India

Last days

2009-07-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

Cows regulating traffic, cops begging for money, 4-headed families squeezed on a motorcycle, strangers asking permission to take your photo, street vendors arguing about prices, rickshaw drivers changing prices, being constantly surrounded by insects, eating spicy for breakfast, tripping over potholes at least once a day, the smell of incense and the taste of masala, rickshaws replacing school buses, shaking head sideways to indicate "yes," elephants crossing the street, getting soaked by sudden monsoon rain, waiting for others, waiting in a van for two hours in the middle of the city, getting locked in the house, lacking privacy and personal space, women in beautiful saris riding motorcycles, praying to survive in traffic, waking up from the yells of the tomato man....

...These are just some memories I have made during the last weeks. This has been a lifetime opportunity and I'm thankful to have finally experienced the Indian culture myself.
Some of the IHDUA members took me out to lunch yesterday and gave me a present afterwards- a nicely-decorated wooden box. In the evening, we had our farewell dinner and welcomed a new intern. This morning, we went out for breakfast and the other girls left for school.
Most of the girls are leaving tomorrow and I will leave Monday morning. Unfortunately, my plane won't leave until Tuesday morning, so I have to wait at the Bangalore airport for about 10 hours. From there, I have a nine hour flight to Paris, a six hour break, and another nine hour flight back to the States. I should probably buy some books.

Goodbye India.

Angel Card

2009-07-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

I am feeling well again and am ready for my last day of work. I will turn in my last two articles today, which are scheduled to get published this weekend.

Yesterday, I never got picked up for work, nor did anyone call. I found out today that the person who was supposed to pick me up got something stolen yesterday and spent the day at the police station.

In the afternoon, two girls and I went to get our Tarot card readings. I don't believe in fortune telling, but the other girls went during the first weeks and truly believe in it. Since Tarot is very popular in India, I wanted to experience it as well.

Apparently, I am very troubled and certain spheres in my life have a lot of problems (Disagree).
Instant love affairs don't work for me and my mother has someone in mind for me (Uh?). The lady said that I'm susceptible to infections and I should take care of my health (Good point). My mother has a strong influence on me and always makes the right decisions (Agree). I will not have any luck from the Gods in my career and have to do a lot of hard work myself. I won't get my dream job (Thanks).
At the end of the session, the lady told me to pull an "Angel Card." She said that angels never lie. Everything is ready for success and everyone is supporting me. I should laugh more.
The lady wanted me to ask specific questions, but I was too uninspired to think of any.

I will leave for work in half an hour. Tonight, we will have a farewell dinner, since most of the girls are leaving Saturday. Tomorrow, we will go to breakfast and then evaluate our internships.

One week left!

2009-07-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

I wasn't able to update my blog because I have been sick with a fever the past days.
I went to a village school Friday and already didn't feel well.
Saturday, I woke up with a headache, but decided not to miss out on our excursion to a temple. We left at 8:30 a.m. and I blackenend out in the car about two hours later. The driver slowly moved the vehicle to the stopping point, while I left my head on my friend's lap and my legs on the cushion. I still wanted to go up the steps to the temple, but I felt dizzy every time I tried to get out of the car. The children begging for money and touching our legs and arms only made it worse. The taxi driver got me a coconut with a straw, which made me feel a little better. I felt fine on the way back, although I was disappointed on missing the opportunity.
Later that night, one of the intern girls took my temperature and I had a fever of almost 102 F.
Sunday, I had to miss out on Ooty (and the chai tea factory!!) as well.

I went to work yesterday, but the manager told me I looked sick and needed to rest, so I left early. I lied down for a few hours and then went to our last Kannada lesson with three other girls.

I didn't get much sleep last night, but I feel better today. I don't want to miss another day of work, because I have my last day Thursday.

It hasn't rained in the past days and our electricity goes off several times a day. On the way to the internet cafe, I saw a man on a motorcycle with a dog on his lap... I thought that was pretty odd.

PS: I have 14 mosquito bites on my legs! Yes, I counted.

Hold On Tight

2009-07-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

I definitelty enjoy working for the Deccan Herald and feel very lucky for the opportunity.
There are three ways the journalists get their stories: (1) press conferences, (2) assigned reports, (3) translating letters sent by surrounding districts to English.
In general, reporters start work after lunch and end at about 11:00/ 11:30 p.m.

