15 August: India Independence Day

On this date in 1947, India achieved Independence from the UK. Here are 10 things you may not know about India:

1. India is the second most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and according to UN estimates, is set to overtake China by 2030. It is the largest democracy in the world, and holds the record for the largest number of candidates to stand in an election - 1,032 candidates stood for the Modakurichi assembly seat in the Tamil Nadu state elections in 1996 - only two of them kept their deposit, and 88 of them didn't get any votes at all. There is even a polling booth in the middle of the Gir Forest which is set up for just one person.
2. India produces more than 1,100 films a year, giving it the biggest film industry in the world. That's twice as many as the US and ten times as many as the UK. Contrary to popular perception, they are not all "Bollywood" movies. These account for just 200 or so films a year.
3. As well as films, India is the number one producer of mangoes, dried beans, Bananas and Milk.
4. India has more post offices than any other country - 55,015 of them, each serving 7,175 people. This number includes a floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar.
5. The Bengal Tiger is India’s national animal. The national tree is the banyan, or Indian fig tree, a symbol of immortality mentioned in many Indian myths and legends. The national fruit is the mango, and the national bird is the peacock.
6. As an ancient civilization with a lot of people it is hardly surprising that India has given the world many things. Things invented in India include: Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus; the decimal point system; the concept of zero; The value of "Pi" (first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, who also explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem long before the Europeans did); shampoo (the word comes from the Sanskrit "champu", meaning to massage); yoga; the refining of sugar; Cotton fabrics; plastic surgery (mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts); the art of navigation (which began in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The word Navigation comes from the Sanskrit word 'navgatih'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'); the game of Chess; and the game of snakes and ladders, which was created by the 13th century poet Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices; it was based on the concepts of reincarnation and karma.
7. The largest city is Mumbai (formerly Bombay) with a population of 15 million. Until 1661 the city was seven separate islands - until the British built a causeway to connect them all. The capital of India, however, is New Delhi.
8. India is a peace-loving place - it hasn't invaded any other country in the last 100,000 years. Even the road to independence was relatively peaceful since it was led by Mohandas K. Gandhi known around the world as Mahatma, who advocated civil disobedience rather than violence. Gandhi's birthday is still a public holiday in India.
9. India is home to the world's highest cricket ground, in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, it is 2444 meters above sea level; and the world's highest bridge, The Baily Bridge in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in 1982.
10. Around 1,652 languages were spoken in India according to the 1961 census, although it's thought some of them were actually dialects, and some may have died out since then. The most common languages are Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu, with over 50 million speakers each. The official languages are Hindi and English - English wasn't intended to be an official language permanently, but there was opposition to the adoption of Hindi rather than any other main language and so English stayed. India is now the second largest English speaking country after the US - even though only ten percent of the population can actually speak it.

My Books

As well as this blog, I also write fiction and have published two novels (Death and Faxes and Glastonbury Swan) and a collection of short stories (Jigsaw). If you like ghost stories, crime stories, a bit of romance and anything slightly bizarre you might enjoy them. 

Further details on my books page