One can locate an Indian almost anywhere in today’s world and with the generations growing up and identifying themselves in their new habitat, along with the importance of learning and loving our new home we need to remember the great things that are associated with Indian heritage. Along with the flow of beautiful Indian silks, vibrant music, spicy flavorful food; India’s contribution and achievement is not something limited to last few hundred years but thousands of years. One of the oldest civilizations of the world has given a lot to people around the globe. Everyone who plans to travel to India must know the following Top 10 facts about India. Following are some of the achievements that Indians can be proud of:
10. World Shined with Silk because of India : Though the new fabrics of Polyster etc are quite practical to use in this new age, it is no surprise that natural fabrics still steal our heart and are the most comfortable go to materials. Cashmere wool/ Pashmina, Cotton and Jute were cultivated in India in ancient times. Cotton was cultivated during Indus Vally Civilization in 5th -4th BC. Indigo Dye also called “Neel” to bring the brightness in the white cottons was produced and processed in India and considered a luxury item in Europe and was used all the way in Greece and Rome. Indian silk is famous for its shine and colors! And the variety of Silk and cotton produced in India varies from region to region as well due to difference in weaving. The term “Seidenstrassen” or “Silk Roads” was coined by German geologist Richthfen in 1877 as a metaphor used for Asian and European cultural exchange.It seems that the emergence of Silk in India was around the same time it did in China. It is debatable who learnt from whom but undoubtedly the Indian Silk is quite different from Silk produced in any other country. India is not only the second largest producer but the largest consumer of silk in the world. Cotton is native plant to Americas, Africa and India. It seems that the fabric of cotton was developed in these areas around the same time. Mahatma Gandhi used to spin his own cotton for his clothes as a gesture not to buy anything foreign made.
9-IndianDoctors a pride to the WorldIndia’s achievements in traditional medicine are acknowledged till date and Indian doctors are world famous and present in almost every country. These can not be summarized in a couple of paragraphs. From ancient medicine to today’s innovative medical technology not only to be used throughout the world but made to order for Indian scenario. Whether it is cataract surgery, plastic surgery or cure of leprosy; they were well versed and quoted in medical treatise by number of modern medicine practitioners. Concept of Vaccine was mentioned- A Material producing a disease can prevent or cure the disease in minute quantity- S-Bhagwat(1-5-33) Haneman, 18th Century.
In this new age of global travel, people who want quality medical care at a fraction of cost are going to India for their medical procedures. The most intricate procedures of liver and heat transplant are being done in India. Some of the medical insurance companies even cover the cost of getting treatment in India making it convenient for patients to look for more cost effective options and reach out to India for their treatment.
8.Bollywood/Tollywood/KollywoodEntertain World with Highest Number of Films : If you see a movie where actors are lip synching a song, bursting into dance; chances are you are watching an Indian movie. India just celebrated its 100 years of film making, starting from filming of “Raja Harishcandra” in 1913. India makes movies in the most languages, compared to any other country. Last century saw the blooming of Bollywood, Nollywood (Cinema of Nigeria), Hollywood and Chinese film industry. At the end of last decade, India ranked first in its output of number of movies, producing a total of 2961 films that include 1288 feature films, in 2009.There have been numerous Oscar nominations starting from Mehboob Khan in 1958 for Mother India to Best Original Song nomination for Bombay Jayashri for Life of Pi. The best year being 2009 when Slumdog Millionaire won for Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song. He was awarded Honorary Award for life time achievement in 1992 just before he passed away.
One cannot talk of Indian Cinema and not mention Satyajit Ray who was an institution in himself.
Lata Mangeshkar
7. Astrology a Gift toHumanity: India’s contribution to Astrology is insurmountable. Though there is direct controversy as to where Astrology originated. Some scholars think that it started in Babylon but Indian Vedic Astrology has its own roots and takes into account even precession (conical wobbling of the earth while it carves out the celestial circular path of its movement around the sun) of the earth.Astrology and astronomy were synonyms to each other in ancient days. Some of the mountain cave dwelling ancient cultures will make openings to coincide with the solar events and to see certain stars and was related more to agriculture and long travels (proper seasons, so they are not caught in heavy rains or snow). To give credit to western civilization regarding the origin of Astrology is a very Eurocentric view, in writer’s view. Lot of parallel roads to a certain knowledge have evolved in different continents. As is understood, Vedic astrology is explained in one of the oldest recorded documents on earth, the Rigveda. The Vedic Astrology is based on Lunar calendar/ Nakshatras as well as movements of planets around the sun. Indian culture evolved around it.Today’s method of knowing your horoscope is all based on mathematics involving movement and influence of planets on a person, so much so, that they are sometimes generated by computer! Talk about an old science getting a new face!