After dinner last night, my friend and I were walking back when I suddenly felt a hard force on my purse. Two guys were passing us on a motorcycle and the one sitting on the back tried to steal my purse- including my passport, money, cell phone, camera, journal and my identity !! Fortunately, I was able to hold on to my purse and scream, so the guys took off.

On that note, I'm not feeling very well today. I was coughing all night and have a headache. I got some medecine after work, so I hope I'll get better this weekend. We planned to drive to Ooty tomorrow and take some local trips Sunday.

"Cancer Cure Is Real If Treated On Time"

2009-07-21T23:47:00.000-07:00

I visited the Bharath Charitable Cancer Hospital and Institute for the second time yesterday. Unlike the last time, I got to see the different rooms, including the laboratory, chemotherapy ward, X-ray, radiation therapy, male and female general ward (people can stay and rest there for free), special wards (for people who can afford to pay), Intensive Treatment Unit and an outside walking area. The building seemed relatively clean and the outside area is planted with trees and flowers.

The patients become extremely weak because of the high potency of drugs and cancer treatment. Therefore, the patients need nutritous food, but are often not able to afford it. The BCCHI trust started a free food program for the cancer patients staying in the general wards. The free food is provided to these patients for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Because the biggest challenge is to get donations to fund this project, I will write my next article on this project.

After the hospital visit, I watched the printing process of the Mysore Mail. It was in a seperate building about 45 minutes from the office. The entire process took about one hour.

I had a very tasty lunch yesterday: lemon rice and a vermicelli-noodle pudding (I know, I need to start writing down the Indian names).

Today, I will be working at the Deccan Herald from 2 to 7.
Please, feel free to visit http://www.deccanherald.com/ ;)

Elephants and Kappad Beach

2009-07-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

I got my article published in yesterday's newspaper! It's a little more than half a page and has two colorful photos, which I have taken in the villages.

On Friday, I went to the Mysore Mail again, but didn't expect a motorcycle ride to the Mysore Palace and to a beautiful lake afterwards. Once again, no sense of a traffic law.

This weekend, four of the girls and I went to the Renaissance Cochin Kappad Beach Resort in Calicut. We left Saturday at 5 a.m. and returned at about 6 p.m. Sunday. The ride took us about six hours, but was very interesting. We drove through the forest and saw bissons, monkeys and elephants! We also passed mountains, waterfalls and many fields of exotic trees and plants. Because it was raining throughout the day, several roads were flooded and people seemed to have a difficult time working outside.

Kappad Beach lies 18 km south of Kozhikode, the most famous district of North Kerala. Vasco da Gama landed there in 1498 with 170 men in search of the faded spices of Kerala. Our hotel was very nice and had a breathtaking view of the ocean.

This morning, I attended a press conference, which was mainly in Kannada. The focus was on a new company, the website mysorenetworks.com, to enable networking to local businesses. About 35 people were present, most of which were men. The webpage includes several sections, including blogs, international business, net news, events, marketplace and discussion forums. After the conference, I hung around the Mysore Mail office for a few hours, talking to the chief editor and reading through the newspapers from the weekend. I took a rickshaw (three-wheeled taxi) home and cooked some tomato rice. Tonight, we have a Kannada language lesson.

Mysore Mail

2009-07-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting morning at the Mysore Mail today.
The staff is relatively small and there were about 10 people working this morning. The English version gets produced in the morning and the production of the Kannada edition starts after 1:30 p.m. Every day, 30,000 English copies get printed.

I read through the newspapers of this month and enjoyed the Human Interest Stories in each edition. The Mysore Mail provides local, national and international news.
I also read several of the national newspapers, including The Time of India, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, which has nice photographs, and the Deccan Herald. Fortunately, India has a free press.

I watched the editing and the layout processes of tomorrow's articles. The reporters have written the stories and taken photographs of the various events earlier this morning.

Tomorrow, I will be accompanying one reporter at a news conference.

