment." "MIRIAM:" "We follow you?" " DINESH:" "Yeah." "Kathputli Slum, south of the city centre is home to around 5,000 people." "Look at the houses up there, Miriam, right above." "How close they are set together." " MIRIAM:" "Oh, yes." "WAYNE:" "See you there then." " SYLVESTER:" "I feel like the Pied Piper." "I've never been with so many children." "SYLVESTER:" "Yeah, it's fantastic." " I'm not great with children." "WAYNE:" "I'm taller than a couple of them!" "They've got their own streets and everything." "It's like a village, isn't it?" " SYLVESTER:" "It is, yes." "MIRIAM:" "Behind every doorway is a family." " SYLVESTER:" "Yeah." "A community of acrobats, musicians, snake charmers and puppeteers have lived here for generations including 23-year-old Dlnesh and his family." "You live here?" " Yeah, it's a slum." " He lives here." "And it's the most arty place in Jaipur." "People in Jaipur, if they need any concert..." "They come to you!" "  they just come here." "An art colony." " And are you a puppeteer?" "Yeah." " An art colony." "I'm a puppeteer." " MIRIAM:" "An art colony." "Yeah, yeah." " I'd like to see that." "SYLVESTER:" "Yeah, yes we'll..." " MIRIAM:" "I like that." " SYLVESTER:" "Wonderful." " MIRIAM:" "That, we like." "DINESH:" "It's kind of small shops we have." " Yes?" " Where we get flour, sugar." "And, er, we go in here?" " Yes." " Thank you." "Like many of the slum community" "Dlnesh and his family survive by making and selling puppet souvenirs for tourists." "MIRIAM:" "They're very beautiful, aren't they?" " SYLVESTER:" "They are, aren't they lovely?" "DINESH:" "They are the kings of India." " WAYNE:" "The kings of India?" " DINESH:" "Yeah." "SYLVESTER:" "Who carves them?" "Did you ca..." " DINESH:" "Me, my father, my brothers." "SYLVESTER:" "Oh, really?" "You carved all these?" " DINESH:" "Yeah." " SYLVESTER:" "Wow, amazing!" "DINESH:" "And then my sister painted, like this person." "Dinesh, how many people live in this house?" "Thirteen." " Thirteen?" " Yes." "WAYNE:" "They must all get on very well." "I mean..." " Or not!" " Or not." "SYLVESTER:" "May I try with that one please?" "Okay?" " Yeah." " Pull it back, these three." " Yeah." "And keep this like this." " Yeah." " Keep it tight, like this." " Oh!" "WAYNE:" "It's not easy." "SYLVESTER:" "Wow!" " DINESH:" "Oh, bravo!" "WAYNE:" "It's not easy." "LADY SINGS" "Wow!" "ALL:" "Hooray!" " MIRIAM:" "Oh, bravo!" "It makes you want to dance." " Yeah." "SYLVESTER:" "India has got thousands and thousands of years of culture." "The art, the music, the theatre." "So much expression." "SINGING AND CLAPPING" "MIRIAM:" "How do you feel about living here?" "Ah..." " Do you want to get out or...?" " No, I love this place." "You love this place." "This is home." " Yeah." "WAYNE:" "So you don't envy people who have money?" "Do you think, oh, I wish that I could have that?" "Sometimes when there is trouble, problems..." "Yes. - with the families..." " Yes." " for money and stuff then yes." "But mostly we are happy with our life." "Fantastic." "Would you like a pen?" "Yeah?" "There we are." "WAYNE:" "Isn't that nice?" " Thank you." "D'you, you want a pen?" " Thank you." "SYLVESTER:" "Those people were just great." "I've fallen in love with them." "ROSEMARY:" "No, don't help me, don't help me, I'm gonna do this." "Despite having a houseful of staff chef Rosemary has been keen to get involved in the kitchen during their stay." "ROSEMARY:" "Have I got it?" " Er, more or less." "ROSEMARY:" "My problem is, I can't afford to slow down, I have to keep going." "I can never see me giving up work completely whether I just write, or whatever I do, I'll always work, until the day I die I will work." "You're supposed to keep it like this." "ROSEMARY:" "Oh, sorry." "If Rosemary was to spend her golden years here" "India would have to offer her more than just sunshine and cheap living." "ROSEMARY:" "If I was to ever to consider to retire here" "I would definitely get some sort of a job, or start a cafe', or do something like that." "I'm learning." "I'll have to come here, I'll have to