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The Philippines and India

Rajan Datar joins tourists returning to the Philippines; Zareer Masani asks why Western music is more popular than classical Indian music in his home city of Mumbai.

The Philippines were battered by yet another powerful typhoon last month. Hundreds of thousands of people found shelter in evacuation centres and the damage was limited. The Red Cross said that people have become more aware of the dangers after Typhoon Haiyan struck the islands in 2013, killing more than 6,000 people and destroying towns and villages. Now re-building is under way and tourists are returning to the region. Rajan Datar joins them in the town of Baclayon in Bohol where "geotourism" is starting to flourish.

Zareer Masani goes back to his old school in Mumbai to find out why the city's middle class parents want their children to practice Western music instead of traditional Indian forms. He finds that even in some poor communities where people don't speak English, Western music is more popular.

Presented by Owen Bennett Jones
Produced by Laura Gray.

Picture: The Chocolate Hills in Carmen – a popular tourist attraction on the central island of Bohol in the Philippines. These hills have been fundamentally altered by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the island. (JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images).

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11 minutes

Last on

Fri 15 Aug 2014 19:50GMT

Broadcast

  • Fri 15 Aug 2014 19:50GMT