India; Unity in Diversity
Posted by rocksea on 05 Jan 2006 | Tagged as: india, japan
Namaste.
Yesterday (29 Oct, 2005) I had gone to talk about India at an English Seminar for high school students at SIT school.
One of my friends asked me why I am keeping my hands in my pocket while they’re all doing namaste (reasonable question). We say namaste when we meet another person, another soul. Here, in this English seminar, I taught them what India is, and one of our basic greetings, namaste. Facing the camera, they are demonstrating what they learnt from me. I don’t need to demonstrate namaste when I face the camera.
Thought I would share the slides and some info with you as well. The slides have been made as simple as possible, for the students to digest and may be I will append some extra info for you. Will put one or two slides per day.
Namaste
Namaste: नमस्ते:
In Sanskrit “Namas” means, “bow, obeisance, reverential salutation.” It comes from the root Nam, which carries meanings of bending, bowing, humbly submitting and becoming silent. “Te” means “to you.” Thus “namaste” means “I bow to you.” the act of greeting is called “Namaskaram,” “Namaskara” and “Namaskar” in the varied languages of the subcontinent.
In simple language, namaste is “a hello with a respect”.
Namaste can be related to the Japanese bowing. In both, we don’t touch the other person as in the western style of shaking hands of each other. Both gives respect and means “I bow to you”.
In my state, Kerala we say ‘Namaskar’ instead of Namaste.
India: Unity in Diversity
India: Brief Satistics
Yeah. The country is so diverse! Many languages, religions, costumes flourish in India. Even the division into states are basically according to this cultural/language diversity. Most of the states have its own language.
eg: Language of the state of Kerala = Malayalam.
Hindi is the national language. English has associate status and is widely used.
Herez a list I got from Wikipidea, on the major languages:
- Hindi हिन्दी
- English (associate official)
Recognized national languages of India (Scheduled list for official use)
- Assamese (official language of Assam) অসমীয়া
- Bengali (official language of Tripura and West Bengal) বাংলা
- Bodo (official language of Assam)
- Dogri (official language of Jammu and Kashmir)
- Gujarati (official language of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Gujarat) ગુજરાતી
- Hindi (official language of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal) हिन्दी
- Kannada (official language of Karnataka) ಕನ್ನಡ
- Kashmiri
- Konkani (official language of Goa)
- Maithili (official language of Bihar)
- Malayalam (official language of Kerala and Lakshadweep) മലയാളം
- Manipuri (Meithei) (official language of Manipur)
- Marathi (official language of Maharashtra) मराठी
- Nepali (official language of Sikkim)
- Oriya (official language of Orissa) ଓଡ଼ିଆ
- Punjabi (official language of Punjab) ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, پنجابی
- Sanskrit संस्कृता
- Santali
- Sindhi سنڌي، سندھی, सिन्धी
- Tamil (official language of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry) தமிழ்
- Telugu (official language of Andhra Pradesh) తెలుగు
- Urdu (official language of Jammu and Kashmir) اردو
Other popular languages of India
(over 5 million speakers but no official status)
- Awadhi (often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Bhili (Bhil tribals)
- Bhojpuri (language of Bihar, often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Bundeli (often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Chhattisgarhi (language of Chhattisgarh, often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Gondi (Gond tribals)
- Hariyanavi (Haryanvi) (language of Haryana, often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Hindustani (A mixture of Hindi and Urdu. Spoken largely in the Northern part of India.)
- Kanauji (language of Uttar Pradesh, often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Kodava, spoken in the Kodagu district of Karnataka
- Kutchi (language of Kutch, a region in Gujarat)
- Magadhi (language of southern Bihar, often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Marwari (language of Rajasthan, often considered a sub-variety of Hindi)
- Tulu (spoken by Tulu people of Karnataka and Kerala)
Indian Flag:
The orange (deep saffron) symbolizes courage and sacrifice (saffron is the sacred color of Hinduism).
The white stands for peace, unity and truth.
The green stands for faith (Islam) and fertility.
The wheel in navy blue indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. The blue symbolizes the sky and the ocean. The 24 lines inside the chakra (wheel) symbolizes 24 hours of the day.
Related posts
43 Comments »
on 30 Oct 2005 at 4:48 pm 1.Marlin said …
gud…i like the way u have workrd on it…i wud surely forward this to Erica as well..she will def like it…
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on 09 Nov 2005 at 12:12 pm 2.A.Priya said …
hi ,
Hi you had taken a wonderful presentation. I am very proud of you & being an Indian
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on 09 Nov 2005 at 2:22 pm 3.Rajini said …
hi
Excellent work . keep it up.
humble being an INDIAN.
