on the beach. cricket everywhere! cricket mania. food ..

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come discover india
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india

• what you already know but what we shall tell
  you about anyways!
• what you probably dont know
• a dozen reasons for wanderlust

chalo! (lets go!)
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facts and figures
Republic of India India, Bharat,
Hindustan Worlds largest democracy 23
officially recognized languages New Delhi is the
capital with 15MM people Bombay is the powerhouse
with 18MM people 2nd most populous country after
China (1.12 BN) 4th in GDP (PPP) rankings after
US, China and Japan (3.8 Trillion) 7th largest
state in area (3.16 MM sq km) 31st most dense
state (336/ sq km) 118th in per capita income PPP
(3800) First war of independence against UK in
1857 Partition with Pakistan on 14 August
1947 Declared independence on 15 August
1947 Republic on 26 January 1950 Currency
Indian Rupee Time zone IST (GMT 530)
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a land of history
A Brief History of India Stone Age 70000-3300
BC Mehrgarh Culture Indus Valley Civilization
3300-1300 BC Harappan Culture Vedic
Period 1500-500 BC Mahavira, Gautam
Buddha Mauryan Empire, Ashoka the great Middle
Kingdoms 200 BC-1200 AD Golden age of Gupta
Empire Islamic Sultanates 1200-1600 AD
Arrival of Islam Golden age of Mughal Empire,
Akbar the great Colonial Era 1750-1947
AD British Empire Modern State 1947 AD
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a land of people (a lot of us around, no?)

• Home to one-fifth of humanity on this planet!

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a land of religion
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907 MM hindus
It is the world's oldest existent religion, and
has approximately a billion adherents. A very
absorbing religion or philosophy, Hinduism is a
diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning
monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, monism and
even atheism. Hindu religion is often labeled as
a religion of 330 million gods. But the key
Trinity comprises those responsible for three
tasks creation Lord Brahma, preservation
Lord Vishnu, and destruction and rebirth Lord
Shiva.
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152 MM muslims
Islam came to India with Turko-Muslim invasions
in 8th century. Today, India has more Muslims
than Iraq Saudi Arabia Afghanistan Iran Egypt J
ordan Syria
COMBINED
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26 MM christians
Christian faith in south India is much older than
in Europe and America. Kerala Christians are
called Nasranis or Syrian Christians and have a
tradition of more than 2000 years. Later,
Portugese catholic missionaries reached Malabar
coast in 15th century. Protestant missionaries
began to work throughout India in 18th century.
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21 MM sikhs
Sikhism began in 15th century in northern India
with the teachings of Guru Nanak. Sikh comes
from Sanskrit root sisya meaning desciple or
learner. The term guru comes from the Sanskrit
guru, meaning teacher, guide or mentor.
Baptised Sikhs are bound to wear the Five Ks -
The 5 items are kes (uncut hair), ka?gha (small
comb), ka?a (circular heavy metal bracelet),
kirpan (ceremonial short sword), and kaccha
(special undergarment). Sikhism is the 5th
largest organised religion in the world (after
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism).
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12 MM buddhists
Buddhism is another dharmic religion founded in
India around 5th century BC by Siddhartha
Gautama. Prince Siddhartha, after the
enlightenment, was known as Buddha. Four Noble
Truths and Noble Eight Fold Path are among
Buddhisms teachings. Today, Buddhism is a world
religion with a following of about 350MM.
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5 MM jains
Jainism is a dharmic religion originating in
ancient india. Jains follow the teachings of
tirthankaras. Lord Mahavira, the 24th
tirthankara of Jains lived in 6th century BC.
The Jains are the best educated religious
community in India, and the Jain libraries are
India's oldest.
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a land of festivals
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diwali
Diwali or the Festival of Lights, is a major
Indian festival with great significance in
Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. The 5 day
celebrations (in Oct / Nov) focus on lights and
lamps, particularly traditional dipa or deeya
(earthen lamp) and fireworks. It symbolizes the
return of Lord Rama to his kingdom after
vanquishing Demon Ravana.
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eid
Eid-ul-Fitr is an Islamic holiday that marks the
end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Worshippers
greet and embrace each other in a spirit of peace
after congregational prayers. People also
distribute Zakat, the obligatory tax on ones
wealth, to the needy. One of the special dishes
in India is savayya, a dish of toasted, sweetened
vermicelli noodles.
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holi
Holi or the Festival of Colors is a popular
spring festival. Bonfires are lit on the eve of
Holi. On the day itself, known as dhulandi,
people spend the day throwing colored powder and
water at each other. A special drink called
thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang
(cannabis).
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dussera
Dussera or Vijayadashami is a festival
celebrated in the month of Sep / Oct. Dussera
marks the day when Lord Rama killed Demon
Ravana. Present celebrations commemorate the
event by burning effigies of Ravana and his
henchmen.
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and of course bollywood!!
Bollywood produces about 1000 feature films in an
year. Approximately 3 billion movie tickets are
sold in India every year and is a 3 billion
industry.
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and followed, in a burst of creativity, by
tollywood, mollywood, kollywood, lollywood!
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cricket mania
India is a cricket crazy nation. The kids will
play anywhere roads, roof tops or railway
tracks. Some will worship the cricketers. Others
will burn down their houses if they fail to
perform. Legendary rival? Pakistan. And India
has never lost a match to Pakistan in World Cup.
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cricket mania
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food
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and some food for thought
we run along!!
Somehow, in spite of the Gods...