image:navgrahmandir.blogspot.com
6.India realized theValue of Education much Before anyone else : University Indian system of education in ancient times was famous not just in India but in other countries as well. Scholars and students came from all over the world to learn. There were several universities;Nalanda, Takshila etc. Nalanda was the first great university as recorded in history and had dormitory to house its students. There were scholars from China who came there not only to study but to teach as well. To destroy a culture, as it was thought, you need to take away its educated and education so they may not sustain their values, resulting in destruction of Nalanda three times out of which it was rebuilt twice.Nalanda University is emerging again in new garb and its new session starts from 2014. Indian culture has relied heavily on education and it is ingrained in our genes. Where the literacy rate in India has grown to over 74%, and still more to go to get complete literacy in the country; people who are educated are among the most educated in the world. There is hardly any international university that does not have Indian students and quite a few have Indian scholars teaching there as well. Education is so much so a part of Indian heritage and culture that no matter what you do to earn your living.. when the parents are looking for suitable match for their child, education is one of the primary considerations.
Below is shown the image of remains of Ancient university Nalanda
5.Zero isIndia’s Hero to the World: You will not be reading this if Zero would not have been discovered, since the binary system used in computer is based on it intricately. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta and Sanskrit, the mother of most European languages, is reportedly the most suitable language for computer software(report in Forbes magazine, July 1987). Before the modern world could find that Earth is the one orbiting the Sun and not vice versa, Bhaskaracharya had calculated the time it takes earth to revolve around the sun, 365.258756484 days. Not only that, before Newton could come up with Law of Gravitation, Bhaskaracharya had written in his treatise Surya Siddhant,” "Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this attraction."Algebra, Calculus and Trigonometry came from India as well as value of Pi without which none of the space travel will be possible. We will not be able to understand the Curved space without understanding Pi, which was again derived in India. The decimal and place value system was invented in India around 100 BC. These are just few of the notable mentions.
As Einstein said: We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
image:greatbiharis.blogspot.com
4.India’s IT Engineersare big Contributors to Scientific inventions: If there is one sector that has grown in leaps and bounds in last few decades it is Information Technology and India’s share in this is absolutely undeniable and makes it one of the fastest growing IT markets. IT (Information Technology) and ITeS (Information Technology enabled Services) are a major part of growing India. Whether it is outsourcing of services to India from western countries, its huge middle class ready to gobble the products created or the out flux of Indian workforce to different countries to satisfy the demands of this sector, India has a huge impact in today’s interconnected world.Indian companies are partnering with western companies to provide labor as well as market. India takes a major share in the sourcing world, taking up almost 52 percent of the US $ 124-130 billion market. Part of the reason is not only the emphasis on education in Indian culture but also the prevalence of English as a spoken or learning language. This makes it so much easier for Indian workforce to get assimilated in this International market.
image:virtualemployee.com, second image:engineerjobs.com
3.India taught World to be Balanced while Enjoying fruits of Diversity: Just like a rainbow ranging from one color to another but tied together in one single stream of white light, the Indian spectrum boasts of Diversity not just in religion but in culture encompassing Day to day living, food, clothing, language and customs.Ingrained in this diversity is the Unity for all to be called Indian. There is no other country like India and the only one that comes to mind, when Unity in Diversity is mentioned. From North to South to East to West; not just the geographical topography but the culture changes notably. No one can visit one part of India and say that they have learnt about all or most of India. You have to visit each region to know about it but it is all One collective India where people are by and large peace loving. India boasts a very well balanced cultural song put together by the different cultural instruments is how I would like to summarize it.
2.India’smessage of Peace to the World: It has been said that in last 10,000 years of its history, India has never invaded any country and it is true. Every time the war has been to protect the motherland against Invasion. Indian psyche is now ingrained in their genes. The land of Gautam Buddha, Vivakanand and Gandhi want peace as their first and only option if things work out. Gandhi is world renowned for his principal of non-violence, though never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize which the committee regretted later.image:universalscraps.com
There are several Ayurvedic practitioners in India and all over the world and is infact a preferred method of getting relief for lot of people who are skeptical about side effects of modern medicine. Panchakarma is a very effective branch of Ayurveda where detoxification of body is practiced.
Yoga and Ayurveda are joined intricately, since Yoga is the not only preventive but also curative. There are innumerable Yogic centers throughout the world that teach not only Yoga but meditation as well. Yoga and Meditation though people relate it only to Hindu religion is a practice that permeates Indian culture crossing all religious boundaries and the same applies to the rest of the world.
image:4ayurveda.com
Had it not been the quest to find a shorter route to India which was so important for British for its spices and fabrics, Christopher Columbus would have never found America; though it is much debated now who got here first taking the discovery back to Vikings! From earliest mining of Diamonds to innumerable number of inventions, India is a gem in itself which is shining brighter and brighter day by day!
Mark Twain said: 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 structive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.
For additional Top10 Facts and Trends please visit https://www.top10reviews.in
Mark Twain said: 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 structive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.
For additional Top10 Facts and Trends please visit https://www.top10reviews.in
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