Mullur village

2009-07-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, the girls and I took a tour of the Mysore Palace, which is very beautiful, and visited the Nandi bull on Chamundi Hill a second time. We also visited the Mysore Zoo, famous for its' white tiger, and did some shopping. Mysore is famous for its' silk and sandalwood, which is believed to be watched over by the gods and will last a lifetime!

Yesterday, I visited a rural school, Vinayaka Jhana Vidya Sare Mullur School, in Mullur village. I went by bus, together with a female teacher, and many students from different villages got on as we got closer. The building itself is a lot bigger and nicer than the schools I have visited previously, but still needs a lot of improvement. There are 400 students and six main subjects, of which three are languages (Kannada, Hindi, English). The school has a computer room, a TV and a collection of educational books, DVDs and CDs'. The students clean the school themselves and take care of a kitchen garden. Although many students are below the poverty level, according to an article in the principal's office, they seem very successful. One student scored 90% on the SSLC, a yearly Indian exam for 10th grader, and all 39 other students passed this year.

The principal showed me around the school and I visited every single classroom, starting at the pre-school level to the 10th grade. The students seemed very excited and some were confident enough to show me their talents. Girls and boys danced, sang, or acted.

After lunch, I taught a 9th grade class for one hour. The students have taken three years of English, so they were able to ask me questions and answer mine. After about an hour, I had to leave and almost all of the ~50 students ran up to me to get an autograph. I felt like a celebrity! Fact is, children in rural India aren't any different than elsewhere- they run around, play volleyball, laugh loudly, cry when they get hurt, behave some of the time and get a little too wild at other times.

I went to the "Mysore Mail" daily newspaper today and got introduced to the manager. I will be working there until Friday and will start at a national newspaper next week. I can't wait to learn more about the newspaper system here!

PS: My new favorite breakfast food: Kesari Bath. I have no idea what it's made of, but I will try to get the recipe =]

Small villages

2009-07-10T06:54:00.001-07:00

I spent the last days in Begur and visited several small villages in the area. My driver and I took the motorcyle to the different locations and I got to see beautiful landmarks of the Indian countryside. We rode by fields of sunflowers, palm trees, banana and papaya trees, and other exotic plants. The first stop was at a small kindergarden and school. The children seemed shy, because they sat quietly on the floor the entire time. The kindergarden was one room with one small desk and one chair. The walls were full of colorful pictures, so that the children could learn the words of different fruits, vegetables, animals, body parts and so on. Before I left, I wrote a few sentences in a guest book and saw that two other Americans have visited this place. Unlike the kindergarden kids, the school children wore a uniform. I have noticed that most schools in this area require uniforms, often blue- or green-colored.

My driver then took me to see some rural projects of IHDUA. We stopped at several houses in about 8 villages and every person was very welcoming and friendly. Every single household offered me chai tea and some gave me snacks as well. In one village, I saw a kitchen garden constructed by IHDUA. The purpose is to provide nutrition through vegetables and fruits to the habitants. I also sat in another SHG (Self-Help Group) women's meeting. The women seemed very interested in my culture as well and my driver translated their questions to me. They asked if I was married and if I wanted to stay at the village with them sometime.

The second project I visited a smokeless oven, provided by IHDUA. According to Nanjappa, women used to inhale smoke and get sick while cooking, so the organization constructed one where the smoke goes outside only.

In a different village, I observed the production of silk. There were large wooden wheels on the front porch with hundreds of silk worms weaving. One of the men told me that it takes three days for the worms to construct the material. I refused a chai, but got one anyway. It seems as if nobody takes "no" as an answer here regarding to food or drinks.

Although it was pouring this morning, it fortunately stopped once we got to Begur. I had a different driver today and the motorcyle seemed to be going a lot faster. Because the villages today were a little more distant from Begur, we visited fewer areas. The people at the first house were keeping different food items, such as mangoes and spicy pickles, in different-sized, blue containers. Provided by IHDUA, these items apparently ameliorate their business.

At the next village, we visited a woman that was tailoring, such as the girls in Begur. At the last stop, women were preparing nutritional supplements for malnourished children.

Finally, I experienced Indian breakfast. Although I didn't order myself, I liked both dishes. One day, I had delicious wheat-based wraps called Booris together with saagu and chutney. This morning, I had Idlis, cakes made with fermented rice and served with spicy sauces. I took great photographs and will upload them as soon as I get back to the U.S.

