India!!

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India
India (also known as Bharat or Hindustan) is a Land of Fascination and Prismatic beauty. A country as large as Europe, a home to one sixth of the human race, having the largest democracy in the world, speaking 850 different dialects, having a wealth of culture and religion that spans the entire spectrum of civilization, having a multitude of traditions and festivals, flora and fauna. India is a peninsular country, located in South East Asia. It has vast geographical diversity ranging from mountains to lakes and from forests to rivers.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

India is a paradise tucked away in the foot of the great Himalayas in the northern end and lies cocooned by huge oceans on the other three sides. While the Arabian Sea borders the south west side, the south east is lulled by the Bay of Bengal and the southern tip, Kanya Kumari (Cape Cameron) is washed by the Indian Ocean. Hence protected by such natural barriers like mountains and water, it is separated from the rest of Asia. It lies to the north of the equator between 8.4 and 37.6 degrees north latitude and 68.7 and 97.25 degrees east longitude. India measures 3214 kms from north to south and 2933 kms from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 kms and a coastline of 7516.5 kms. India shares its political borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan on the west, Bangladesh and Burma in the east, Nepal, China, Tibet and Bhutan in the north.

CLIMATE

Because of India's size, its climate depends not only on the time of year, but also the location. In general, temperatures tend to be cooler in the north, especially between September and March. The south is coolest between November to January. In June, winds and warm surface currents begin to move northwards and westwards, heading out of the Indian Ocean and into the Arabian Gulf. This creates a phenomenon known as the south-west monsoon, and it brings heavy rains to the west coast. Between October and December, a similar climatic pattern called the north-east monsoon appears in the Bay of Bengal, bringing rains to the east coast. In addition to the two monsoons, there are two other seasons, spring and autumn.

ORIGIN OF INDIA

Indus Civilisation : The best place to start is no doubt the beginning of India which can be traced back to thousands of years ago, somewhere in the 2500 BC with the earliest but very advanced civilisation which was indigenous. Around 4,500 years ago, cities began to rise among the scattered agricultural settlements on the Indus plain. These were the cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa. The ruins found show that the quality of life in those cities was higher than many Indians enjoy today. Around 1500 BC, after a continuous existence of 1,000 years, the Indus Valley Civilisation vanished from the face of earth.

Aryan Invasion : In the middle of the second millennium BC, India was overwhelmed by the first of many invaders: the Aryans. They came in about 1500 BC from the grasslands of central Asia and thereby lived a nomadic life based on cattle raising. They settled in the region to the north west ofIndia, known as the Punjab. With time, they drifted into the subcontinent and settled around the Gangetic Valley, pushing the early dark-skinned Dravidian settlers deeper into the south of the peninsula. The Aryans were the first of many invaders to India. There were constant invasions from - Alexander the Great, the Scythians, the Huns, the Arabians, Persians and Afghans. Various religious groups battled for dominion and power fluctuated between the Hindu, Muslim and Buddhists. India's rich culture and heritage has been recorded by historians through the aeons of time. From Hieun Tsang who visited India around 321 BC, to Vasco da Gama who visited India in 1498 AD, all who visited India were impressed by its riches: be they material, social or cultural.

Era of the British rule : In the later part of the Indian history, the East India Company gained control until it became so powerful that the British Parliament took over and Queen Victoria became Empress. The British then ruled over India for two centuries. It was the first time that India came to be administered by one government. So far, India had never been a nation: they had been divided by religion, race, caste and language. The English conquered India with the help of the Indians: Madrasi militia against the Marathas, Bengalis and Biharis against the Sikhs, Sikhs and Punjabi against the rest. The British conquering India had a uniting effect on the nation. It created a nascent sense of unity between the people of India and gave birth to the feeling of Indianness. This resulted in the Indians revolting against the oppressive rule of the Bristish and fight for India's independance from them.

Struggle for Independence: By the mid 1800?s the India?s war of Independence had started and finally gained freedom on 15th August 1947. But the price that India had to pay for this freedom was the bitter partition of India and Pakistan and a legacy of rift between the two religions: Hindus and Muslims.

Christening of INDIA : Interestingly, the name `India? is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu. The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name `Hindustan? combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus. The other name `Bharata? is derived from the ancient Bharata Varsha, Land of the legendary king Bharat and his sons.

