India: My Country
Living in India for a little over 13 years, I can say with confidence that I have barely scraped the first layer of this diverse country. Over 1250 languages are spoken in varying degrees: the popular "Hinglish" which is a mashup of Hindi and English. After coming to Canada, I often caught myself using hindi phrases in my conversation with Canadian residents.
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Did you know?
India has the largest tiger population in the wild. |
We celebrate many festivals. Scratch that, we celebrate A LOT.
The picture on the right is Ravan, a popular villain in Indian mythology. According to the legend of Ramayana, Lord Ram and Goddess Sita lived happily in their kingdom of Ayodhya. But due to some unfortunate circumstances (jealousy, family betrayal, etc), Ram and Sita got exiled for 12 years. While hiding in a forest, Sita gets kidnapped by Ravan and taken to Sri Lanka. Ram gets assistance from his fellow monkey friends and builds a bridge to Sri Lanka, defeats Ravan and gets Goddess Sita back. Ayodhya rejoices and welcomes their beloved King and Queen back. Ram's fight against Ravan is celebrated in a 10 day festival called Dussehra and his return to Ayodhya is celebrated by the lighting of candles and diyas in a beautiful festival called Diwali. |
Did you know?
India is the birthplace of chess, the number zero, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. |
You can't mention India without mentioning its world-famous food. Spicy people turn away now, because here in the land of the Gods, where Steve Jobs discovered the meaning of life, love burning our tongues for the simple pleasure of it.
Some foods featured in the picture adjacent are aloo ki sabzi, indian pizza, halwa, barfi and raita. |
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India has incredible wild life. Although many species are going into extinction, efforts are being made to preserve the last of our amazing flora and fauna. Some favourites are the Bengal Tiger, Indian peacock and Indian elephant.
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