India: Land of elephants, saints, and sadhus

by Harekrishna Natarajan - Graduate student

Elephants, saints and sadhus and pilgrimages-yes sir I am talking about the famous subcontinent of Asia, India. Situated in the heart of south east Asia with a beautiful geographical layout which many a nation envies, India is a nation which is proud of its wonderful and rich tradition and boasts of the fact that it houses almost all possible cultures and communities that one can think about. It thrives on the fact that there is still harmony and unity among the diversities it has. Crowned with one of the most beautiful mountains on the face of earth, the Himalayas, this nation orginated with the Indus valley civilisation. It has the holy Ganges flowing from the mountains on the north east part and the five rivers which led to the formation of the most important agricultural state Punjab on the west. New Delhi, the capital city houses, the Parliament of the world's single largest democratic state. One can never miss the famous Red Fort where the address for the Independence Day celebration is given. Kashmir, probably one of the world's most beautiful cities, leaves a lasting impression on anyone who has been there with its lovely rivers, hills, valleys and cultivation estates and of course the community out there. The famous city Agra which is proud of its possession of the world wonder Taj Mahal is very close to Delhi. Just as beautiful a country India is it has seen many a empire built and many a battles won and lost. It has seen the growth and development of new religions,new communities and new ideas and belief. The origin of buddhism took place in here with king Siddharth, later known as his holiness Buddha sought to fight the sufferings and poverty in a man's life. It is in this country that spiritual values and family traditions are upheld to the maximum. The often misunderstood concept of caste system was originally formed to enable what is recently known as division of labour.

Talking about famous personalities one can never forget the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi who brought in the new concept of non-violence and the famous industrial and political revolutionist and the formulator of the 5 principles of development of a nation and peace, the lover of children, Jawaharlal Nehru. His contribution to the world is the evolving of the non aligned movement which in modern context is a word from the bible.

India has always been a preacher of peace even when it faced a lot of adversities. It is the land of holy places and beautifully sculptured temples and articrafts. It has something to offer to all the nations in the world. Though India is always portrayed as a poorly developed nation and full of poor people the situation is rapidly improving in recent times after its long struggle for independence. It is proud of its inhabitants and the load of festivals it has all the year around which no other nation can even dream about. Modern India is excellent in software development and the famous ISRO has made significant contribution in the tech.field of satellites and rocket launching. I am confident that India is sending strong messages to other parts of the world to resort to peace and friendship among the human community as a whole. It is also wise to change one's attitude about this traditional and beautiful nation that it is no longer just a land of elephants and holy places but is also a potential global market. This is evident from the rapid technological and scientific advances that it has seen in the recent past and promises a lot to all international industrial giants.I am proud to be an Indian and confident that all Indians feel the same way. Mera Bharath Mahan.

Let me take this opportunity to say something about the great mahatma Gandhi which is a source of immense inspiration and arouses a patriotic feeling in everyone. "Simplicity and Peace is this man's virtue." India, the land of poets and classical singers, will be a source of love and peace to one and all. Jai Hind and long live all peace lovers.