Demographic Profile:

It covers an Area of 3,287,263 sq. km
Capital : New Delhi
Largest Commercial City : Mumbai (formerly know as Bombay)
India has 25 states and 7 union territories.
Population : India is the second largest populated country in this world after China. {Population (1995) : 935.7m}
Literacy Rate: 52.11% (Male: 64.13% Female: 39.29%)

Confluence of Religions in India

Though India was the place inhabited by the Hindus, after a series of invasions overcenturies, India has today a large number of religions practised on the subcontinent.
Even today, Hinduism easily predominates, claiming 82 per cent of the population. But the Indian Constitution makes it clear that no religion in the republic has precedence over any other as far as the state is concerned.
In India, there are more than 75 million Muslims - ironically, about as many as there are in Pakistan.
The next minority is Christian, with 18 million followers.
There are 14 million Sikhs, whose religion launched in the 15th century, is a blend of Hindu polytheism and Islamic monotheism.
Buddhism has 5 million followers in India, where it originated in the sixth century BC.
There are also 3.5 million Jains, members of a sect that began during the same period as Buddhism and resembles it in many ways.
There are about 100,000 Parsis - followers of Zoroaster- whose religion moved eastwardfrom Persia after its foundation in the fifth century BC.
There are a few hundred Jews, mostly in the big cities and the southwest.
An important minority of India?s population, constitute mainly of the tribal people, (many of them descendants of the subcontinent?s aboriginal populations), who have their own religions. There are more than 400 Scheduled Tribes - so called because of their names are listed in the Constitution, which specifies that they must be protected from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Yes , India is truly a secular country

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

At Independence of India, the leaders of the nation embraced democracy as a way of managing India?s heterogeneous society and strengthening the ideal of national unity. The new India was declared as a democratic, socialist, secular, republic country.
On January 26, 1950, India changed its status from a dominion in the British Commonwealth to a full-fledged republic, although it remained a member of the Commonwealth.
The 1950 Constitution is still in force. It made India a union of states with a strong federal centre.

National Anthem Of India
The song Jana Gana Mana, composed by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of lndia on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. First stanza consists full version of the national anthem. It reads:

National Anthem
by Rabindranath Tagore The following is Tagore's English translation of this stanza:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Punjab-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maratha-
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga
Tava shubha name jage
Tava shubha ashish maange
Gahe tava jaya-gatha
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he ! Thou art the rulers of the minds of all people,
dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
thou dispenser of India's destiny,
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

National Song Of India
Vande Mataram (Motherland, I bow to you) composed by Bankin Chandra in an inspired moment Rabindranath sang it by setting a tune to it and it was left of Aurobindo to interpret the deeper meaning of the song. This song gave birth to feelings of nationalism among millions of men and women in India during the Indian Freedom struggle.

Vande Mataram
By Bakim Chandra Pal Transalation of National Song
by Shree Aurobindo

Vande Mataram!
Sujalam suphalam
Malayaja sheetalam
Sasya Shyamalam
Mataram! Vande Mataram!
Shubhrajyotsana Pulakitayamineem
Phullakusumita drumadala shobhineem
Suhasineem sumadhura bhasneem
Sukhadam, varadam Mataram!
Koti koti kantha kalakala ninadakarale
Koti koti bhujairdhrutakharakaravale
Ke bale ma tumi abale
Bahubala dharineem
Namami tarineem
Ripudala varineem
Mataram!
Tumi vidya tumi dharma
Tumi hridi tumi marma
Twam hi pranah shareere
Bahute tumi ma shakti
Hridaye tumi ma bhakti
Tomarayi pratima gadi
Mandire mandire!
Twam hi Durga dashapraharana dharinee
Kamala kamaladala viharinee
Vani vidyadayinee
Namami twam
Namami kamalam
Amalam atulam
Sujalam suphalam
Mataram
Vande Mataram!
Shyamalam saralam
Susmitam bhushitam
Dharaneem bharaneem
Mataram! Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,Mother free.
Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!Mother, to thee I bow.
Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea And shook herself free.
Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath
Though art love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death.
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.
Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her swords of sheen,
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred-toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear,
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleems,
Dark of hue O candid-fair
In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine,
Lovilest of all earthly lands,
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!
Mother, mother mine!
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,
Mother great and free!