Discover little known wonders of India in form of video journey by NDTV on You Tube.If you are visiting India, you might want to alter your schedule to include these exotic places.

7 Wonders Of India : YouTube Channel

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Declaration of Purna Swaraj, Lahore Congress, January 26, 1930

We believe that it is the incredible right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom to enjoy the fruits of their soil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth. We believe also that if any government deprives a people of these and oppress them, the people have a further right to alter or abolish it. The British Government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India must server the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence.

India has been ruined economically. The revenue derived from our people is out of all proportion to our income. Our average income is seven pice per day, and of the heavy taxes we pay 20% are raised from the land revenue derived from the peasantry and 3% from the salt tax, which falls most heavily on the poor.

Village industries, such as hand spinning, have been destroyed, leaving the peasantry idle for at least four months in the year, and dulling their intellect for want of handicrafts, and nothing has been substituted, as in other countries, for the crafts thus destroyed.

Customs and currency have been so manipulated as to beep further burdens on the peasantry. British manufactured goods constitute the bulk of our imports. Customs duties betray partiality for British manufacturers, and revenue from them is not used to lessen the burden on the masses but for sustaining a highly extravagant administration. Still more arbitrary has been the manipulation of the exchange which has resulted in millions being drained away from the country.

Politically, India’s status has never been so reduced as under the British regime. No reforms have given real political power to the people. The tallest of us have to bend before the foreign authority. The rights of free expression of opinion and free association have been denied to us and many of our countrymen are compelled to live in exile abroad and cannot return to their homes. All administrative talent is killed and the masses have to be satisfied petty village offices and clerkships.

Currently, the system of education has torn us from our moorings and our training has made us bug the very chains that bind us.

Spiritually, compulsory disarmament has made us unmanly and the presence of an alien army of occupation, employed with deadly effect to crush in us the spirit of resistance, has made us think that we cannot look after ourselves or put up a defence against foreign aggression, or even defend our brothers and families from the attacks of thieves, robbers and miscreants.

We hold it to be a crime against man and God to submit any longer to a rule that has caused this fourfold disaster to our country. We recognise, however, that the most effective way of getting our freedom is not through violence. We will therefore prepare ourselves by withdrawing, so far as we can, all voluntary association from British Government, and will prepare for civil disobedience, including non-payment of taxes. We are convinced that if we can but withdraw our voluntary help and stop payment of taxes without doing violence, even under provocation; the need of his inhuman rule is assured. We therefore hereby solemnly resolve to carry out the Congress instructions issued from time to time for the purpose of establishing Purna Swaraj.

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Note :- I wrote this post on 28 September , 2008.

There have been more than 8 blasts in all! A daring attempt like this can not be a work of few people.. It involves a series of interdependent men. First ISI,then Millitant Groups and now we have these so called Indian Mujahideen (I wonder why they call themselves Indians?)

Intelligence.. It seems they are the last people to know about anything! They didnt know abt Diwali Blasts,Neither about intrusion on LOC nor about China’s stand in Arunachal Pradesh!! The things our Intelliegence agencies miss can be even guessed on the basis of series of event.. (Even our Cyber Crime Units have officers who are not familiar with basic operations of Internet!) I am sure that some Minister in this Government will come out with the facts that there had been far more bomb blasts in the regime of another Political Party.I do not have any liking for any particular political party but I support their manifestos if they are rational.Did anyone notice that there had been no major terrorists arrests in the regime of present Govt?

Its high time that we, citizens take more responsibilty and ensure safety of our surroundings.

Let me highlight a few points that the average citizen can do

1) Corruption: Do not give or take bribes in any case- this is one of the root causes.
example: A lot of anti-social elements give bribes and get ration cards, passports, birth certificates etc. Thus they get a valid identity.

2) Form an organisation that has intellectuals who are ready to fight for a cause legally.
example: A lot of criminals involved in arms and drug trade get scott free because of lack of evidence. This lack of evidence is becuase of intimidation and buying out of potential witneses. The aim of the organisation should be to put pressure on the government, cops and if need be hire competent lawyers or pay the state appointed lawyer inorder to get the accused prosecuted and also see to it that evidence and witnesses are not tampered with.

