WATCH: ‘4 Days to Save the world’ was a reality show with big ambitions. See a preview of the Star’s investigation of the world’s deadliest water crisis.
By RYAN O’DONOGHue, The Star
After spending more than a week in a small village in India on the border between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, I’m not just seeing the world, I’m immersed in it. I’ve come to understand what people are having to do to survive, with the help of local guides, water carriers and local villagers sharing their stories.
A long-awaited Indian documentary aired on television is now the first I’ll be watching. The 4 Days to Save the World, is a reality show whose subject is the country’s most devastating water crisis. The series, which premiered on Star Plus on Thursday and will continue on Thursday until Sunday, has been directed by Anupam Kher and produced by Manish Tewari in collaboration with BBC.
“The world has seen water as the most precious good in this country,” Kher said. “We need to see how the water is being used. The most important people are the poorest. We need to show how the poor have access to clean water.”
“It is a great shame that the state and the central government have not managed water in the state of Bihar,” added Tewari. “It is a problem of our own country and if we don’t get better water, the state government and the centre will have to do something about it.”
The most significant feature of the 4 days to save the world is the vast array of information at the disposal of the viewers. Kher said he found in the media a lot of the stories related to water were negative. It was refreshing to find a balance.
In the premiere, a group of children living in Deoghar, Bihar learn to make dumplings. The village is known for having one of the highest cholera rates in India. After an outbreak of the disease in a neighbouring village in 2010, the state launched a project to provide clean water to the residents in that village. The results of the project were dramatic: Water levels rose more than 30 feet (
