 |
 •
India
• History
• Governance
• Economy
• Habitat
• Climate
• People
& Society
India – the land to travel
to, a haven of tourism delights, a civilization to tour
through. Tourists come to India for its wealth of sights,
cultural exuberance, diversity of terrain and in search
of that special something, an extra punch that only
India promises and delivers. Teeming with over a billion
people who voice over a million concerns in fifteen
hundred different languages, India is where people live
with variety, thrive on diversity and are too familiar
with largeness to let it boggle them. Mud huts and mansions
face off across city streets. Lurid luxury and limp
living are inhabitants of the same lane.
From the smoky ma ngroves of the Sunderbans to the steaming
Thar Desert, sizzling cities like Mumbai and Delhi to
the scintillating villages of Khajuraho and Hampi, from
the heights of the Himalayas to the deep blue waters
around the Andamans, India is a travel haven –
a tour package that frustrates and delights, as demanding
as it is rewarding.
It demands that the traveller be prepared for its own
strange forms of tourism offerings - the crowds at Pushkar,
for pushy mendicants at Haridwar, for high commercialism
at spiritual retreats. But equally, it means that he
be prepared for an overwhelming warmth in the people,
ease of conversation, and to be stunned into speechlessness
by the beauty, sometimes the manmade and often the natural.
But what exactly is it that gets two and a half million
people to pack their bags, book their tickets, buy industrial
size cans of suntan lotion and enough toilet paper to
supply the entire population of Liechtenstein for a
month, and wing their way to India? Given that this
is the land of the Taj, granted too that tea, tobacco,
tempestuous democracy and terrific travel are a great
combination but surely that's not reason enough.
There must be more because between truisms and half-truths,
India has inspired more than any one place's fair share
of travel lore. And, perhaps that's what it is - the
legends of India - that's what inspires people from
far and near to travel here, to sort out for themselves
what's true and what's just a whole lot of tourism pamphlet
hype.
If that's what you're going to be doing, here's a bit
of India tourism mantra to help you on your way: expect
nothing and everything will be yours.
History - The story so
far
Indian history can be roughly divided into the 6 periods
of Ancient India, Medieval India, the years of the Company,
colonial times as part of The Raj, the struggle for
Independence and finally, post-Independence. India,
the geopolitical entity as she stands today is a post-Independence
phenomenon. It was as recently as "the stroke of
the midnight hour" on 15th August 1947 when Nehru
pronounced her "tryst with destiny" that India
woke "to life and freedom".
 One
of man’s oldest civilizations was the settlement
at the Indus Valley. The degree of sophistication that
archaeologists found in their settlements almost belies
the fact that these people lived almost 4000 years ago.
The civilization had meticulously planned cities; streets
met at right angles, the sewage system puts present
day India to shame, and the tools and large granaries
show that they knew more than a thing or two about agriculture.
Seals of the Indus Valley have on them the only ancient
script that is yet to be deciphered. The most important
Indus Valley cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro are in
present day Pakistan.
The civilization died out in the 1500 BC. The reasons
are a still a matter of contention and they range from
the coming of the central Asian Aryan tribes to the
changing of the course of the Indus River. While both
these are true, it’s difficult to ascertain that
these are what brought the end of the Dravidian civilization
in the Indus valley. By 300 BC the previously nomadic
Aryans had settled down in the region of north India.
They had brought with them Sanskrit, a member of the
Indo-European family of languages akin to Latin and
Greek. They also brought the spoken literature of the
Hindu life-philosophy, horse-driven chariots and a social
system of caste differentiation.
