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You
cannot imagine India if you haven't been here.
And no book, film, or TV show can prepare you
for the experience. India's culture is thousands
of years older than yours, and its way of life
is incomprehensively different than the one you
know. The beauty of its landscapes, the unbending
strength of its customs, the sheer size of its
1.2 billion population ... Put aside your preconceptions,
kneel at the feet of Bharat Mata (the female embodiment
of India, depicted as a goddess), and cherish
the awakening of the senses that her land will
inspire in you. Welcome to India.
"India
is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace
of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother
of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition.
Our most valuable and most instructive materials
in the history of man are treasured up in India
only." -- Mark Twain
"We
owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to
count, without which no worthwhile scientific
discovery could have been made." --
Albert Einstein
"India
was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the
mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother
of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs,
of much of our mathematics; mother, through the
Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity;
mother, through the village community, of self-government
and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the
mother of us all". -- Will Durant (American
historian, 1885-1981)
"India
conquered and dominated China culturally for 20
centuries without ever having to send a single
soldier across her border."
--
Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA
"If
there is one place on the face of earth where
all the dreams of living men have found a home
from the very earliest days when man began the
dream of existence, it is India." -- French
scholar Romain Rolland
Population
1.2 billion people.
Area Seventh biggest in
the world.
Languages 800 different
languages and around 2000 dialects. Eighteen official
languages, including Hindi and English.
Economic Distribution
40% of India is poor. However, three Indians appeared
on the list of the top 20 of the world's richest.
Only the U.S. had more billionaires in the top
global ranks.
Marriage In 2000, 90%
of the marriages were arranged. Forty-four percent
of the women in India are married between the
ages of 14 - 19.
Literacy 56.6% literacy
rate.
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