Original Post:
I did not learn about India in school, but I did learn a bit about India as a child because of my parents' extensive travels there in the 1970s. I grew up always wanting to see India's cultures firsthand and am grateful that the day of reckoning is soon upon us!
I have learned a lot about India through our lectures with Professor Singh and through this blog. To follow Amy's lead, I did little research on Indian history and culture.
Some of the topics that I found interesting are listed below:
- India invented Chess
- India invented the number system, including zero and pi
- the official Sanskrit name for India is Bharat
- India has the most post offices in the world
- the India Railway is the largest employer in the world (over 1M!)
- Beyond Bollywood, there are also film industries referred to as Tollywood and Kollywood
- India's national bird is the peacock
Yeah, pretty amazing huh Cat!
ReplyDeleteAnother one to add to the list is that the origin of the word "surf" actually comes from India too! Indians used to use the word "suffe" to describe what they saw as they watched the Portuguese trading ships anchor offshore and then their smaller vessels would ride in with the waves. The Polynesians and Hawaiians of course invented and perfected the sport of surfing, but the word originated in India!