“Not only were ocean and rivers complete by themselves, but each drop of water was also complete in itself. Hence, the world did not mean continents and countries alone but that each man by himself was a world.”
ie u represented the whole INDIA.
cheers
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on 09 Nov 2005 at 9:26 pm 4.rocksea said …
thanks, marlin, priya & rajini. let us hope someone goes thru the myriads of faces of India and come to love them.. i am adding a few slides every day.
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on 01 Jan 2006 at 12:10 am 5.jina said …
hehe..cool…
happy newyear buddy…and how do u know erica?
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on 01 Jan 2006 at 8:42 pm 6.rocksea said …
oh! jina, the erica mentioned here isn’t the same as the one u know. i gave a hi there just cuz she is japanese. here the japanese have given me a warm abode with sweet smiles and i wish the same to those japanese in india too..
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on 04 Jan 2006 at 5:33 pm 7.rocksea » Indian influence on Japanese traditions & culture said …
[...] The Lion Capital seal, Japanese Buddhism & Ashoka The Lion Capital seal/emblem at Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh was erected by Mauryan king Ashoka, during 3 Century BC, to mark the spot where Buddha first proclaimed his gospel of peace and emanicipation to the four quarters of the universe. After independence, on 26 Jan 1950, the Ashoka lion symbol or the Lion Capital seal was adopted as the State Emblem of India and his wheel of life appears on the Indian National Flag. A Government of India publication described the significance of these symbols in the following words: The National Emblem is symbolic of contemporary India’s affirmation of its commitment to world peace and goodwill. The 4 lions - symbolizing power, courage and confidence - rest on a circular abacus. The abacus is girded by 4 smaller animals - guardians of 4 directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. The motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ from Mundaka Upanishid inscribed below the emblem in the Devanagari script, means ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’. [...]
on 06 Jan 2006 at 7:28 pm 8.twilight said …
roti..naan..yummmyyyyyyyyy
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on 21 May 2006 at 5:53 pm 9.sunisha jain said …
india is great
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on 25 May 2006 at 2:06 am 10.purvi said …
hey good job i am also going to do presentation on india as well also making web page.
proud to be indian ha.
keept it up
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on 25 Jun 2006 at 4:31 am 11.neelia said …
I have Guide Guides in UK doing a presentation about India (culture, religion, Girlguiding). They found your site very useful.
Do you have any information you could send us about Girl Guides (girl scouts?) in India?
They have also to talk about “A Day in the life of an Indian person” - can you send us info?
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on 29 Jun 2006 at 12:10 am 12.sarah said …
Neelia, I hope these two sites help you in what you are looking for: http://www.bsgindia.org , http://www.sangamworldcentre.org . You can cruise through them and find some information on girl scouts and india too. Best wishes!
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on 06 Jul 2006 at 3:33 am 13.Vijay Chinnasamy said …
Hi,
This blog series is nice. Keep it up.
Many wishes from
Vijay Chinnasamy
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on 25 Aug 2006 at 2:23 pm 14.midhun said …
onam
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on 30 Aug 2006 at 3:48 am 15.SANKET 9833647537 said …
VERY USEFUL FOR WHOM WHO WANT TO KNOW IN DETAIL
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on 03 Sep 2006 at 7:06 pm 16.yogehs said …
india is great. india my life line.
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on 18 Sep 2006 at 10:09 pm 17.sarah said …
Chetta, a real good portrayal of our country. Makes any Indian proud of it. Finding so many various culture and traditions in a country is truely amazing and speaks a lot of the people living in it too. No wonder so many other cultures have borrowed religions, art, culture, philosophy etc…from India. The way you have emphasised on the major forms of festivals and art along wiht it’s main monuments is real good and the explanation of ‘Namaste’ too. It should also take away some ‘ideas’ some others have about India=curry! You have very well touched almost all basic aspects that make India what it is.
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on 28 Oct 2006 at 9:56 am 18.ramyaa said …
very interesting! and a great effort
must make ervery indian proud
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on 30 Oct 2006 at 4:41 am 19.Marie-Jeanne said …
The South Indian Breakfast looks great !(actually everyting on this site looks delicious) Can’t wait to try this food when going to India one of these days. Thanks for putting this presentation together !
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on 29 Jan 2007 at 2:24 am 20.Hiral said …
Amazing!! thx for the site..its great. hope to see more
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on 09 Feb 2007 at 12:29 am 21.Radhika said …
GREAT WORK…. To learn anything good about our country…. our MotherIndia gives us a reason to smile…. We are proud to be INDIANS…. NAMASTE INDIA…. “I BOW TO THEE MY MOTHERINDIA”
VANDE MATRAM
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on 29 May 2007 at 10:58 pm 22.Priya.B. said …
WOW!! Even though I live in the UK….India is the one place that I will always value and respect after all my roots are from there!! I must say I’M PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN!!!