come and learn how to cook." "I'll have to start my career all over again." "Well, to learn new things, you have to." "ROSEMARY:" "Well, that's what it's all about, isn't it?" "SUSHMA:" "After my retirement, I'm learning how to run this place." "ROSEMARY:" "So say, if I was to retire here, I could easily open up a little cafe." "SUSHMA:" "You could, you could." "Cos there are people doing it already." " SUSHMA:" "There are people doing it already." "Now you see all around Jaipur people of our age, after retirement have opened up places like this because children are not with us the house is there." "So there's never an end to, er, getting business." "ROSEMARY:" "Yes, yes." " People are doing it." "And that, to me, is what it should be like." "Age comes but, you know, it's acceptable." "I don't think, I'm not old." "ROSEMARY:" "As long as you've got your health." " You have no medical problems." "I think everybody's young." " Yeah." "I'll see you later." " See you." "Thank you for helping me." "Thank you for letting me practise." "Bye-bye." " That was brilliant." "ROSEMARY:" "They don't look at old people in the same way here." "'When you get to 65 you've got to retire.'" "Well, it doesn't work like that here." "And I think that's a good thing." "Phew!" "With around 100 rupees to the pound the group have found that their money goes a lot further here than in the UK." "Something Miriam wants to take advantage of before she leaves." "Ah!" "Here we are." "I've come to an optician to order some glasses because I believe that they will be of good quality..." "Hello, good afternoon." "And, they'll be cheaper than I can get at the optician that I use in England." "Can I have your prescription, previous prescription..." " Yes. so that I can get a idea." "MIRIAM:" "You know, things like finances are very important." "How much money does it cost?" "You see, I want to have a comfortable old age and the fact that India is much cheaper to live in than England is a big factor in retiring here." "I've got a fat face." "So..." "That's no problem." " I need, I need big glasses." "I'm also fat." " No, you're not, not like me." "What, what price are these?" " These are for only 800 rupees." "And how much is that?" " Er, £8." "£8." "Movie star Miriam has attracted the attention of the manager." "I have seen you somewhere." "And maybe..." " I'm, I'm an actress." "And I was..." " Yeah, I've seen you in Harry Potter." "That's right!" "I'm very impressed." "But every customer is important for me." " Exactly." "He's keen to show her his flagship range." "Ma'am, this is the finest quality of titanium, this is Z titanium." "And ma'am, it's 100% unbreakable." "Even if you sit on them the lens will not break." "If I sit on them?" " No problem." " Wow!" "That's gotta be strong!" "And how much is that one?" "No, I'm not having that." "You see, I know quickly what I like and what I don't like." "Yeah, you, er, yeah, definitely." "MIRIAM LAUGHS" "Maybe they like Harry Potter." "MIRIAM LAUGHS" "It's okay, no charge." "Can I do it in a card?" "Ma'am, I don't have machine right now." "My machine has been spoiled by rats." "By rats?" "!" " Yeah, ma'am." " Okay." "I've spent a lot more money than I expected but I've got a lot for it..." "Yeah, definitely." " which is excellent." "Across town, Jan has come with Emma and her landlady, Sangita to see an apartment for rent." "JAN:" "So it's a huge haveli?" " SANGITA'S BROTHER:" "Yes, yes, yeah." "So it's like a huge apartment." " Wow!" "So you're renovating the whole place at the moment?" " Yes, yeah." "Hidden behind the central bazaar the apartment is part of a large haveli owned by Sangita's brother." "Emma is delightful, and Sangita was so willing to help." "And when I said, well, you know, it's alright, you've helped Emma who lives in this wonderful situation with her own apartment in the haveli which is the family home, but they're there when she wants to open her door." "JAN:" "And this is all part of the apartment?" " SANGITA'S BROTHER:" "Yes, yes." "I'm showing you the old city - haveli apartments, which, you