On being Indian

Namaste friends! Oh, it's Sunday evening already? I had a really quiet weekend. My good friend lost her Dad on Friday evening. This is the third friend who lost their Dad this year. All the memories associated with that person stay with us and makes it so painful. At this point, I stop to think, what is life after all? A total of a few years. It is up to us the make the most of it. Amitabh, blogged of being unwell too. I hope he recovers fast! As, I was relaxing after dinner, I decided to listen to some online radio and guess what? It was the hour for Ghazals. What could be more perfect? They played the following Ghazal by Pankaj Udhas which I picked to be the Song of the day. I hope you enjoy it.

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The other day someone asked me, if I am happy being an Indian. It was not hard for me to answer that question. I am extremely happy and content to be an Indian. In fact, I cannot imagine being born in any other nationality. I have my very own strong reasoning. The culture of India is one of the oldest and unique. In India, there is amazing cultural diversity throughout the country. India has produced so many heroes like Mahatma Ghandi, Rabindranath Tagore, Indira Ghandi and lately Anna Hazare. India is a land of  the villages and lush green fields. India boasts of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal and the the beautiful tall Himalayas. The beautiful temples of South India, is a devotees delight. India, has so many religions and languages, yet we have the same spirit, the spirit of India, running through the country, binding us together. This is because, the adaptation to other religions comes easily to every Indian, as from childhood, we are taught not to demean other religions.  Our national language Hindi, sounds so sweet to the ears. Indians greet each other with Namaste, which is so unique. The different dance forms in India,and use the greeting as one of the "mudras" - hand guesture. 



 

The two palms are placed together in front of the chest and the head bows whilst saying the word Namaste. This greeting is for all - people younger than us, of our own age, those older than us, friends, even strangers. It simply means I bow to you. Indian music includes multiple forms, like folk, pop, classical etc. India is a very high population, yet we survive. India is the house to Bollywood. The movie Industry, with which I have a very deep relationship, an affair. I simply cannot do without this. Personally, I love my rich Indian culture. All the festivals and ceremonies, filled with people, variety of colorful ethnic wear, sumptuous food etc. Simply put, India is God's own country. I LOVE my India and I miss her every minute of every day.