INDIA

There is a joke that God went missing for many days while creating world.When he returned he was very excited. He showed the archangel His creation and said "I have created the perfect place to live and I will call it Earth. There everything will be balanced and everyone will be equal." Looking at earth one of the archangels asked what is that beautiful place? "Oh that! It is India. It will be the most beautiful country on earth with most beautiful people". But what about equality about which you were just talking, the archangel asked. God smiled and said,"Wait till you see what neighbours I give them".

GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION: India lies wholly in the Northern Hemishere i.e. north of equator. It measures nearly 3,214 km. from north to south and about 2,933 km. from east to west, covering an area of 32,87,782 sq.km. It has a land boundary of 15,200 kms and coastline for 6,100 km. India is the worlds seventh largest country after Russia, Canada, Brazil, China, Australia & USA. India perhaps enjoys the most diverse physical conditions among these countries. To the north of India lie the mighty Himalayan Range which stretches over a length of about 2400 km. It contains some of the highest peaks in the world including Mt.Everest (on the Indo-Nepal border) which is the world's highest peak.. In the northern part of India are the fertile alluvial plains through which numerous rivers flow including large rivers like Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yamuna. In the western part of India lie what is known as the The Great Indian Desert. It is a sandy plain dotted with hillocks and shifting sand-dunes. Though barren the desert is very beautiful with huge forts and palaces and is a very popular tourist destination. To the south lies the Deccan Plateau. This is the great table-land of the South Indian Peninsula, stretching from Central India to the southern tip of India. Between the sea coast and the plateau lies the coastal plain.

BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIA.: Contrary to the title Indian History is not brief. Indus valley civilization (from which India gets its name) is among the worlds oldest civilizations. Dravidians are believed to be the original inhabitants of India (though some historians contradict this). Aryans which are believed to be originally from Central Asia migrated to India. As a result the dravidians had to move to the south of the country while the Aryans settled in the northern part of India. Then India had a long history in which many rulers ruled over India. India is also perhaps the most invaded country. It was invaded by Moghuls which too came from Central Asia, by many Muslim invaders which came from either Afghanistan or Persia. But before that it was invaded by the greatest of them all Alexander the great. But his dream of conquering the world could not be realized as he failed to conquer India and had to turn back. Some of the invading rulers decided to stay on like the moghuls did while some just plundered India's enormous wealthe and left. The story about finding the sea-route to India is very famous and the craze for India led to the discovery of America by Columbus and the Cape of Good Hope by Bartholomew Diaz. Finally Vasco-da-Gama was successful in finding the sea-route to India. Britishers along with French, Spanish,Dutch and others came to India for doing business as India was famous for its spices, cotton and many other things. Taking advantage of the division among people Britishers captured the whole of India. They exploited India and its people to the limit. In 1857 an uprising took place which is known as the First War for Indian Independence. This was ruthlessly crushed by the British forces. After that India came under the rule of the queen of england. But still the exploitation of Indians continued. Finally in 1947, India got Independence under the leadership of Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel and others. But the Britishers left India divided into India and Pakistan. Pakistan was inhabitated mostly by muslims while people of all the religions were free to live in India. After Independence India made efforts to industrialize itself and was successful to some extent. But still much needs to be done as it still faces problems like poverty, unemoloyment, high population.

SOCIETY CULTURE AND RELIGION: India has a very diverse society and as a result people following different cultures are found here. People in North India are have many aspects in their culture which are totally different from that of other parts of India. So is the case with others regions. But still people cultures totally different from each other live in peace with each other. Various dance forms of India like Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Bhangra, Kathakali, Garba etc are famous. We celebrate many festivals and have got a festival for almost every month. Festivals like Diwali, Holi, Durga Puja, Dusshera, Navratri etc are celebrated with much enthusiasm in India.As a result we also enjoy a large number of holidays among the largest in the world. India has a very rich culture which attracts people from all over the world. Various sects and cults are embedded in the Hindu religion itself which in itself is very wide and expansive. So various organizations or sects like Swaminarayans, Rama-Krishna mission etc exist inside the Hindu religion itself. India also has the distinction of being the birthplace of many religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism. As a result India also has a large diversity as far as religions are concerned. Though majority of the populations is Hindu, India also has the second largest population of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. This does lead to tension and riots sometimes but these are very occassional and isolate incidents. As a whole muslims and hindus co-exist peacefully.

TOURISM: As stated above, India has varied geographical conditions India also has a variety of tourist spots. The main tourist attraction of India till recently was Kashmir, but now due to the terrorist problem the tourists prefer to skip Kashmir from their plans(To read more about this topic please goto Kashmir page). But still Kashmir remains the most beautiful place in India and a must see for all tourists. Various places like Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Kokernag and others are some of the places you would want to visit besides many places in capital Srinagar like Nishat,Shalimar,Dal lake etc. Rajasthan situated in western part of India is today the most popular tourist place. With large forts, palaces and lakes it attracts the largest the largest no. of tourists. Goa with its famous beaches also is a must see for all tourists. But what no tourist will miss is Taj Mahal of Agra and it needs no introduction as there won't be anyone who won't have heard of this famous monument build completely in marble. Besides these popular tourist spots I would recommend going to North-Eastern states of India and beaches of Gujarat.

My Resume and Academic Info.