India

  **Man’s role in society **

The men are always the ones who earn money for the family( [] ), and they feel as if they cannot earn less than their wives. India is a patriarchal society, with diktat (a statement/order that cannot be opposed). They assume the “protector role,” but they claim that they are “not unwilling to look after the home.” They can easily turn into predators, harming their wives both emotionally and physically. They have the dominant role in society, compared to the women ( [] ),

 **Woman’s role in society** Women work like the men, albeit they cannot earn more than their husband, even if they are the smarter of the duo ( [] ). The majority of women work, but less women than men work. They are paid just as much as their male coworkers. In rural areas, 89.5% of the women work, and 55-66% of women in farms work. Women make up 51% of employed people in forest-based enterprises. ( [] ) They are not high in the social status, but they are higher than they used to ( [] ); the current president of India is, in fact, the first woman president. Women don’t own property in their names, even though, in 1992-1993, 9.2% of households were run by women, but 35% of those were in poverty. Indian laws don’t let women own property, and married daughters don’t have residential rights from their childhood homes. Since the 1950’s, Hindu laws allowed women to have inheritance, and that was only from their father; and since 2005, women now have the rights as men. Not as many women are literate, as less girls than boys are enrolled in school, and many of them quit; a 1998 Report declared that the “biggest barrier between girls and boys are inadequate school facilities.” Child marriage is prominent in India, as are dowry deaths. Dowry deaths are when women either commit suicide or are murdered because their husband wants a larger dowry that they cannot supply. ( [] )
 * Geography **
 * Surrounded by the
 * Arabian Sea
 * Bay of Bengal
 * Indian Ocean
 * Himalayas
 * China
 * Bhutan
 * Nepal
 * Pakistan
 * Punjab Plain
 * Thar Desert
 * Burma
 * Chin Hills
 * Kachin Hills
 * Bangladesh
 * Indo-Gangetic Plain
 * Khasi Hills
 * Mizo Hills
 * Ganges
 * Longest river
 * Forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain
 * Deccan Plateau
 * Southern India
 * Indian Islands
 * Lakshadweep
 * Andaman
 * Nicobar Islands
 * Diu
 * Elephanta
 * Sriharikota barrier
 * Salsette Islands
 * Mumbar
 * Rivers
 * Ganga
 * Indus River
 * Beas River
 * Chenab
 * Jhelum
 * Ravi
 * Sutlej
 * Nuptra
 * Brahmaputra
 * Narmada
 * Tapti
 * Godavari
 * Krishna
 * 1,300 km in length
 * 1 of the longest rivers in India
 * Kaveri
 * Mahandi [|Major rivers of India]

 __**Lifestyle: Country vs. City **__  Life in the city in India differs greatly from life in the country. The capital of India is Delhi. It has both ancient and modern areas, with present social structure and lifestyles. Delhi is divided into two parts- old Delhi and New Delhi. Old Delhi has old forts, mosques and monuments related to India’s Muslim history are set here. New Delhi is spread over a wide area and is lined with many boulevards. Overall, Delhi is a major travel gateway into India. It’s one of India’s busiest entry points for overseas airlines and is on the overland route access across Asia. The country life, on the other hand, is not as busy and exciting as the city. The following article tells of the lives of several farmers who live in India, and make their living through farming. [] In the villages, every house has electricity and running water, and they can use bottled gas for cooking purposes. They also have a garden. Every family who lives in the village has to fetch water from a big well which is the center of the village. Not all, but most homes in the village have electricity. Contrasting with the city, city dwellers have more benefits. In the city, the streets are very clean and wide. Their houses are big and have nice furniture. Factories in the city produce: tools for machines, telephones, radios, clothes, shoes, watches, and computers. In the villages, every house has electricity and running water, and they can use bottled gas for cooking purposes. They also have a garden. Every family who lives in the village has to fetch water from a big well which is the center of the village. Not all, but most homes in the village have electricity. Also in the country, they grow vegetables and fruits to sell them in a weekly market. Children in the villages have to go to school between the ages of six and fourteen. There aren’t many schools, but many children go there. Not everyone completes their education. Some children have to walk up to five miles to get to school each day. In the city, most children can go to one of the best private schools, with the best teachers. The government schools are free, but they don’t provide an education as good as the private schools. Poor families don’t have a choice, because if they don’t go to a government school they won’t get any education.



 Children playing water polo in an Indian city after receiving about 20% of a monsoon. =__**CULTURE: **__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> India’s languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country. Several parts of India’s diverse culture include religions and yoga, and they all have a great impact across the world. India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainismand Sikhism, together known as Indian religions. Regarding family, Indian families play a significant role in the Indian culture. The joint system is a system when extended family members, such as parents, children, children’s spouses and their children, all live together. Normally, the oldest male member in the joint Indian family system. He is the one who makes all the important decisions and rules, and everyone else has to obey the rules he makes. Today, many Indian families have their marriages planned by parents, with the consent of the bride and groom. Arranged matches are made after taking into account factors such as age, height, personal values and tastes, and the backgrounds of their families, such as their wealth. In India, marriage is thought to last forever, and divorce is rare- the divorce rate is 1.1%, compared to about 50% in the U.S. Arranged marriages normally have a much lower divorce rate. = <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">



Something that Indian people normally say is called “Namaste”. Namaste is a common greeting, considered a little more formal in conversations. You may also find it used in Nepal. Another fact about India is that the children show their respect towards their elders by touching the feet of their family members. Some major festivals in India include the Independence Day, the Republic Day, and the Gandhi Jayanti. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Navratri, Diwali, Ganesh Charthi, Durga puja, Holi, Rakshabandhan and Dussehra. Several popular harvest festivals include Sankranthi, Pongal, and Onam. For food, India is known for its love for food and spices, because they play a large role in everyday life, as well as in festivals. Normally, Indian cuisine can be put into five different categories- northern, southern, eastern, western, and north-eastern. India dance has diverse folk and classical forms. One well-known folk dance is the bhangra of the Pujnab. Indian drama and theater have a long history alongside music and dance. One of the oldest surviving theater traditions of the world is the 2,000 year old Kutiyattam of Kerala. The music of India has multiple varieties of religious, folk, popular, pop, and classical music. =<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> A kuchipudi performer from Andhra Pradesh <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">ECONOMY: ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> The economy in India is the 11th largest in the world. Economists predict that by 2020, India will be among the leading economies of the world. The unemployment rate for 2009-2010 was 9.4% nationwide, rising to 10.1% in rural areas, where 2/3 of the 1.2 billion populations live. Major industries include telecommunications, textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, information technology-enabled services and pharmaceuticals. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry, and fish. In 2008-2009, India’s top five trading partners were United Arab Emirates, China, United States, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. Relating to the United States, 1 Indian rupee equals 0.0222 of a U.S. dollar. = <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">India Language **  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The languages of India belong to several linguistic families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages – Indo Aryan(spoken by 72% of Indians) and the Dravidian languages (spoken by 25% of Indians). Other languages spoken in India belong to the Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and a few minor language families and isolates. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[]  **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">India clothing ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> People in India wore mostly cotton clothing. India was the first place where cotton was grown, even as early as 2500 BC in the Harappan period. By the Aryan period, women wore one very long piece of cloth called a sari, that they wrapped around themselves in different ways. Men also wore one long piece of cloth called the dhoti, which was generally white. They wrapped the dhoti (DOE-tee) around their legs to make sort of pants like the working women <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">   <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[]   <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Government of India ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> The Government of India, officially known as the Union, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India. The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive branch headed by the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him. The Legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajva Sabha, as well as the president. The Judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level. The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalised for local governance. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[]