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.
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