This document provides an overview of India, beginning with what is already known about the country and then exploring aspects that are less known. It discusses India's diverse population of over 1 billion people, rich history dating back 5000 years, vibrant culture and festivals, and natural beauty from the Himalayas to beaches. A dozen reasons for wanderlust to visit India are mentioned, including destinations like the Taj Mahal, Kerala backwaters, Ladakh, Varanasi, and Goa that showcase India's cultural and geographic diversity.

1. come … discover india

2. india…
१ what you already know – but what we shall tell
you about anyways!
२ what you probably don’t know
३ a dozen reasons for wanderlust
chalo!
(lets go!)

3. Republic of India
India, Bharat, Hindustan
World’s 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 +5:30)
facts and figures

4. 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
a land of history…

5. Home to one-fifth of humanity on this planet!
a land of people (a lot of us around, no?)

6. a land of religion

7. 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.

8. 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
Jordan
Syria
COMBINED

9. 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.

10. 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 gurū, meaning
teacher, guide or mentor.
Baptised Sikhs are bound to
wear the Five Ks - The 5
items are: kēs (uncut hair),
ka ghā (small comb), ka āṅ ṛ
(circular heavy metal
bracelet), kirpān (ceremonial
short sword), and kacchā
(special undergarment).
Sikhism is the 5th
largest
organised religion in the
world (after Christianity,
Islam, Hinduism and
Buddhism).

11. 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 Buddhism’s
teachings. Today, Buddhism
is a world religion with a
following of about 350MM.

12. 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.

13. a land of festivals …

14. 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.

15. 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 one’s
wealth, to the needy.
One of the special dishes in
India is savayya, a dish of
toasted, sweetened
vermicelli noodles.

16. 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).

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. and followed, in a burst of creativity, by …
tollywood, mollywood, kollywood, lollywood!
Will you marry
me?
Only if you
watch me
dance
Where did you
get those
moves?
Where did you
get that shirt?

20. 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.

21. on the ghats of varanasi
in peaks of himalayas
on the riverbed behind taj
on the beach
cricket everywhere!
cricket mania

22. food
Mughlai Cuisine – Seekh kabab, Boti
kabab, Shami kabab, Biryani
South Indian Cuisine – Idli, Dosa,
Wada, Uttappa
Chat – Samosa, Bhelpuri, Panipuri –
found street side
Chicken Tikka Masala was created in
UK. Vindaloo is a Portugese dish!
Chai – Largest consumed beverage
in the world (3 Bn cups/ day in India
alone)! Sorry, no wines with food.
Alphonso mangoes were good
enough to pull off the Indo-US nuke
deal

23. and some food for thought…
 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, R&D…
 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…
…we run along!!Somehow, in spite of the Gods...

24. india
१ what you already know
२ what you probably don’t know – the new, quirky, contradictory,
difficult to pin-down India
३ a dozen reasons for wanderlust

25. sari… the traditional garment

26. sari… err…

27. 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.
railways … the british import
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.

28. Raju goes to school…
This sucks.
Life will get
better when I
grow up and
start working
Ummm… I
think I’ll try the
train tomorrow
Sigh… I hate
public
transport
Perfect!
getting around…

29. In the land of Khajuraho and the Kamasutra… … a light kiss in public …
Richard
Gere!
Shilpa
Shetty!
… is not taken lightly!
a bit too prudish?

30. What is this???
Disappears the next day!
An abandoned plane…
need we say more!

31. I have the power!
International Brands?Underage Drinking?
The toughest defender in the worldThe path to God
perhaps we will say a bit more!

32. Roadside Dentist
Truck Painter Traveling Knife Sharpener
Train Waiter
And you thought it
was tough explaining
YOUR job?
Ear Cleaner
jobs india hasn’t yet exported

33. india
१ what you already know
२ what you probably don’t know
३ a dozen reasons for wanderlust

34. himalayas
home to mount everest
Roof of the world. Ten
8000-ders reside in this
range. Home of Yeti.

35. ladakhout of this world
Ladakh means "Land of High
Passes‘. It is India’s highest
plateau with much of it being
over 3,000 m.

36. kashmir
heavenonearth
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.

37. jodhpur
aquamarine blue city
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.

38. thar desert, rajasthan
the golden sand dunes of
Also known as the Great
Indian Desert, it's a desert
located in western India and
southeastern Pakistan.

39. 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.

40. 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.

41. 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.

42. 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.

43. goa
some martini, some sun, a little water, some sand
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.

44. 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

45. kerala
Beautiful Backwaters
This little country famous
for food in banana leaves,
ayurvedic massages,
communism, 100%
literacy is the backwaters
of India. It’s also the place
where Thomas the
Apostle landed in 1st
century.

46. And they say, men of the world are divided into two …
those who have seen it and those who haven’t

48. taj mahal, agra
amonumentoflove

49. theek hain?

50. some creativity, some ctrl C + ctrl V
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