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on 10 Jun 2007 at 12:55 am 23.t..... said …
india is da BEST!!!!!!!:):):D:D:D:D
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on 22 Jun 2007 at 12:36 am 24.Ishaan said …
Fabulous….amazing India and its culture…I enjoy leaving in this country. Mera Bharat Mahaan…kaheta hai Ishaan!!!
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on 02 Jul 2007 at 2:42 pm 25.ganesh shastry said …
my india the great she is eternal and immmortal
with the great faith of the poeple and the blood
of martyrs which nourishes the value of our independence in daily but un fortunately we are losing ourness Awake we the people of can do any thing…………PROUD TO BE IN INDIAN
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on 09 Jul 2007 at 4:56 pm 26.Mahendra said …
hey guy u took my heart
bcoz I LOVE INDIA FROM DEPTHS OF MY HEART
AND U TRIED TO GRACE IT`S SOUL
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on 23 Jul 2007 at 1:18 pm 27.fayeza said …
hiiiiiiii hey guys you all are who are doing this work i salute them. it is mindbloing keep it up.i wish you all the best bcz it help me a lot to make my presentation on india.thankyou.
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on 08 Aug 2007 at 6:56 pm 28.Ravi Kiran said …
Hi Friend,
Great to see this Blog. The info u have given is simply superb. Keep it up.
Affly,
Ravi Kiran (One more Indian)
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on 08 Aug 2007 at 6:56 pm 29.Ravi Kiran said …
Hi Friend,
Great to see this Blog. The info u have given is simply superb. Keep it up.
Affly,
Ravi Kiran
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on 09 Aug 2007 at 12:25 pm 30.ramu rasa said …
hey guy u took my heart
bcoz I LOVE INDIA,
‘I am proud to be an Indian every day’ -rasa.
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on 10 Aug 2007 at 12:48 am 31.vivek said …
india is realy great
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on 14 Aug 2007 at 1:20 pm 32.manasa said …
hey! very great.. many people should learn from u! i feel proud to be an INDIAN
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on 14 Sep 2007 at 8:25 pm 33.Anushka khanna said …
you all have made an iteresting website, i love this and i am proud to be an indian
jana mana gana mana adhinayak he. bharat bhagya vidhata.. punjab sindhu gujrat maratha. dravid, utkal banga.. vindhya himachal yamuna ganga. uchal jaldi taranga..tav shubh naame jaage.tav shubh aashish maage. jaygaatha.. jana gana mangaldayak jay ha.bharat bhagyavidhata.. jay he,jay he,jay he jay jay jay jay he.
written by ravindranaath tagore.
our frweedom fighers are mahatma gandhi,rani laksmi bai,lal bal pal, jawalal nehru etc.
jay hind…………..
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on 14 Sep 2007 at 8:36 pm 34.Anushka khanna said …
hi purvi,
how r u
will u tell me that how to make an website pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
if u will tell me that how to make an web then thanksssssssssssss.
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on 24 Dec 2007 at 10:15 pm 35.pallavi said …
it touched my heart.really good one.
jaaaaaaaaaaaaai hind!
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on 12 Jan 2008 at 3:38 pm 36.deeksha said …
you have made a very beautiful presentation and its amazing
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on 06 Feb 2008 at 11:47 am 37.Hanah said …
HELLO, VERY NICE SITE, LOVE THE PHOTOS!
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on 23 Mar 2008 at 1:36 pm 38.Aparna Deepika.N said …
This idea is very good idea,all age group of people enjoyed to see these dances photos.Lot of people forgot our culture,it shows our culture .I love India and like indian culture.please know about of our culture and dont forget it.,keep smile dont waste your time ,think always positive.
Life is a game - play it,
Life is a sea - Swim it,
Life is a challenge- win it.
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on 28 Mar 2008 at 5:45 pm 39.diti said …
surely our culture is the great one…its a delight in just being a part of it.
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on 09 Apr 2008 at 1:08 am 40.dilpreet said …
wow!!!!!!! that was awesome………india is one of the greatest nations in the world……..i feel myself on cloud 9 wen i introduce myself as an INDIAN…………
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on 25 May 2008 at 6:15 pm 41.paul said …
very good informative
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on 29 Jun 2008 at 10:35 pm 42.soniya said …
i love india… end i live in belguim..and iy wil say i feel proud to be an indian!!!!end india is realy great !!!!!!!! thanks !!!!! soniya
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on 09 Jul 2008 at 8:40 pm 43.Lydia said …
It is always a joy to see that the Indian women still know how to drape cloth into beautiful coverings for themselves. The colors are so bright, as if celebrating life. I hope the saree and other Indian costume continues for a long time, as an example to the world, and that the women there never try to adopt the clothing of the west. The cloth, the hairstyles, jewelry, and beauty of the Indian women is an inspiring example of your culture.
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