know, families have created for the foreigners to stay and get the feel of the old city and the palace." "I couldn't believe it when we walked in, and suddenly this whole sort of..." "Yeah, a lot of hustle and bustle." "But from here it's like an oasis." "JAN:" "It's amazing." "Oh!" "Oh!" "All yours." "Grandfather, grandmother and my great grandfather." "Oh!" "It's absolutely lovely." "It's wonderful!" "I came here and walked into this sort of palace." "And the beauty of this place is the family run it." "If I were here for four months every year" "I haven't got the slightest doubt that I would be swept up and part of the family." "It is lovely." "Jan could rent this luxury apartment for part of the year for £500 a month for a short-term let." "I always wanted an extended family." "I always wanted more than one child." "None of my wishes were granted." "My son now lives in Australia and I just don't have an extended family so why shouldn't I have an Indian one?" "It would suit them because they'd have along let." "It would suit me because I'd only have to pay rent for four months." "And I'd be like a maharani." "SYLVESTER:" "Ah, Notting Hill, it's Notting Hill Carnival." "The group are out to celebrate one of the biggest nights in the year in Jaipur." "ROY:" "Which way?" " I've no idea." "Er, that way." " RAJU:" "Any way!" "Any way!" "_ Any way!" " Any way!" "This is all for you today." "It's the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, one of the most important dates in the Hindu calendar which celebrates the elephant-headed God's birthday." "I love all the colour, culture, noise." "Er, and, um, vibrancy." "Elephant!" " Elephant!" "The group's guide, Raju, has taken Jan, Sylvester and Roy into the thick of the procession." "An elephant is walking on the street, like this, openly." "SYLVESTER:" "It's beautiful." "Give her a banana, one by one." "One by one you can put here." "There we are." "It's not very often you can take a selfie with an elephant nowadays." "Er, it's just amazing." "Anyone who would be bored here, there's something wrong with them." "A mile ahead of the procession locals are acting out the story of Gahesh through dance." "Rosemary and Wayne have been invited to join in." "WAYNE:" "I've been dancing with all the guys on the stage there." "They gave me this lovely scarf." "Um, I don't know, I think it must represent Ganesh." "These colours being something quite different in London." "I think it's more like the gay flag but never mind all that." "JAN:" "Oh, yeah, oh, right, yes." "Okay, yes." "JAN:" "I've never ridden a horse in my life, and suddenly I got up." "Oh, there she is." "Ha-ha!" "Brilliant." "JAN:" "And it was... it was incredible." "Whoa!" " WAYNE:" "Where are they?" "WAYNE:" "Come up the stairs." " ROSEMARY:" "Oh, look at the elephants." "Look at you!" "ROY:" "How wonderful." " It was absolutely..." "PATTI:" "I am so jealous." " She was on the most gorgeous horse." "It sounds amazing!" " SYLVESTER:" "How are you?" "Wow!" "It's 6am and peace has returned to the city." "Well, this is what I usually do when I wake up here in India, almost every morning." "I wake up about 5.30am the sun comes up about 6.30 but what's great is just to see a city content." "A simple life." "This is the best moment to contemplate life, death, being well in yourself." "And this is what India offers me which I can't get anywhere else, which is spirituality." "Rosemary!" "All aboard!" "MIRIAM:" "Thank you." "After nearly a month soaking up all Jaipur has to offer today the group are making a pilgrimage to the spiritual heart of India." "MIRIAM:" "We're going to Varanasi." "We're going to see some exceptional sights, because that's the spiritual capital." "PATTI:" "Yeah." "That's where the kind of like burial ground, isn't it?" " MIRIAM:" "It is." "ROSEMARY:" "I'm very keen to find my spiritual side." "And I'm quite a spiritual person, really, I've got a lot there." "Anybody who goes to India and isn't interested in Indian religions is a muffin." "I'm fascinated by Indian religion." "So I will not flinch from a