PS: I saw two monkeys yesterday!

Rural India

2009-07-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

"There are two different Indias in India... one is the one you've seen and the other one is the rural part," Nanjappa, vice president of rural projects, said.

I went into the village Begur yesterday and will study the culture of rural India for the next week. Rural India is home to over 70% of the population, according to the International Human Development And Upliftment Academy (IHDUA), the organization for which I intern. After my observations, I will work for two local newspapers. The IHDUA based in Mysore is a non-government organization established in 1991 by Oncologist Dr. B. S. Ajaikumar. The organization works on four main rural projects: rural literacy, women empowerment, economics, health and education, and awareness about health and hygiene. The IHDUA now works with 55 villages.

Yesterday, there was a Self-Help Group (SHG) meeting in Begur. These meetings help a group of men or women to ameliorate their businesses and upgrade their skills. I first sat with a group of men who try to work together to strive for economic development. Because the majority of the rural population doesn't speak English, I could not understand most of the conversation. After the second meeting, which was among women, I went into a room with six girls who produced purses. The other women returned to their businesses, which include selling fruits, vegetables, flowers, chicken or sheep fur. Some of the girls knew some words of English and asked me for my name and my parent's name. Two girls used sign language to ask if I had eaten lunch, which in India means about the same as how I was doing.

I rode on the back of a motorcycle the "Indian way" (girls sit sideways) and visited some local stands. The fruit seller offered a miniature banana and the flower girl handed me a rose.
I saw many animals crossing the streets of Begur, including pigs, sheeps, donkeys and, as usual, cows. However, they were very skinny and seemed to have difficulties walking. On the way to Mysore are many fruit plants, including mango, banana, coconut and papaya trees. The lack of rain this year makes the life of the people in the village a lot more difficult, as agriculture is not going well.

For dinner, I got to relax over pea rice and a big chai at the Green Leaf restaurant.

[[ i have to leave;; update soon]

Namaskara!

2009-07-06T04:59:00.000-07:00

Indian cuisine is very tasty and has fortunately not gotten me sick yet. I eat rice dishes at leat once a day and order masala chai after dinner. Nevertheless, I have not fully adapted to the Indian dining style yet. Indians use their right hand instead of utensils, even for rice and curries. It seems like they use a certain technique to shape the rice and flick it into their mouths, without making a mess.
Monsoon season is really showing now. Rainfalls are getting much stronger and more frequent than during the first days here. This has advantages as well, because it helps the electricity. The power goes off very often, so my showers aren't only cold, but also in the dark.
I'm the only girl working for the newspaper here and my orientation for my job will take place tomorrow. I have different working hours than the other girls here and will be busy 1 to 7 pm .
Yesterday, we went to visist the Mysore Palace, which is lit up every sunday night with thousands of lights. We also enjoyed the view on Mysore of Chamundi Hill and drove by the statue of Nandi, Shiva's mount.

First days in Mysore

2009-07-04T01:54:00.000-07:00

I finally arrived in Mysore last night. My plane arrived in Bangalore in the middle of the night, so I stayed at a hotel in Bangalore my first night. Indian men were asleep on the ground in the hallways of the hotel, covered with white sheets.
The ride from there to Mysore took about 4 hours, but the traffic in India is crazy and disorganized! Horns sound all the time for no apparent reason and there don't seem to be many enforced rules.
The inhabitans of Mysore seem very friendly and the area seems safe. Animals such as cows, dogs and horses move around freely. It's the monsoon season, so there are many rainfalls throughout the day.
I ate at a local Indian restaurant last night and ordered a rice dish and masala chai. Masala chai tea if offered everywhere and safe to drink because it gets boiled. The total price was a little over 1 $.
India wakes up early. In Bangalore, horns started honking without a pause at 6 a.m. and people chatted loudly. This morning, I heard a man singing "tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes,..." and some words in Kannada, the local language. A girl told me yesterday that a man walks through the neighborhoods every morning, selling fresh fruit and vegetables.
Today, there is a conflict going on between the different religions and therefore all the stores and restaurants are closed. The city is closed as well, so I'm not sure how the other girls will arrive.
My internet access here is very limited.

