The Little Princess

Thursday, April 7, 2016

F for Faith

Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!

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India is a country of many faiths. Did you know that there are more than 24 lakh places of worship in India?! Also, did you know that the four popular faiths which are cumulatively followed by over 25% of the world’s population – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism - originated in India?

Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest faiths and is said have originated about 4000 years ago in India. What is unique to Hinduism is there’s neither a founder of the faith nor an exact date of origin and yet it is the third largest followed faith in the world with about 900 million followers! About 80% of the country’s population are followers of Hinduism.

Jainism originated in 600 BC, Buddhism in 500 BC and Sikhism in 1500 CE.

Other than these four faiths that originated in India, there are numerous other faiths that are followed here.

Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion. There are more than 3 lakh mosques in India which is higher than the number of mosques in any other country including the Muslim world.

Judaism came to India in 200 BC and Christianity in 52 AD. There are more than 5000 churches in India and the oldest European church in India dates back to the 15^th century.

The Zoroastrians or Parses as they are called are Iranian descendents who immigrated to India in 7^th century AD.

India is therefore known as a spiritual land where everyone is free to practice their own faith. Isn’t it amazing that India is virtually a beautiful kaleidoscope of various faiths that make its culture and heritage diverse and yet so rich and magnificent?

Perhaps that is why Max Mueller famously said, “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.”

Believe it or not – That’s Incredible India!

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

E for Engineering Marvels

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India is full of engineering marvels that stand as a testimony to the knowledge of science and architecture held by ancient Indians. The amazing symmetry of the Taj Mahal never ceases to hold us captive. The Iron Pillar of Mehrauli is another blazing example; the art of creating a rust-free iron pillar that has withstood rain, wind and heat without degrading is a fine example of the ancient knowledge of alchemy. There are many such brilliant examples! Let me take you through one ancient and one recent engineering marvel.

The Rama Sethu-

The Valmiki Ramayan describes the construction of a bridge built between Rameshwaram, the southernmost tip of India to SriLanka by Lord Rama’s monkey brigade - the ‘vanar sena’. The bridge was said to have been built using stones that floated on water and were stuck to each other without the use of mortar or any kind of glue. This ‘Rama Sethu’ or the bridge built by Lord Rama in 5076 BCE is nothing short of an engineering marvel! How can stone float on water?

Scientists have since long tried to find out the secret of the floating stones which are found in Rameshwaram even today. The stones were initially thought to be Pumice stones but the black colour of the stones is very different as compared to the cream colored Pumice stones. The stones are also heavier. Also, the region has no volcanic eruptions and hence the availability of pumice stones in that region was very unlikely too. Some believed the stones were actually due to coral formation, but coral is made of calcium carbonate which is too dense to float on water. There’s no rational explanation about the floating stones yet.

For now, all we know is the bridge does exist (it’s even visible from space!) though there’s no clue what stone was used to build it and what kind of technology helped them build a 30 km long bridge on water. But it definitely looks like some kind of engineering marvel we aren’t aware of yet!

Bandra-Worli Sea Link-

Talking of bridges, the current day Bandra-Worli sea link is no less an engineering marvel itself! This 5.6 kms long bridge made commuting between Bandra and Worli easier and faster saving money and man hours. The eight lane bridge is almost as high as a 43-storied building. It took 2,57,00,000 man hours and 2,250 km of high strength galvanized steel wires to complete this 20,000 ton, two-cable stayed structure which weighs as much as 50,000 African elephants – a true engineering marvel!

Believe it or not- That’s Incredible India!

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

D for Doctor

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The knowledge of medicine and surgery in India dates back to around 800 BC and the ‘doctor’ to whom most of the earliest performed surgeries have been credited is Shusruta. He wrote the Shusruta Samahita which is considered the oldest treatise dealing with surgery.

Shusruta is credited with having performed various complicated surgical procedures, and he was considered to be an expert in plastic surgery of the nose- rhinoplasty, and cataract removal.

In his book, Shusruta details the human anatomy and describes the procedure to perform these surgeries. What's amazing is that the procedure of performing these surgeries explained in explicit detail by Shusruta are strikingly similar to the surgeries performed today!

Shusruta described the procedure of surgery documenting how to perform an incision (cheda), scarification (lehkya), puncturing (vedhya), exploration (esya), extraction ( ahrya) , evacuation ( vsraya), and finally the art of suturing (sivya). He also detailed how a dead body can be preserved and later be used for studying the anatomy. How did he have so much knowledge?

Charaka (200BC) was another important doctor who contributed to the fields of physiology, etiology, and embryology. He wrote the Charaka Samahita which had descriptions of 2000 medicines and cures for almost every part of the human body!

That's not all! There are ancient sculptures dating back to these times which show the various representation of surgical procedures and anatomy. An example is that of a sculpture of a pregnant woman; the belly cut in half to expose the fetus inside the womb, and showing the layers of the skin, the position of the fetus and the connecting cord in excruciating detail! How cool is that!!

Isn’t it amazing to know that the knowledge of medicine and surgery was known in India long before it was known in the modern world?

Believe it or not- That’s Incredible India!

