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Discover Indian: Heritage & Culture

Discover Indian: Heritage & Culture

The culture of India has been shaped by the long history of India, its unique geography and the absorption of customs, traditions and ideas from both immigrants and invaders, while preserving its ancient heritage from the Indus Valley Civilization. India’s great diversity of cultural practices, languages, customs, and traditions are examples of this unique co-mingling over the past five millinnea. India is also the birth place of several religious systems such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, which have had a great influence not only over India but also over the rest of the world. From the twelfth century onwards, following the Islamic conquests and the subsequent European occupation, the culture of India was influenced by Persian, Arabic, Turkish and English cultures. The various religions and the multi-hued traditions of India that was created with those amalgamations have influenced South East Asia and other different parts of the world.

India is a diverse country, a fact that is visibly prominent in its people, culture and climate. From the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the cultivated peninsula of far South, from the deserts of the West to the humid deltas of the East, from the dry heat and cold of the Central Plateau to the cool forest foothills, Indian lifestyles clearly glorify its geography.

There was a time when India was known as the land of snake charmers. Then people started identifying it as the land having the majestic Taj, the ferocious Tiger and the great desert of Thar. But with each turn that the wheel of time took, Indians have proved to be a lot more. From time immemorial, India has been seen as a mystery land. A land full of paradoxes, it causes travelers to marvel and also to despair during their journey through India. Like an enigmatic lady, India has always attracted the attention of the world for various reasons.

The famous traveler and writer, Mark Twain, wrote after his sojourn through India in 1896: “”So far as I am able to judge nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his round. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked. Always, when you think you have come to the end of her tremendous specialties and have finished hanging tags upon her as the Land of Giant Illusions, the Land of Stupendous Mountains and so forth, another specialty crops up or another tag is required.”” It was best, he decided, to discard the labels and call it simply the Land of Wonders.

Heritage & Culture

The Indian culture varies like its vast geography. People speak in different languages, dress differently, follow different religions, eat different food but are of the same temperament. So whether it is a joyous occasion or a moment of grief, people participate whole-heartedly, sharing the happiness or pain. A festival or a celebration is never constrained to a family or a home. The whole community or neighborhood is involved in bringing liveliness to an occasion. Likewise, an Indian wedding is a celebration of union, not only of the bride and groom, but also of two families, maybe cultures or religion too! Similarly, in times of sorrow, neighbors and friends play an important part in easing out the grief.

Over the ages, India has experienced hundreds of years of foreign invasions and influence, yet it still manages to absorb and change everything the world cares to impose on it, remaining at its core untouched. If anything, it has developed into a multi-linguistic, home for masses of many religions. Although India has modernized to a great extent, old traditions and ancient cultural rhythms continue to have a strong hold over the functioning of the nation.

Since ancient times, the spiritual land of India has displayed varied hues of culture, religion, race, language, and so on. This variety in race, culture, religion, etc., accounts for the existence of different ethnic groups who, although, live within the sanctums of one single nation, and profess different social habits and characteristics. Regional territories in India play an important role in differentiating these ethnic groups, with their own social and cultural identities. The religions that are prevalent in the country are Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism, with the freedom for citizens to practice any religion they want to. The Constitution of India has recognized 22 different languages, out of which, Hindi is the official language and is spoken in most of the urban cities of India. Other than these 22 languages, there are hundreds of dialects that add to the multilingual nature of the country.

India is a land of festivals and fairs. Virtually celebrating each day of the year, there are more festivals celebrated in India than anywhere else in the world. Each festival pertains to different occasions, some welcome the seasons of the year, the harvest, the rains, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthdays of divine beings and saints, or the advent of the New Year. A number of these festivals are common to most parts of India. However, they may be called by different names in various parts of the country or may be celebrated in a different fashion. Some of the festivals celebrated all over India are mentioned below.

• Janmashtami

• Holi

• Dassehera

• Christmas

• Rakshabandhan

• Deepawali

• Id-ul-Zuha

• Ramnavami

• Guru Nanak Jayanti

Science

The global image of India is that of an upcoming and progressive nation. True, India has leaped many boundaries in all sectors- commerce, technology and development etc., in the recent past, yet she has not neglected her creative genius. Wondering what it is? Well, it the alternative science that has been continuously practiced in India since times immemorial. Ayurveda is a distinct form of medicine made purely of herbs and natural weeds, which can cure any ailment of the world. Ayurveda has also been mentioned in the Ancient Indian epics like the Ramayana. Even today, when the western concept of medicine has reached its zenith, there are people looking for alternative methods of treatment for its multifarious qualities.