Mysore 2009

2009-06-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be the day I have been dreading - sitting on the plane for 24 hours plus-, but the day after will be the one I have been most excited about this year. Finally, I will be arriving in Mysore, Karnataka, and experience the culture myself. Until now I have been reading guides, listening to warnings and advices from others, researched online, but never went through firsthand knowledge.

I'm not too nervous yet, as I'm still trying to figure out how to amuse myself while sitting in the same spot for over a day, but I'm sure I will get there soon.

I have read that Mysore is the second biggest city in Karnataka and is also called the "City of Palaces." The people of this area speak Kannada, but should be able to communicate in English as well. The time difference from Eastern Standard time is 9 and a half hours.

As of now, I am clueless about my internet access over there, but will try my best to update on here regularly. Here I go !

India’s new car

2009-03-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

[ Mumbai] India’s largest automaker Tata Motors came out with the world’s cheapest car about a week ago. The Tata Nano costs about $ 2,000, which enables more people in India to afford an automobile.

The Nano is not only the cheapest, but also the shortest four-passenger car on the market. It’s 122 inches long and has a simple design.

The increase in vehicles in India may pressure the government to build better roads. Although there were concerns about more pollution in India, the car could actually have a positive impact on the environment by replacing many motorbikes.

The car is predicted to be on Indian streets by July.

India Budget Deficit Increases

2009-02-16T11:16:00.001-08:00

India’s budget shortage may be double next year’s planned target. The Indian government steps up spending to protect the economy from the global recession ahead of elections in two moths.

According to Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, spending will increase six percent 9.53 trillion rupees in the year starting April 1. He also said that this will leas to a budget gap of more than five percent of gross domestic product by March 2010, contrasting the 3 percent target.

According to the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, spending to revive the economy is currently more important than worrying about the budget deficit.

India received an average of 10 billion US dollars a year of foreign investments between 2001 and 2003.

Growth in the current financial year may decrease to seven percent, rendering millions unemployed. According to the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, exporters may cut 10 million jobs by March. This means that India’s economy would have to grow at 10 percent a year in order to increase employment by one percent.

(Source: Cherian Thomas; Bloomberg)

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-25T13:10:00.001-08:00

I watched Slumdog Millionaire last night and it made the list of my favorite movies. The story is about an orphan child from the slums of Mumbai who loses the girl of his dreams and still searches for her when he’s 18 years old. The young man, Jamal Malik, makes it on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” show and successfully answers the questions while getting flashbacks of his past. When the first part of the show is over for the day, the local police arrest him because they assume he cheated. In order to prove his innocence, Jamal shares the story of his life. He talks about his childhood in the slums, the escape with his older brother and the girl he has always loved: Latika.

… Maybe it was all just meant to be.

The capital …

2009-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

Delhi is the third largest city of India with a population of about 14 million. The city is a central location in Indian history and several great empires have been ruled from Delhi, which has left monuments and ruins throughout the capital.

Slums and shantytowns fill the outer edges of Delhi, while middle class suburbs are located mainly in the south. Government buildings, embassies and houses are located in New Delhi.

There are many contradictions and variations in Delhi, which is mainly a city of migrants. Although people migrated from all over India, each regional community has retained its own cultural identity.

Photo: Slums in outer Delhi

The Story of India

2009-01-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

"The Story of India" is a six-part documentary for PBS and BBC. I have seen the first and second part (which was shown a few days ago). The DVD costs about 35 US dollars, but the different parts of the movie are also available to view for free on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpsGTR_ETg8). I highly recommend it to everyone interested in the country, since it demonstrated the past and present.

I have finally booked my flight to India for the summer. I will be leaving July 1st and returning August 4th.

Update and News

2009-01-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

[Islamabad] Pakistandi Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he wanted the international community to help control tensions between Pakistan and India.

Shortly after Gilani’s remarks, US vice president-elect Joe Biden arrived in Islamabad to talk to the leaders of Pakistan.Gilani said that the world shouldn’t let tensions between India and Pakistan intensify.

----

[New Delhi] About 55,000 white-collar workers have been striking since three days, which has resulted in a severe fuel shortage in India. The fuel shortage exacerbated in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other cities

According to the Associated Press, more than half of gas pumps are dry and more than 150 flights were delayed.