Monday, April 4, 2016

C for Cuisine

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Food is a big part of being Indian! We love to eat and how! While Westerners might think ‘Chicken tikka masala’ represents Indian food, it is so not true! It’s impossible to put a finger on one particular food and say this represents India because every part of the country has its own specialty which makes food a distinctly regional delicacy. Instead, I’d like to take you to different corners of the country and give you a virtual taste of what tastes best there.

Breakfast in Tamil Nadu/ Karnataka/ Kerala- These South Indian states offer the best in terms of breakfast. Choose from a steaming plate of fluffy white idlies, dosas, medu vadas, puttus, or paniyarams saddled with a variety of chutneys and sambhar. This is one of the most wholesome breakfasts you can have as it has just the right mix of carbs, proteins, and nutrients.

Snack up in Gujarat- Craving a mid-morning snack? Have a quick stopover at Gujarat and fill your plates with the softest Khaman Dhoklas, Shrikhand and crispy fried farsans, Khakra and Fafda.

Lunch needs a bit more variety, doesn’t it?

If you fancy meat you would love the Kasmiri cuisine which is more meat based. They like to cook their dishes for a long time to infuse it with flavours giving you rich succulent meat to dig your teeth into.

Thinking of chicken? Then Punjabi is the way to go. The Punjabi cuisine is rich and has a strong dose of butter and ghee. It is definitely not for the weak hearted! You can also get varieties of stuffed flat breads called parathas and food cooked in tandoor (an open earthen oven) to go with your chicken.

If you fancy pork or seafood, then head straight to Goa. And don’t forget to round it off with the best wines you can get.

And if it is fish that you are dreaming about go wading all the way to Bengal. The Hilsa fish is a specialty here and is cooked in mustard sauce.

I’m sure you’d fancy some rice to go with the meal. While there’s plenty of rice dishes to choose from I’d recommend Biryani. Every place in India has different variations in biryani but two of the best biryanis are the Lucknowi- cooked in sealed pots called ‘handis’- cooked over slow fire and left to cook in its own juices and has a more meaty flavor and the Hyderabadi Biryani which is Dum cooked (steamed over coals) and is more yogurty flavoured.

After all the spice and fats you must round off the meal with a tall chilled glass of thick sweet Lassi from Punjab.

Wait there’s more! Did you think you can leave without ordering desserts?

While there are umpteen desserts to choose from, the Bengali sweets win hands down. Whether it is the mouth-watering Payash or Sandesh or Rasogulla - the yummy spongy cottage cheese balls soaked in sweet sugar syrup, you can never have just one!

Before you know, it’s time for tea. But I’d say skip the tea and head back to Karnataka for the finest Coorgi filter coffee. If it is tea that you fancy, then your finest cuppa will be the Darjeeling or Assam Black tea. And to go with your tea or coffee, try the spicy Vada-Pav from Maharashtra –cutlet sitting smug in between soft bread rolls called pav and is almost burger-like and is served with tangy chutney.

Dinner should be light right? I’d say Rajasthani food is best for dinner. It’s light, it’s clean and non-fussy but there's a lot of variety…you’d still be clutching your tummy after you’ve finished. Munch on the finest Dal-Bati-Churma - small balls of wheat flour dough, baked in tandoor and called Bati are served with lentil curry and sweet Churma. Oh, and did I mention there’s a generous dollop of ghee that goes on top of it? The heart will ask you to go on but the tummy knows it cannot take any more.

This is just a peek into what India has to offer in terms of food. The variety is mind boggling and if you are a foodie there’s so much you can choose from.

Believe it or not- That is Incredible India!

Saturday, April 2, 2016

B for Bhaskaracharya

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Several hundred years before the astronomer Smart calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit around the sun, an Indian mathematician and astronomer, Bhaskaracharaya had already made that calculation way back in 1150AD!

Bhaskaracharya was head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, the leading mathematical centre of ancient India. Born in 1114 AD, Bhaskaracharya wrote his treatise ‘Siddhanta Shiromani’ in 1150 AD when he was just 36 years old. In his book, he accurately calculated the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun to nine decimal places! He wrote that the earth takes 365.258756484 days to orbit the earth!

Modern science tells us that the measurement is 365.2564 days. Isn’t Bhaskaracharaya’s accuracy in that time and age marvelous?

Siddhanta Shiromani written by Bhaskaracharya is a mammoth work containing about 1450 verses dealing in detail with calculations pertaining to everything from Arithmetic to Astronomy. What’s even more astonishing is that his work is written in a fluid poetic language making you wonder how a difficult subject like Mathematics be written thus!

In this ground-breaking book, Bhaskaracharya also wrote about his findings on the decimal system, planetary positions, and about the gravitational force that helps to keep the planets, the sun, and the moon in their respective orbits much before the world could wake up to these deductions. He described the eclipses - lunar and solar, the phases of the moon and many such cosmological and geographical phenomenon with accuracy that baffles the human mind. To think about it, the world was still struggling to accept the fact that the earth was round and not flat, up until the 14th century!

Bhaskaracharya is deservedly called ‘Ganak-chakra-chudamani’, which means, ‘a gem among all the calculators of astronomical phenomena.’

Believe it or not- That’s Incredible India!