By: Noelani, Houachie, Megan, and Carolyn
This is a virtual book about India. You will learn a lot about India through it.
Recreation
There are two types of Indian classical music, Hindustani and Carnatic. Hindustani music is from the north and Carnatic is from the south. However, Indian traditional music is mainly religious. The Tanpura is a 4 stringed instrument that usually accompany vocal performances. Other instruments include the sitar, tabla, and the carod.
http://www.indiamike.com/india/attachments/830d1079305821-buying-musical-instruments-in-indiatablasmall.jpg
If you think of India, you don’t think of sports, you think of music, dance, and the Taj Mahal. But some people from India have been to the Olympics. During 1928-1956, India won 6 consecutive gold medals for field hockey. Some very popular sports are cricket, field hockey, and soccer. Cricket was brought to India by the British. Some popular outdoor sports are kite flying and boat racing. The women enjoy sports such as badminton, ping-pong, and field hockey.
anhttp://www.illuminatetoday.com/images/newspost_images/indian-sports.jpgd field hockey.
Did you know India’s Bollywood produces about as much movies as Hollywood? Most Indian movies are based on love stories. Stay at home activities includes watching television-if you have one. People often go on picnics in the parks on weekends.
http://claudiadanesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/India-bollywood.jpg
Indian Clothing
My topic is about India and their clothing, I will tell you a little bit about them and their clothes. The first thing I will tell you about is their beautiful clothing. Did you know that India has some of the most beautiful clothing or fabrics? They make scarves, skirts, and a lot of other clothing pieces too. Girls learn how to sew at a young age so they can help their mothers make clothes. In some parts of India, Women’s clothing twinkle with tiny mirrors embedded in embroidery.
Some other things I’m going to tell you about are Colors and mirrors. From colored threads to tiny mirrors, India women put those designs on fabrics for clothes or anything else they would like to. A type of fabric the Indian women use is called “Lucknow” or “Shadow embroidery” is a herringbone done on the other side of a thin fabric or cloth. Also a choice in India is a “ring shawl” of Kashmir. It’s a good fabric for clothing and other things also. The shawl of Kashmir, the shawl the girls wear is so fine, or thin that it can be pulled through a ring because it is made of wild mountain goat fur.
http://textontextiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/chikan-indian-embroidery.jpg
The next thing I’m going to tell you about is men and women’s clothing. Did you know that Indian Clothing or dresses represent its culture? Well clothing in India is mostly colorful, especially for women. Like men across the globe, men in India wear pants and shirts. The sari that is warn be Indian women Is to be one of the most elegant and beautiful dresses in the world. http://www.eposhaak.com/images/02.jpg
Indian Language The Indian language first came from the Aryan or the Dravidian language. The IndoAry language first came from Sanskrit but because of its hard grammar and pronunciations, Sanskrit was stopped being used. Including the English and Hindi language, the government also has 17 other languages that are: Assamese, Kashmiri, Malayan, Maratha, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The earliest known work that had Sanskrit was the Vedas. Sanskrit alphabet http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Sanskrit_alphabet_el.png
Hindi is the official language and is spoken by about, 30% of Indians. English is also spoken by about 2% and used more in business and government communication. Along with the 17 other major languages, they also have 1,000 dialects, and the major language of India is Hindi.
Sanskrit alphabet http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eWv4-GazMUI/S-jsS1aen0I/AAAAAAAAACA/X7--v8bPJqk/s1600/Hindi%2BAlphabet.gif
People who don’t speak the same language usually speak in either Hindi or English. India is also home to several hundred languages, which 33 have 100,000 or more speakers. About 41% of the population speaks Hindi, the countries most spoken language. The Indian law defines English as a “Subsidiary official language.”
Graph of India’s languages
http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2004/scheduledlanguages.jpg
There are a lot of different types of foods in India. The people of India eat a lot of different foods that the people of India eat during the festivals. The foods in India have a lot of spices. The food is influenced by the culture of the people of India. Food in India is very important to the people of India.
http://www.indianfoodforever.com/food-guide/indian-food-cuisine.html
Pongal is the festival that is a lot like our thanksgiving and is a festival that is a time for thanks.
The first day is known as the Bhogi Pongal and is usually meant for the activities and being together with the family members. This first day is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, the supreme ruler of clouds/ sky. The second day is known as “Pongal� the most important day of the whole festival, where prayers are offered to the Sun. On this day, the Sun is given great importance and that is why it is called Surya Pongal.
\The third day is known as Mattu Pongal, the day of Pongal for cows. The cows are washed; their horns are painted and covered with shining metal caps. The cows are then worshiped with prayers and are honored.
http://www.pongalfestival.org/
There is also a belief in the Hindus that the harvest festival will bring great wealth and goodness to their homes. All the four days of Pongal have their own special meaning as separate gods are worshiped each day. This festival is very special to the people of India. This is the festival of India.
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We really hope that you enjoyed our book about India and hope that you learned a lot from it.