spiritual adventure." "The group are travelling 500 miles east to one of the holiest cities in the Hindu world, Varanasi." "The city is situated on the banks of the vast River Ganges which runs from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal." "Over 5 million people visit the city each year which attracts religious pilgrims and tourists alike." "BOBBY:" "Give you a piggyback down if you want, next time." "That would be good, wouldn't it?" " It would." "Many flock to Varanasi to spend their final days as it's believed that by dying here they will break the cycle of reincarnation and achieve salvation." "But the city is very different to Jaipur." "Its narrow streets are packed with people and the humidity is much higher." "Oof!" "It's so hot!" "It's the dust, it's getting to me and I don't really want to breathe in the smoke or smell." "ROY:" "Coming through!" "Wayne, Jan, Patti and Roy have booked a local guide to show them around the city on foot." "Oh, hello." " PATTI:" "Hello." "Come, come, come." "What's your name?" "Nomi." " Nomi!" "Nomi, nice to meet you." "Oh!" "Hit by a bull." "PATTI:" "So right, they have the right of way." "Yes, they do." "WAYNE:" "So what is this area anyway?" "Around 30,000 Hindus have their bodies cremated on the banks of the Ganges every year in the hope their soul will reach nirvana." "But it's a shock for one of the group,." "JAN SNIFFLES" "There, there, there." "A lot of her family have departed very recently and who wants to be reminded of it by seeing dead bodies pass by you in the street?" "PATTI:" "Take her, take her somewhere else." "WAYNE:" "Let's go, um, up this way then." "PATTI:" "No, I don't think we can go, can we go that way?" "WAYNE:" "Yes, we're going this way." "PATTI:" "Okay." "Let's go." " Okay, thank you." "PATTI:" "Thank you." "It gave me the shivers, actually to think there was a dead person just going by me in the street um, just with a cloth over the top of it." "It was about to be burnt, which we do traditionally in our country but it's never so familiar as that." "There's always a box that they're in or something." "And their ashes that are put in the Ganges here will go to nirvana because this is the place where heaven meets earth." "The Ganges is the lifeblood of Varanasi with steps down to the water, known as ghats, running the length of the city." "As well as cremations, the sacred river is used for drinking and bathing by pilgrims who believe it will wash away their sins." "Miriam, Rosemary, Sylvester and Bobby are taking a closer look with their guide, Pappu." "PAPPU:" "So now we are on burning her." "There on the ground they are putting some wood already and they put, er, the body inside." "You can see then on, white colour is like a leg is going out." "BOBBY:" "Has that one been burnt already?" " Yeah." "SYLVESTER:" "ls that, those flames..." " That is the second burning there." "SYLVESTER:" "That's another burning?" " Yeah." "Now, you know when you get burnt, the bodies get burnt?" "I know it sounds really bad, but how long does it take a body to completely burn?" "Yeah." " An, an hour, two hours?" "Yeah, is..." "Like some body, like, er, is taking like three hour to four hour." "And is depend by wind also, and the quality of wood, is much dry or not." "I mean, I'm going to be cremated." " PAPPU:" "Yeah, yeah." "And, for us, we're just put into a box and we're, we're just put into a... thing." "SYLVESTER:" "Gas oven." " And gas and cremated." "Would you be 180 degrees or, which is your favourite kind of cooking?" "Shut up!" " I was just Saying!" "THEY LAUGH" "I'm just gonna go like that." "You know, you have a heart attack or something." "I just wanna go." "I'd love to go on the job, you know, when I'm doing my cooking or something." "I'd love to just go." "Or just say, 'I'm going for a nap,' and just go." "ROSEMARY:" "I think there's something rather peaceful being cremated on a river." " Yeah." "I really do." "I don't wanna be burnt." "I don't wanna die, as it happens." "THEY LAUGH" "ROSEMARY:" "Are you scared of dying?" " No, I ain't." "ROSEMARY:" "No, cos..." " Because