The following millennium saw the waxing and waning of
empires. In the north the great dynasties were those
of the Mauryas (300-200 BC) during which period Buddhism
received royal patronage, and the Guptas during whose
reign the subcontinent is said to have enjoyed a "golden
period" (300-500 AD). The intervening period had
new settlers like the Shakas and Kushanas forming lesser
kingdoms in the area around the Ganges. The influence
of these Aryan kingdoms rarely reached the south. Regional
dynasties like the Andhras, Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas
ruled kingdoms in the south of the Deccan Plateau and
lower down the peninsula. When unable to withstand the
pressures of central Asian invaders the Gupta Empire
crumbled, the north got divided into strong regional
kingdoms (except for a brief period from 606 to 647
under the poet king Harshavardhan). This was the time
that the Rajputs grew to prominence in the west.
Within 300 years of being founded in the 7th century,
Islam had reached the western parts. But it wasn’t
until the coming of Turkish-Afghan raiders like Mahmud
of Ghazni (997 to 1030 AD) and Muhammad Ghauri (in 1192)
that Islam made significant inroads to the heart of
north India. The first Muslim empire was set up by a
general of Ghauri’s, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, which
is when the Delhi Sultanate came into being. The temptation
of privileges extended to the faithful, and Hinduism’s
own severe caste system made many convert.
The Delhi Sultanate was ridden with internal strife
and saw no less than 5 dynasties come to power between
1206 and 1526. In 1526 a young Central Asian warlord
who had already captured Kabul, set his eyes on the
vast land that lay to the south. Tales of riches had
reached his ears and Babur, descendent of Genghis Khan
and Timurlane made good his ancestral legacy by defeating
the Sultanate’s armies in the Battle of Panipat.
In a land of oppressive heat, and such a variety of
people that he could hardly make sense of it, Babur
founded the Mughal dynasty. Babur began the work of
bringing the delicate patterns of Islamic art, the detailed
craft of miniature painting, the severe symmetry of
formal garden craft to Delhi. Till Aurangzeb, the 6th
king of the dynasty, the Mughals had a liberal policy
of religious tolerance and that helped them weave together
a largely stable and tight knit kingdom that spanned
a larger territory than any previously had. It was a
time of plenty and emperors like Jehangir (1605-1627)
and Shah Jehan (1628-1657) could focus their attentions
on art, architecture and culture. It was the time when
the Taj Mahal was built, as was the Red Fort, and the
coffers contained the Koh-i-Noor and the ruby and emerald
studded Peacock Throne. Aurangzeb’s religious
zeal won him widespread resentment. The Mughal Empire
began unravelling, unable to withstand the Maratha chieftain
Shivaji’s guerrilla warfare. The last really effective
Mughal king was Bahadur Shah (1707-1712). After him
Mughal power and prestige declined steadily.
The first British East India Company officials landed
in India in 1602. Eventually their interests ceased
to be purely mercantile as they assumed more political
roles. After the Revolt of 1857, the Crown took over
the reigns and India officially came to be a part of
the vast British Empire. The Raj settled into ruling
this vast dominion and did so till in 1947 when the
country was handed back to the leaders of the freedom
movement. Gandhi and Nehru led the largely non-violent
movement from the front with the backing of Congress
and the entire nation. However, partly because of the
British ‘divide-and-rule’ policy and internal
contradictions in the national movement itself, a communal
divide came to be. When India finally achieved freedom,
it was combined with the trauma of partition and the
formation of Pakistan.
Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India on 15th
August 1947 at the head of a Congress government. The
Congress hegemony ended in the late 60s, but it came
to power intermittently through the 70s and 80s. The
Nehru legacy was strong enough to make both his daughter
Indira (who declared the infamous internal Emergency),
and grandson Rajiv, Prime Minister. In the 90s the era
of coalition politics had begun and democracy had come
of age.
Governance
India is a federal republic with a very strong centre.
The world’s largest democracy, it has universal
adult suffrage above 18 years. General elections are
scheduled every 5 years when the entire country participates
in electing members to the Lower House of Parliament
called the Lok Sabha. Members to the upper house are
elected indirectly.