A nation of rich and poor

2009-01-09T07:25:00.001-08:00

There are roughly 300 million middle-class consumers in India. However, about the same number of people live (or try to live) below the poverty line. In fact, 35% of the population lives on less than 1 US dollar a day. India has more poor people than the continent of Africa. A small proportion of the population is astoundingly wealthy, of which many belong to the princely classes. The country has the most billionaires in Asia.

India on the news

2009-01-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

It was hard to miss what happened in Mumbai, India, at the end of last year. Several terrorist attacks killed at least 164 and injured more than 250 people. The Trident Hotel, the Taj Hotel and the GT Hospital were three of the places attacked. Train services had to be shut off because gunmen fired aimlessly at the CST station. Other transportation vehicles, such as taxis, were not safe either, as one was blown up on the road.

India has blamed Pakistan for the attacks in November, but Islamabad has denied the accusations and wanted to see proof.

Now, the situation seems calmed down and transportation vehicles are running again.

News in India for today, January 6th, are fortunately not as extreme. India's rupee has weakened after it has reached a one-week high yesterday.

On the lighter side, in New Delhi, Air India dismissed 10 hostesses for being overweight. According to the airline staff, there still is an opportunity for the hostesses to cut weight.

The country itself

2009-01-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

The Past

The recorded history of India goes back to the Indus Valley Civilization 5,000 years ago. The Aryans from Central Asia settled along the Gangetic Plains of northern India around 1500 BC. Soon after, a very distinctive culture developed that continues to be part of the living tradition in India today. The Indo-Aryans divided society into four "varnas" (castes), which has over time changed into a system of inherited discrimination and continues to have a hold on the culture. Although discrimination is banned by law, it often gets displayed by society and politics.

People

There are no racial stereotypes to define the country. India's society has been continually influenced by rebellions, reforms and outside sources. North Indians are often light-skinned (some say "wheat-complexioned"), south Indians are usually darker and east Indians have Mongoloid features. There are also over 70 million Indians that belong to a variety of tribes.

Languages in India are just as diverse as its' people. Next to the 17 major regional languages, there are said to be hundreds of different dialects. The four main languages of the south are supposed to be more different from another than Italian is from Spanish.

Religion

Religion influences almost every aspect of Indian life. Four of the major world religions were found in India: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The main religion in India is Hinduism, with a population of over 80 percent. For many people, Hinduism isn't just a religion but also a way of life. The religion doesn't have a single book, God. From what I learned through my conversations, I came to understand that Hinduism is very diverse and cannot have a single definition. India has the reputation to be very spiritual and peaceful.

Facts (CIA)

Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan

Country name: Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya; India/Bharat

Government type: federal republic

Capital: New Delhi

Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)

Time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Population: 1,147,995,904 (July 2008 est)

Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Languages: Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%

Note: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census)

Birth rate: 22.22 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Total area: 3,287,590 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than one-third the size of the US

Border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km

Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land

Natural hazards: droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms; earthquakes

Current environmental issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution; water pollution; tap water is not potable throughout the country; huge and growing population is overstraining natural resources

Agriculture products: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish

Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software

Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: chikungunya, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria

animal contact disease: rabies

Source: Eyewitness Travel Guides "India"; CIA- The World Factbook (cia.gov)

A very diverse country ...

2009-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

.. with a number of different languages (dialects), religions and behaviors. I have become interested in the country during my senior year in high school, while working on a research project about Hinduism. Besides researching, developing stories and watching documentaries, I met a very interesting person who has become a friend over the past year. My teacher had asked us to interview someone from the culture that we have decided to research. I contacted Dr Koti Sreekrishna, whose profile i found on the Cincinnati Temple website, and met up with him at a local Panera Bread the following week.

Now being a first-year college student at Ohio University, I went to a study abroad fair to learn about internships in India. I became interested in one internship in particular, presented by Jacksonville University (iep- International Education Programs).

As it is now, I will be interning in Mysore, India, this coming july. The internship will last about 4 weeks and be focused on journalism.

Therefore, I would like to learn more about the country by researching and blogging about interesting facts about the culture, as well as providing the latest news and current situation of the country. In the summer, after my trip, I will write about my own experience.