Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: India (02/12/09)
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TITLE: The Ancient Land of Bharat | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mildred Sheldon
02/19/09 -
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Bharat is another name for India. I enjoy using my computer to learn of other lands. I truly enjoyed researching that mystical and beautiful land of India as well as it people. India is the second most populous country in the world. It has and estimated population of over one million people and a land mass of over one million square miles. New Delhi is its capital and Mumbai (formerly Bombay) its largest city.
The people and its ethnic composition is complex but two major strains predominate: the Aryan, in the north and the Dravidian in the south. The cultural diversity as evidenced by the number of different languages spoken throughout the country with the Hindi language spoken in the north and English (the language of politics and commerce) are used officially. There are more than 1500 languages and dialects spoken. The Indian constitution recognizes 15 regional languages. There are ten major states of India organized along linguistic lines.
The clothing of India is truly beautiful. I especially love the clothes the Indian women wear. The Sari is so beautiful and what I found so interesting was the fact that it is a piece of cloth about six to nine yards long. There are many ways of draping saris--to dress up women wore them like skirts with a top part thrown over their shoulder or worn over their heads as a veil. They are made of cotton or silk. The people of India wear mostly cotton clothing. India was the first place where cotton was grown, even as early as 2500 BC in the Harappan period. The word sari comes from a Sanskrit word that just means cloth.
India is a beautiful country and it contains so many beautiful sites. To see the Taj Mahal would be overwhelming. The Taj Mahal is truly magnificent and it is hard for me to imagine that it is a tomb built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife whose name was Arjumand Banu Begum. She was an Indian-Persian Empress in the Mughal Dynasty. The Emperor loved her deeply and because she was his favorite wife, he has the Taj built to honor her. She was religiously a Shi’a Muslim and was married at the age of 19. She bore the Emperor 14 children and died during childbirth. Her nickname was Mumtaz Mahal, which means chosen one of the palace. She accompanied the Emperor all over the Mughal Empire and was his trusted companion and confidant.
I find India’s people and culture extremely interesting, and look forward reading others entries pertaining to this beautiful country. I thank God for all of the diversity of the earth and all the different countries such as India, Australia, and England just to name a few and I can visit any of these wonderful places just with the click of the mouse. Visiting all of these places would be wonderful but since that is not possible, I thank God for my old trusty friend my computer who makes is possible for me to read, see and research all of these amazing places.
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It's best not to refer to the contest in your entry--just jump right in. Is there any way you could take one or two of these facts and make a story out of them?
I learned a thing ot two--thanks!
By the way, the Taj Mahal is truly more beautiful than you can imagine. Pictures do not do it justice. :-)