Family: India

A KID’S LIFE IN INDIA

Hi! My name is Rajasthan. I am named after a city in India. I am 9 years jungle

old. Have you ever been to India? India is a large country in southern Asia. mighty = important
It has the second largest population in the world. The land here has a desert,
jungles, plains, and mighty rivers. We also have the tallest mountain system
ancient = old
in the world.

Did you know that it is one of the world's most ancient civilizations? The
other thing you should know about India is that the people here speak 16
different languages. That makes it difficult for travellers. The main
language of our country is Hindi.
spices = spicy
Most people in India like spicy foods; we are lucky because we produce
LOTS of spices. My favourite food is lamb with bread and extra spice.

India is famous for its woven fabrics and embroidery. We wear cotton, silk
and some special wools. Women wear saris. A sari is a garment that wraps
around the body. Men may wear the dhoti. It's white cotton brought to the
legs and tucked under the waistband.
sari dhoti
For fun, my father says you would go to something called a museum or
something like that. Here, you would go to a dance. They are very fun! If
you visit India you should see the Taj Mahal. It is considered one of the
most beautiful buildings in the world. It is also one of the most expensive
tombs ever built, and was made between 1630 and 1650. An Indian ruler
named Shah Jahan had it built in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz tomb
Mahal. The tomb stands at Agra which is in northern India. It took about
20,000 workers to build it!
 Family: India

India is the birthplace of many religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,

and Sikhism. If you lived here you would probably follow Hinduism
because that's our biggest religion. Here's a little about Hinduism. It is a
worship = show religious religion that worships all kinds of things including animals, people who are
devotion still living and also people who has passed away. One interesting thing in
pass away = die
Hinduism is the caste system. People believe you are born into a certain
caste = section of society
caste. The castes consist of 1)Brahmans; The Brahmans are the priests and
ruler = one who governs the scholars. 2)Kshatriyas; The Kshatriyas are the rulers and the warriors.
warrior = fighter 3)The Vaisyas; The Viasyas are the merchants and the professionals.
4)Sudras; The Sudras are the laborers and the servants. This is the main
caste but there are many more in between. There is also a group outside of
untouchables = un-touch-
able the caste called the untouchables. They are below Sudra and have jobs like
being street sweapers. Today, many Hindus are getting away from the caste
system and allowing different castes to meet. The Hindus also believe in
reincarnation. Reincarnation is life after death. You could be in one life
being a human and die. In your next life you could be a rabbit or a dog.
Because of this, Hindus never hurt any animals. This idea is especially true
of cows, which Hindus believe are sacred animals.

Indian cow Did you know that only about 1/3 of the people in India know how to read
or write? Some parents only send their sons to school. People that live in the
city may get a better education, too. There is a lot to say about education.
How about where you live? I am very lucky because I am one of the 1/3 of
the country that knows how to read and write. I know both! I am also lucky
because I live in the city, go to school, and don't have to have my mother
teach me to read and write. I'm not even sure if she knows how.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212302/india.html

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. Where is India?
2. How many languages are spoken in India? What is the main one?
3. What are the names of the typical clothes for men and for women?
4. Why was the Taj Mahal built?
5. What distinctive features could be mentioned about Hinduism
 Family: India

DATA OF INDIA
Country (long form) Republic of India
Capital New Delhi
1,269,345.60 sq mi
Total Area 3,287,590.00 sq km
(slightly more than one-third the size of the US)
Population 1,029,991,145 (July 2001 est.)
Estimated Population in 2050 1,619,582,271
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language
for national, political, and commercial communication, Hindi the
national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali
(official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu
(official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada
(official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official),
Languages
Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official), Hindustani
(a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern
India)
note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons;
numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually
unintelligible
Literacy 52.0% total, 65.5% male, 37.7% female (1995 est.)
Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other
Religions
groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)
Life Expectancy 62.22 male, 63.53 female (2001 est.)
Government Type federal republic
Currency 1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise
GDP (per capita) $2,200 (2000 est.)
textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment,
Industry
cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle,
Agriculture
water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Arable Land 56%
coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese,
Natural Resources mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds,
petroleum, limestone, arable land

Source: http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/india.htm