3) The average indian is by nature a quiet person who prefers to live and let live. My suggestion is to be more assertive and take action instead of putting your head down like the ostrich and hope that the problem goes away.

4) Make pamplets against corruption, terrorism, etc and spread them around. This does not mean you have to stand on the roadside and distribute them. But if this could be done it would be fantastic. A simpler way is to make say hundred copies of anti-corruption messageand pamplets. Distribute or just put ten in each train/bus you take. In the pamplet request that the person reading if possible make ten copies and spread them around.

5) Have street plays to educate the public about corruption and how it leads to terrorism, and other social evils.

6) If you are well educated, take some time out and volunteer to teach children in orphanages, municipality schools etc.

7) Do not constantly criticize the system, see how you can improve it.

8.) Shopkeepers and outlet owner, Devote a surveillance camera to the road. Record the happening and cooperate with police.We cant work by opposing the system.

9.) Above all , Find out ways in which you can be helpful. No one knows you better than you.

Give suggestions and feedback.. This list is still missing few points..

Note :- I wrote this post on 28 September , 2008.

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@sachin_rt  : The name to say it all!

By now, you probably know the ‘God of Cricket’ is finally on Twitter. But what is worth knowing is that he is setting Twitter afire just like his batting.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar joined Twitter on Tuesday night around 11.30 with a ‘RT’ in his handle. His first tweet read: “Finally the original SRT is on twitter n the first thing I’d like to do is wish my colleagues the best in the windies.”

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India is a nation where humanity has lived since ages. It is a country which is blessed with different religions, societies, cultures and languages, all interplaying with each other in harmony.

The month of January creates an aura of patriotism as Republic Day of India falls in this month. It was on 26th January, 1950 that Republic of India was formed and the Constitution of India came into force. Over these years India has come a long way in overcoming various obstacles and hurdles to rejoice in the moments of triumph, glory and the pride of being an independent nation. Republic Day reminds us of the fulfillment of the pledge that was made on the midnight of Independence as a “tryst with destiny”.

This day also marks the recognition that we Indians thrive in a sovereign, secular, and democratic land that stands for the principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, the golden words that form the essence of our Preamble.

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4. Books on India

Some good books on India

1. The Discovery of India, by Jawaharlal Nehru (nonfiction).
2. India Unbound, by Gurcharan Das (nonfiction).
3. The Devil’s Wind, by Manohar Malgaonkar (fiction).
4. Freedom at Midnight, by Dominic Lapierre and Larry Collins (nonfiction).
5. On the Grand Trunk Road, by Steve Coll (nonfiction).
6. May You be the Mother of a Thousand Sons, by Elizabeth Bumiller (nonfiction).
7. Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God, by Jonah Blank (nonfiction).
8. Motiba’s Tatoos, by Mira Kamdar (nonfiction).
9. An Area of Darkness, by V. S. Naipaul (nonfiction).
10. India After Gandhi, by Ramachandra Guha (nonfiction).

And, 11, “Mother India India: A Political Biography of Indira Gandhi,” by Pranay Gupte (nonfiction).

In addition to above list:

1. “We are like that Only” by Rama Bijapurkar (Penguin) – on marketing in today’s India
2. “The Indians” by Sudhir & Katharina Kakar (Penguin) – social psychology
3. “Branding India-An Incredible Story” by Amitabh Kant (Collins Business) – a case study on “Incredible India” campaign
4. “Handmade in India” by Aditi & MP Ranjan (Cohands & Mapin) – an encyclopaedic tome on India’s craft tradition
5. “The Earthen Drum” by Pupul Jayakar on India’s crafts
6. “Chasing the monsoon: A modern pilgrimage through India” by Alexander Frater
7.”Butter chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in small town India” (Travelogue) by Pankaj Mishra
8. “Temptations of the West: How to be modern in India, Pakistan….” (Travelogue) By Pankaj Mishra
9. “Autobiography of an Unknown Indian” by Nirad C. Chaudhuri

One of the best collection of novels on India is the Gandhi Quartet by a much celebrated but not too well known writer, Chamana Nahal. These include:

1) Azadi (Freedom). New Delhi, Arnold-Heinemann, and Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1975; London, Deutsch, 1977.