I'm not going to." "Like my dad, when he died, he was watching Ken Dodd." "Laughing his head off and he died." "Boom." "What a way to go." "But you don't really die." "Your genes carry on so you're always there." "My boys have got my genes in, the grandson." "And so you don't really die, you just carry it on." "ROSEMARY:" "Will you be cremated here?" "I don't think about that because I can see to other who die but I'm not going to see to me." "And I just want to be alive." "And I, that's the like..." " That's right." " ROSEMARY:" "I feel the same way." " Very good." "ROSEMARY:" "I feel the same way." " You stay alive, young man." "Death is something that you have to face." "And as I approach it, as I get older, of course, it's nearer and nearer." "Am I frightened of it?" "Yes, I'm terrified of it." "And there's no point in pretending that it isn't going to happen." "But I hope to go towards it bravely and elegantly, even." "I've never been elegant." "Maybe I can die elegantly, that would be something to hope for." "The Hindu religion views death not as an end but as a transformation." "100 metres from the Ganges." "hidden behind a busy street there's a special ashram where pilgrims can stay during their final days." "CYMBALS CLANG" "Families stay with their loved ones until their final moment with prayers and music performed to comfort them." "They are coming from Bihar." "There is no disease." "WAYNE:" "No disease." " There is no problem." "He is the son." "Okay." "And then wife." "They're all family together." "They came here to leave his body here." "You've given up the life and you're waiting to go on." "LADY:" "Yes." "Thank you." "Would it be normal first of all to go to hospital, to try and have medication, or no?" "PAPPU:" "No, that is, that is, yes, people are, de..." " Would do that first?" "Yeah, that, you are doing that." " WAYNE:" "Because of pain?" "Yeah, you have pain, you have the things." "But if somebody just want to die." "WAYNE:" "I see." "It's their choice." " This choice." "And you've got your family around you, you're lying on the bed and you have chosen to die." "It's your choice and your family are there to support you in it." "I would like that." "WAYNE:" "I never thought I could face, um, somebody dying like that." "But all the family were around them." "They were even smiling as if this is their way, and it is their way." "This is part of their culture and part of their way." "And it's a very peaceful situation and the whole family will stay with them right 'til the end." "And, in a way, that's wonderful to, for them to feel surrounded by the people who love them." "BELLS RING" "The group have come to a Hindu ceremony, called an Aarti which takes place each morning and evening on the river bank to pay respect to the sacred Ganges." "Hindus believe that the river is personified by a goddess known as Ganga with the Aarti ceremony making her an offering of fire." "We have to put the candle on the river, over there." "WAYNE:" "Oh, they're going down to the river?" "CHANTING AND SINGING" "WAYNE:" "Mind the gap." "WAYNE CHUCKLES" "PAPPU:" "A marigold." " WAYNE:" "It's marigolds." " JAN:" "Yes." "It is said Mother Ganga will purify your loved one 's soul if you place a lit candle in the water in their memory and say a prayer." "Roy has been a widower for 26 years,." "ROY:" "I always light a candle for my late wife no matter what country I'm in, no matter what church I'm in." "She's always in my thoughts, you know, my childhood sweetheart." "Er, so she never goes far away." "And er... a ceremony like this sort of brings that all to the fore." "I felt uplifted by Varanasi, spiritually, health-wise, in myself." "But I feel better for having witnessed a very personal thing and a very grieving thing." "They don't see it as that, they see it as the beginning of their spiritual life." "And, of course there will be mourning but they treat it like an everyday occurrence." "Well, it is - life then death." "WAYNE:" "Home sweet home." "BOBBY:" "Ooh!" "I keep thinking there's more steps." "Back in