• Oldest, continuous civilization
• 5,000 years and going strong
• Tradition, culture and ancient wisdom
• Attained independence through non-violence
• Perhaps one of the very few to do so
• And the one that heralded the breakup of the
  British Empire
• Largest Democracy
• However imperfect, chaotic, exasperating,
  unpredictable, frustrating or unreal!
• And Churchill thought we would fail
• Services Superpower
• IT, BPO, RD
• And an unconventional route to stardom
• Secularism and Tolerance
• Every single religion of the world has found a
  home here
• Including all invaders and those who were
  thrown out of their own homeland, welcomed with
  open arms to this already crowded land!

• Illiteracy
• IIT/IIM talks hide the poor primary education
  infrastructure
• Young population Yes, but how to get the best of
  them
• Poverty and Inequality
• Grinding, multi-generational poverty
• Co-existing with sheer inequality of resource
  distribution
• Corruption
• India is NOT a poor country
• And yet, 85 of all development funds ..vanish!
• Under-developed Infrastructure
• 12 hour power failures
• 2 hours of running water
• Poor government health care
• Internal Disturbances
• Kashmir
• Naxalites
• The North East

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india

• what you already know
• what you probably dont know the new, quirky,
  contradictory, difficult to pin-down India
• a dozen reasons for wanderlust

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sari the traditional garment
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sari err
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railways the british import
PALACE ON WHEELS A luxury train operated by
Indian railways departs from New Delhi for an 8
day tour of Rajasthan, Agra and includes visits
to Hawa Mahal, Taj Mahal, Jaisalmer, Ranthambore
National Park and many other places. Prices are
about 500 per night.
INDIAN RAILWAYS And yet as the life blood of the
transport it is also ALL ABOARD! The Mumbai
Metro is the densest, largest carrier in the
world.
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getting around
Raju goes to school
Ummm I think Ill try the train tomorrow
This sucks. Life will get better when I grow up
and start working
Perfect!
Sigh I hate public transport
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a bit too prudish?
In the land of Khajuraho and the Kamasutra
a light kiss in public
Richard Gere!
Shilpa Shetty!
is not taken lightly!
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need we say more!
What is this???
An abandoned plane
Disappears the next day!
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perhaps we will say a bit more!
I have the power!
The toughest defender in the world
The path to God
International Brands?
Underage Drinking?
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jobs india hasnt yet exported
And you thought it was tough explaining YOUR job?
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india

• what you already know
• what you probably dont know
• a dozen reasons for wanderlust

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Roof of the world. Ten 8000-ders reside in this
range. Home of Yeti.
himalayas
home to mount everest
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Ladakh means "Land of High Passes. It is Indias
highest plateau with much of it being over 3,000
m.
ladakh
out of this world
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kashmir
heaven on earth
Historically the term Kashmir was used to refer
to the valley lying between the Great Himalayas
and the Pir Panjal range. Often dubbed Paradise
on Earth, Kashmir's mountainous landscape has
attracted tourists for centuries.
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The city is known as the "Sun City" for the
bright, sunny weather it enjoys all year. It is
also referred as the Blue city, due to the indigo
tinge of the whitewashed houses.
aquamarine blue city
jodhpur
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Also known as the Great Indian Desert, it's a
desert located in western India and southeastern
Pakistan.
the golden sand dunes of
thar desert, rajasthan
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varanasi
the holy town on ganges
It's a famous Hindu holy city situated on the
banks of the river Ganges in the Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh. Hindus believe that bathing in the
river Ganges will remit sins and that dying in
the holy city of Kashi (Varanasi) circumvents
rebirth.
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calcutta
lost in time
Now known as Kolkata, it served as the capital of
India during the British Raj until 1911. This
vibrant city, with a distinct socio-political
culture, is considered by many as the Cultural
capital of India.
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ajanta ellora
cities carved in stone
Ellora caves are rock-cut cave monuments dating
back to the second century BC. Famous for its
paintings, Ajanta caves is a World Heritage Site.
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bombay
stuff dreams are made of
Monsoon. Locals. Mills. Crime. Crowd. Streets.
Chawls. Cars. Carts. Underworld. Business.
Bollywood. Bomb blasts. Stock Market. CHAOS.
Theatre. Shopping Malls. Flats. Slums.
Expressways. Fights. Fervour. Passion. Fear.
Fever. Bombay is made of the stuff dreams are
made of.
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Known as Rome of the East, Tourist Paradise
and Pearl of the Orient, the state of Goa is
located on the western coast of India. Goa's
carnival-like nightlife has been known to lure
many into a psychedelic trance.
goa
some martini, some sun, a little water, some sand
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dubare national park
At Dubare elephant sanctuary in south India (and
several other national parks), you can see these
giants troll in the wild. Come evening, you can
feed them jaggery laddoos with your hands and pat
their trunks. Suggested tip to the keeper
0.50
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This little country famous for food in banana
leaves, ayurvedic massages, communism, 100
literacy is the backwaters of India. Its also
the place where Thomas the Apostle landed in 1st
century.
kerala
Beautiful Backwaters
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And they say, men of the world are divided into
two those who have seen it and those who
havent
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(No Transcript)
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a monument of love
taj mahal, agra
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theek hain?
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some creativity, some ctrl C ctrl V send your
bouquets and brickbats to zishaan at gmail
dot com www.hayath.com