The head of state is the President. The head of government
is the Prime Minister. In 2004 elections, NDA, the coalition
lead by the Bhartiya Janta Party was defeated by the
Congress. The Congress is currently the governing party
and the Prime Minister is Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Economy
Though the constitution proclaims India to be a socialist
country, it is in truth a mixed economy with a strong
and influential private sector. Public sector undertakings
controlled by the state are involved in many industries
though the need for disinvestment is being increasingly
felt. India has a planned economy.
It is largely an agrarian economy. Rice, wheat, oilseed,
cotton, jute, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane and potatoes
are the bulk of the produce. Livestock include cattle,
water buffalo, sheep, goats and poultry. Coastal communities
and those who live on riverbanks are often dependent
on fishing for livelihood.
The major foreign exchange earner for India is textile,
followed by Information Technology. With Indian IT professionals
making it big in the United States and Indian IT companies
proving to be among the best in the crop, there is new
international interest in Indian professionals. Precious
and semi-precious stones, leather products, engineering
goods and chemicals are also exported.
Major trading partners include US, UK, Germany, Hong
Kong, Japan and the UAE.
Major industries include steel, chemicals, food processing,
steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum
and machinery.
Around 25% of the population lives below the poverty
line.
GDP: $2.664 trillion (purchasing power parity)
Per Capita income: $2600 (purchasing power parity)
Habitat
From the highest point of the Kanchenjunga peak at 8598
meters to the lowest point at 0 meters at the Indian
Ocean, India is the land that spells variety.
The 7th largest country in the world, it covers a total
area of 3,287,590 sq km in area. It lies in south Asia
jutting into the Indian Ocean in its south, undulating
over the frozen wasteland of the Himalayas in the north,
braving drought in its desert-like west and surviving
fierce floods in its east. A substantial portion of
northern India is the fertile plain where the great
Gangetic riverine system irrigates vast expanses of
the land bringing agrarian well being. The Deccan Plateau
in Central India is rich in minerals. The Western and
Eastern Ghats fringe the southern peninsula and are
the setting for coffee, tea, cashew plantations, the
Nilgiri langur and gaur, and the silversmith Toda tribal.
In the north-west, Pakistan borders India, and to the
east lie China, Nepal, Burma, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
To the south lies the teardrop shaped island nation
of Sri Lanka. Beyond the peninsula the waters of the
Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west
and the Indian Ocean at the very south wet the shores
of India’s 7000 km long coastline. Great vanquishing
rivers are worshipped. The Narmada, Godavari, Krishna,
Cauveri, the Brahmaputra, Ganga and Yamuna criss-cross
the terrain bringing prosperity and fertility and often
wreaking havoc in flood. They inspire songs and they
bring misery; increasingly they are bringing hydroelectric
power to millions across the country.
The Tropic of Cancer splits India in half. Sub tropical
jungles house the Royal Bengal tiger, multiple species
of deer and antelope, the Asian elephant, the Common,
Golden and Nilgiri langurs, the one horned rhino in
the forests of Assam, prides of Asiatic lions in the
dry wilds of Sasan Gir in the west. And there is much
more: river dolphins in the Ganges and Brahmaputra,
crocodiles, waters that are teeming with mahseer, trout,
carp, fresh water prawns, woods with fishing cat, civets,
leopard, the cobra, krait and python, the grey mongoose,
the gaur, the sloth bear.
There are over 1200 bird species including the Great
Indian Bustard, the Malabar hornbill, Paradise Flycatcher,
cormorants, egrets, darters and migratory Siberian cranes
in the winter. India’s jungles, rivers, streams
are simply bursting with wildlife, much of it protected
in her 80 National Parks and 441 Sanctuaries. Camels
in the deserts of Rajasthan, stoic yaks, sure-footed
Himalayan Tahr and mountain goats in the north extend
the scope beyond just that which is typical to Asian
sub tropical forests of sal, shisham and teak. There
are mangrove forests in the east and evergreen conifers
in the upper climes of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and
Kashmir.