Jaipur, the group only have a few days left of their Indian adventure." "Look at that bird there, look, look." " Where?" " Over there, look." "Oh, that's beautiful, isn't it?" " Yeah." " Wow!" "WAYNE:" "All the wildlife's fantastic." "That'd be another reason to stay." "I've been here three weeks, near enough, and I could live here." "My wife's coming out to have a look, see what India's like, see properties." "So I'm gonna stay for an extra ten days." "And if we find the right place and she's agreeable well, we probably would live here for our retirement." "Before Bobby's wife arrives in India, he's keen to find an impressive house to show her." "Hi." "Pleased to meet ya." "BOBBY:" "So we'll start start at the top, bracket, here." "And then go down, and then we go downhill." "ESTATE AGENT:" "Yes, sir." " BOBBY:" "Like me." "Alright?" "BOBBY LAUGHS" "He's come 20 minutes from the old city to the fast-growing area of New Jaipur where the average rent of a three-bed house is £120 a month." "Well, look at the scaffolding, it's er, bamboo and it's in a bag of dirt with rope... it's tied together with rope." "The Health and Safety Officer would have a field day here." "He'd think, he'd have a field day." "Right." "Alright, young man?" "Nice to meet you." " Here's Mr Mathu, he owns the house." "You've done it very neat." " Yes." "BOBBY:" "It's not bodged, it's done properly." "The top-end, five-bedroom." "five-bathroom house also comes with a cinema, gym, jacuzzi and roof garden." "This is the terrace area." "This is lovely view." "This is the kitchen." " BOBBY:" "Very good." "And it even has its own lift." "perfect for Bobby's arthritis." "BOBBY:" "First floor." " First floor, please." "BOBBY LAUGHS" "Got a... that's unusual, you got a glass door." "ESTATE AGENT:" "Yeah." " On a loo." "What happened there?" "HE LAUGHS" "Marvellous house, built absolutely perfect." "The floors, the bathrooms." "You got loads of bathrooms." "You got lifts." "It's unbelievable." "It's a lot of house." " ESTATE AGENT:" "Yeah." "It's very good, it's done very well." "It's very good." "It's done neat and tidy." "It's the best building I've seen, to be honest with you." " Thank you so much." "No, it is, it's the best one." "But how much would it cost to rent a house like this?" "Rent?" " Yes." "$1,000. -$1,000." " $1,000." " Yeah." "What, a month?" " Per month." "Well, that's not too bad really." "Bobby and his wife could rent this house for £650 a month." "Alright." "Alright mate, thank you." "It's not only up to me, it's up to my wife." "The guvnor." "BOBBY LAUGHS" "Let's go and live like kings, when it's sunny and lovely weather." "She always said she wanted to retire somewhere like this." "And she may do it, she may do it." "With their time in India drawing to a close their hosts at the have" have organised an elephant ride for the group on a family estate three miles outside Jaipur." "When I was a little boy I used to come down from the house in Scotland to London and go to London Zoo." "And in those days you used to be able to ride an elephant." "And a camel!" "I'd love to go on an elephant." "SYLVESTER:" "Ah, look at that, that's great." "Set up as a nature reserve to protect the local wildlife it's also a space to house elephants that have been mistreated by their owners." "Well, she must love it, I should think." " PATTI:" "Yeah, I should think so." "ROSEMARY:" "She absolutely loves it." " PATTI LAUGHS" "ROSEMARY:" "I hope the elephant can take my weight." " SHE LAUGHS" "WAYNE:" "Now get comfortable, darling." "ROSEMARY:" "ls the elephant alright?" "WAYNE:" "Yes... it's very alright, it's just taking a pee." "ROSEMARY LAUGHS" " WAYNE:" "Oh, and a poo-poo." "ROSEMARY:" "No!" " SHE LAUGHS" "I can't believe I'm on an elephant!" " PATTI:" "Fantastic." "I can't believe this." "ROSEMARY:" "Well, this is lovely." "Oh, it's wonderful." "You get closer to nature this way." "The eight former strangers have now spent three weeks living alongside each other road testing retirement in India." "JAN:" "I have connected with people here." "I suppose part of it is the