Indian Space Dreams

Sue Sudbury's gem of a documentary creates a portrait of contemporary India that illustrates the extraordinary contrasts between advanced technologies in Astro physics and the shoestring project budgets that sustain them. Relatively newly established affluence is viewed from the proximity of the other side of the bay in the slums where intelligent, aspirational, articulate children are charting their path out of poverty via education and science. It incorporates the dilemmas of young women playing a vital role in the research programme, on their potential path to cracking some glass ceilings, whilst cleverly fielding their parents' insistence on marriage soon. It makes you will the success of all parties against what appear to be impossible odds and it does all this in a calm and understated tone. I thought it captured the hopeful feel of modern India. I loved it.