Brief introduction to the vast cultural heritage of India 15 min presentation accompanied by oral commentary

2.  Largest and most populous Democracy in the
World
 12th Largest Economy in nominal dollars
 Population: 1.15 billion, 1.7% growth rate
 70% Rural with severe cases of Urban
Agglomeration

3.  Society: Family and Customs
 Regional Diversity
 Languages
 Religion
 Festivals
 Cuisine
 Performing Arts
 Sports
 Literature
 Indian Film Industry

4.  Strict social hierarchy
 Patriarchy
 Caste system
 Integration of religion
 Traditional Indian Families:
 Large joint families
 Mostly rural
 Modern Nuclear Families

5.  Respect for Elders
 Respect one another
 Being Helpful
 Treat guests as Gods

7.  1576 mother tongues!!!
 29 languages > 1 million speakers
 60 languages > 100,000 speakers
 122 languages > 10,000 speakers
 Two major groups:
◦ Indo-European or Indo-Aryan languages
◦ Dravidian Languages
 Northern Indian:
Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali and
Oriya
 Southern Indian: Tamil ,Kannada, Malayalam, and
Telugu

8.  Major Religions:
 Hinduism – 80.4%
 Islam – 13.4%
 Buddhism
 Jainism
 Sikhism
 Christianity
 Plays a central and definitive role in the lives
of most people

9.  National Holidays:
 Independence Day – 15th August
 Republic Day – 26th January
 Gandhi Jayanti – 2nd October
 Harvest Festivals:
 Sankranti
 Pongal
 Onam
 Religious Festivals:
 Diwali
 Ganesh Chaturthi
 Holi
 Navratri
 Rakshabandhan
 Dussehra
 Durga Puja
 Buddh Purnima
 Christmas
 Eid and Ramadan

10.  Combination of Middle East, Central Asia and Mediterranean
 Major types of cuisine:
 North Indian: Mughlai, Punjabi, Kashmiri
 Western Cuisine: Gujarati, Maharashtrian, Rajasthani, Goan
 Eastern Cuisine: Bengali
 Southern Cuisine
 North Eastern

11.  Theater:
 Kutiyattam – oldest
 Folk Theater
 Puppet Theater
 Modern Theater
 Dance:
 Folk: Bhangra, Dandiya, Garba, Ghoomar
 Classical: Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Oddisi
 Music:
 Hindustani and Carnatic
 Folk Music:
 Bauls, Bhangra, Bhavageete, Dandiya, Lavani
 Popular (Filmi) music
 Qawwali, Rabindra Sangeet, Rajasthani
 Modern Music:
 Indi-pop music, Rock and Metal music, Dance Music

12.  Cricket – Most Popular
 Indian Cricket Team (BCCI)
 Indian Cricket League (ICL)
 Field Hockey – National Sport
 Indian Hockey Team
 Premier Hockey League (PHL)
 Football (Soccer) – Popular in the East

13.  Classical Literature:
 Sanskrit
 Tamil Sangam
 Pali Canon
 Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana
 Regional literature – as many languages
 Contemporary Indian writers:
◦ Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Shashi Tharoor, Vikram
Chandra, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri

14.  Bollywood – Mumbai based film industry
 Tollywood – Kolkata based film industry
 Kollywood?
 Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil,
Telugu

15.  quot;It is poverty porn at its worst. The Mumbai marauders are supposed to
have done their deed to hurt India, to challenge its success, to expose
its soft underbelly. But this movie has done the job better”
 Is it truth alone triumphs or lies alone triumph?
 Curiosity about India’s success and growing gap between the extremes
 If those involved in the movie would offer their profits from the film to
that movement, they would elevate themselves from exploiters to
benefactors.
◦ V.S. Naipaul (India: A Wounded Civilization)
◦ Vikas Swarup (Q & A)
◦ Aravind Adiga (The White Tiger)