joy of meeting new people." "BOBBY:" "Watch the snakes don't jump off..." "off that tree, you know." "ROSEMARY LAUGHS" "ROSEMARY:" "There's some really lovely people here." "But I wouldn't like to go for the rest of my life with a load of people." "God help me, I hope I'm out of it if I ever have to do it." "ROSEMARY LAUGHS" "Jan!" "You and Sylvester look this way." "Which way is that way?" "Ooh!" "When I met my fellow travellers, my initial thought was what have I let myself in for?" "And yet, actually got on very well, they're lovely." "Every single one of them." "Thank you." "Wow!" "That was fantastic." "Never been so high in my life." "BOBBY:" "I didn't think it was gonna be so relaxing." "It's like..." "I can't remember that far back, nearly 70 years when I was in me cot and me mum was rocking me." "I'm actually feeling incredibly calm and I know it's the end of the trip and we've been through some rigorous times over here." "But, er, this is the icing on the cake, I think." "Being allowed to come out into nature and sit on the elephant's back." "Bobby's wife, Marie, has arrived to explore the possibilities of a home in India." "BOBBY:" "Alright, doll?" " Funny seeing you here." "Mad, innit?" "You doing alright?" " Yeah." "Ooh!" "Well, you see the cows, you see the cows?" "Yeah, I see the cows and the goats." " Yeah, amazing." "So how you been coping without me?" "Been taking your tablets?" "Yes, taking me tablets." " I can see you're not very, um..." "No, not too bad though." " tidy." "You look like you've lost a bit of weight." "Dunno." "BOBBY:" "Here he is." " MARIE:" "Oh, hello!" " Lovely to see you in the flesh." "How was your trip?" " Yeah, lovely thanks." " Good." "God, what a mess he is, isn't he?" " THEY LAUGH" "Love him desperately." "We've really bonded, haven't we, Bobby?" "Well, not quite." " Not quite!" " Not quite, no." " He's camper than I am!" "Bobby and Marie are staying on in India to look at local property." "I can't believe I'm here." "You gonna miss it?" "Yeah, I will a bit, yeah." "To say thank you to all the people that have helped them feel at home here the group are throwing a farewell party." "JAN:" "I seem to have been the first one ready." "Everybody else is still titifying." "Do I mean titifying?" "I do!" "PATTI LAUGHS" "In India you gotta bling out!" "Hello!" " You look gorgeous." "Oh, thank you." "I feel right." "I know that if I were to come back and spend time here these friendships would grow, no doubt about that." "This is a gift." " BOBBY:" "This, this is my wife here." "Hello!" "It's lovely to see you." " And you." "Oh, absolutely." "Heard a lot about you!" "It has been a journey of a lifetime for us." "This has been a real inspiration, so tonight, this is what we're trying to give you to say thank you." "ROSEMARY:" "I'm going to miss India." "I'm really going to miss it." "Um, I probably won't miss the loos." "It's our yoga boy." "How are you?" "ROY:" "This whole adventure is, er, absolutely brilliant." "There'll be tears when we leave." "So, I will see you in London." " Yes." "You're only as good as the people in your country, and that's the Indians." "HE LAUGHS" "SYLVESTER:" "I you come here as a tourist, you just see the tourist things but if you come here to live as we have then you're given the privilege of really getting down into the community." "LADY:" "What you really need is a turban now." " Oh, yes!" " LAUGHTER" "ROSEMARY:" "Yes, you do." " I don't think so somehow!" "Bravo!" "Bravo!" "PATTI:" "Home, they say, is where your heart is." "And India really does feel like home." "I don't feel sad 'cos I know I'm coming back." "There is no doubt I'm back." "Give the old girl a hug." " WAYNE:" "Rosemary!" "Come along, dear!" "Oh, thank you so much." " Thank you, ma'am." "India has done something that I never thought would happen in a million years." "I started to calm down." "And I'm coming back." "PATTI:" "Come, Wayne!" " Thank you so much for all you've done for us." "I love this country and I would love to come back." "I have no final words." "This is an ongoing relationship."