Common flowers include roses, bougainvilleas, sunny
marigold, water lilies, lotus and fragrant jasmine.
In the breathtaking Valley of Flowers a sea of lilies,
poppy, daisies, holly, pansy, geranium, zinnia, petunia,
fox, caryopsis dianthus, saxifrage and calendula stretches
out in the shadow of towering snowbound Himalayan peaks.
Climate
In a country where topography varies wildly, climatic
conditions are only bound to vary wildly too.
Classified as a hot tropical country by many, that is
a definition that holds true for most of but not all
of India. Exceptions include the northern states of
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir in the north
and Sikkim in the northeastern hills.
In most of India summer is hot. It begins in April and
continues till the beginning of October. The heat peaks
in June with temperatures in the northern plains and
the west soaring above 46° C. The monsoons hit the
country during this period too, beginning 1st of June
when they are supposed to find the Kerala coast. Moisture
laden trade winds sweep the country bringing relief
to a parched northern India but devastation in the east
where the rivers Brahmaputra and Ganga flood annually.
Tamil Nadu in the south receives rainfall between October
and December, beneficiary of the retreating monsoons.
India’s extensive coastline lies almost entirely
below the Tropic of Cancer. The coast is usually warm
and moist, prone to heavy rains in the monsoons and
high summer temperatures. The eastern coast is vulnerable
to cyclones. Winters here are mild and pleasantly sunny.
Hill Stations are the happy peculiarity that came up
here when British wives and officers needed to flee
the oppressive heat and malaria of the plains. Quaint
towns that buzz along "mall roads", tucked
away in hills all over India, they are now weekend getaways
at the height of summer for families and couples from
India’s cities.
The plains in the north and even the barren countryside
of Rajasthan reel under a cold wave every year in December-January.
Minimum temperatures could dip below 4° C but maximum
temperatures usually do not fall lower than 12°
C. In the northern high altitude areas of Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, and parts of Uttar Pradesh,
it snows through the winter and even summer months are
only mildly warm.
The east receives rain from April to August. September
to November is relatively dry and the region only has
sporadic showers. There are winter rains in December
and January. This abates for two months and then it’s
time for the monsoon season yet again. The central plateau
has similar climate to the north but the mercury does
not dip as low in winter. It rains from mid-June to
September.
People & Society
The fabric of Indian society is woven with myriad threads.
The result is multi-textured, many layered and though
this diversity has fuelled some dissension, it continues
to be India’s strength.
India is predominantly Hindu and it also has the world’s
largest population of Muslims. Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains,
Christians (Roman Catholic, Protestant and Syrian Christian),
Jews and Zoroastrians people this great land. There
is phenomenal ethnic diversity too. While the people
of the north are mainly Indo-Aryan, in the south they
are mostly Dravidian. The tribal population in the northeast
is of Tibeto-Burmese extract, while the ‘adivasis’
of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are probably proto Australoid.
Language varies almost every ten miles and India’s
billion-strong population has a total of 1535 recognized
dialects.
One of the most marked things about Indian society is
the great diversity. This applies to religion, ethnicity
and language as much as to the economic situation. The
yawning gap between the rich and the poor is bridged
by a large middle class of small businessmen, professionals,
bureaucrats etc.
Most Indians actively practice their religion, and despite
the creeping westernisation, most of India is socially
orthodox. That means that caste distinctions have not
been forgotten, man-woman interaction may be frowned
upon, and the public display of affection is strictly
no-no. The cow is sacred and ‘all ye who forget
that-be doomed’. The left hand, which is an indispensable
tool for Indian ablutions, is considered impure and
isn’t used in passing things around.
On the whole the Indians are a warm welcoming people.
The guest is next only to God and crooks and touts notwithstanding,
and curious looks and probing questions notwithstanding,
you’ll find that they are great hosts. Their idiosyncrasies
just make it all the more interesting; be patient and
you will learn to love the complete package.
|
|