2)The Crown and the Loincloth. New Delhi, Vikas, 1981.

3)The Salt of Life. New Delhi, Allied, 1990.

4)The Triumph of the Tricolour. New Delhi, Allied, 1993.

Also,

V. S. Naipaul’s Books on India on India (India-an area of darkness, India a Million Mutinies)are confront the grim realities of India, no romanticizing…
Will Durant A Case for India (banned at one time by the British)
Count Keyserling The travel Diary of a Philosopher (has a part on India as well as China, Japan and US)
Kitab-e-Yamini –a shocking tale of how Turks came into India
Francois Bernier–Travels in the Mogul Court–eyewitness account of Frenchman shows how the court lead to the poverty of India–no schools, no Universities, high taxation of peasants just built palaces for themselves
Andre Wink–exposes the truth about Islam in India without holding an ideological bias
Arun Shourie Eminent Historians
Al Beruni’s India–displays Muslim bias but you can learn a lot from his book as he was a great scholar
Books by Tagore–although much is lost in Engligh translation
Kalhan–History of Kashmir–first Indian historian on India. Tanslated by Aurel Stein

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India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, spanning a period of more than 4000 years, and witnessing the fusion of several customs and traditions, which are reflective of the rich culture and heritage of the Country.

The history of the nation gives a glimpse into the magnanimity of its evolution – from a Country reeling under colonialism, to one of the leading economies in the global scenario within a span of fifty years. More than anything, the nationalistic fervour of the people is the contributing force behind the culmination of such a development. This transformation of the nation instills a sense of national pride in the heart of every Indian within the Country and abroad, and this section is a modest attempt at keeping its flame alive.

Few Interesting Facts :[adsense]

• India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
• The name ‘India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
• The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name ‘Hindustan’ combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
• Chess was invented in India.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.
• The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’ were developed in India in 100 B.C.
• The World’s First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
• India is the largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
• The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called ‘Mokshapat’. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
• The world’s highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
• India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.
• The largest employer in the world is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.
• The world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
• India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India’s wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
• The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘NAVGATIH’. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nou’.
• Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
• The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).
• Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world
  (Source: Gemological Institute of America).

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• The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.
• Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.
• Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.
• India exports software to 90 countries.
• The four religions born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world’s population.
• Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.
• Islam is India’s and the world’s second largest religion.
• There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.
• The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.
• Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively
• The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.
• The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world’s largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.
• Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.
• Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called “the Ancient City” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.
• His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.
• Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.
• Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

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Historians, writers, politicians and other eminent personalities across the Globe have greatly appreciated India and its contribution to rest of the world. Though these remarks are only a partial reflection of the greatness of India, they certainly make us feel proud of our motherland.

“We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made!”

-Albert Einstein (Theoretical Physicist, Germany)

“India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most artistic materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only!”

- Mark Twain (Writer, America)

“If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India!”

- Romaine Rolland (French scholar)

“She (India) has left indelible imprints on one fourth of the human race in the course of a long succession of centuries. She has the right to reclaim … her place amongst the great nations summarizing and symbolizing the spirit of humanity. From Persia to the Chinese sea, from the icy regions of Siberia to Islands of Java and Borneo, India has propagated her beliefs, her tales, and her civilization!”

- Sylvia Levi (French Scholar)

“India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.”

- Hu Shih (Former Ambassador of China to USA)

“Civilizations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient and modern times, wonderful ideas have been carried forward from one race to another…But mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and the march of embattled cohorts. Each idea had to be soaked in a deluge of blood….. Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of millions, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows. This, many other nations have taught; but India for thousands of years peacefully existed. Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist… Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live….!”

- Swami Vivekanand (Indian Philosopher)

“If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.”

- Max Mueller (German Scholar)

“There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won’t go. For me, India is such a place. When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds. It was as if all my life I had been seeing the world in black and white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor.”

- Keith Bellows (Editor-in-chief, National Geographic Society)

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