With increasing complexities in one’s life these days, people are perpetually looking for a medium through which they get some peace of mind. This is where another science, that of meditation and spirituality comes into the scene. Meditation and Yoga are synonymous with India and Indian spirituality. Meditation is one of the most important components of Yoga, which is a mind-body therapy involving a series of exercises. The word ‘meditation’ covers many disparate practices from visualizing situations, focusing on objects or images, thinking through a complex idea, or even getting lost in a provocative book, all qualifying as meditation in the broad sense. However in Yoga, meditation generally refers to the more formal practice of focusing the mind and observing oneself in the moment. Many people from India and abroad are resorting to yoga and meditation to de-stress and rejuvenate their mind.

Another widely followed phenomena in India is the Doctrine of Karma, that preaches that every person should behave justly as every act or deed comes back in a full circle in one of the births of an individual.

What to Bring When Moving to a Foreign Country

What to Bring When Moving to a Foreign Country

Preparing to move to another country What do i bring? What will there be to eat? I heard they eat each other there!

These questions and many more come up when you are pondering moving to another land. My step mother asked us “what will you guys eat” . For us that was a funny question, but she was serious.

It seems that somehow the American media has portrayed any other country on the planet as dangerous , or impoverished , or 5th world as they might say. Really not true. Why is it done? Well I have my suspicion’s , but I will save that for another article. Truth be told, we now live in Peru and I have never felt safer in my life.  So really what would you eat?

Peru is difficult on the food thing. Why? There is so much healthy and good food here you almost are forced to not eat so much. Ex: We love a dish that a women on the street cooks every night , its called “Salchi Papa” Now a Salchi Papa costs 4 soles, and heres what you get for your $1.30 . A piece of Chicken , usually a leg and thigh , or 1/2 of a breast, Noodles with some kinda special sauce on it, Chinese rice , French fries , and hotdogs cut up into slices. Really its a couple pound of great tasting food and plenty enough for a dinner.

Another of our favorites is Papa Rellena . Its basically mashed potatoes with meat and vegetables in the middle and deep fried, the portions here are about two of your fists , the cost 70 centavos . In American money Thats about .25 cents. So you now know that  there is plenty of food in foreign countries.

What should you bring. Clothes depending on climate. I don’t trust the travel books so google ” forums, expat, (what ever country you would like to move to) This will bring up a community of Americans that you can relate to, and they will tell you the real climate where you are thinking of moving. In fact they will help you out with most things

We always bring the following items when we come back to Peru. We buy two laptops in the United States, they are very expensive here, so we either use them or resell to help offset the travel cost. Tampons for my wife. Clothes to suit the weather. Our espresso coffee maker, AKA the vacuum kind. We also bring vitamin’s, peroxide, and some spray antihistamine (trust me if you ever get plugged up on a plane you will thank me immensely for the antihistamine suggestion)

We also bring food in a package because food in the airline industry is very expensive and they don’t always feed you when you want to be feed. Your passport of course is needed, and make sure you bring a second ID, like a drivers license or whatever id you can. The banks will require two Id’s at times , like if you need to have a moneygram sent to you.

You should have a bank card that is able to withdraw money from an ATM, most foreign countries have ATM’s now and they are usually close to where ever you are.

We also put in place a backup in case the atm thing goes down. Ours is a paypal card with enough money to carry us over for 3 or 4 months.

So grab your hat , and laptop , hop on spirit air (9 dollar fares) and get to the adventure of your lifetime.

I almost forgot, if your not knowing the language where your going a franklin hand held translator is invaluable…..but don’t buy a computer based language program, you will be able to get one where your going for a dollar or two

Anthony Gatto

Lost Your Wallet Travelling

Lost Your Wallet Travelling?

Do you know what you carry in your wallet?

If you are like me, then you keep your most documents in your wallet such as money, drivers licence, credit cards, ID cards etc. So, if you loose or have your wallet/bag stolen, then the impact of such a loss is tremendous. Although we don’t like to think of the possibility things do happen which are out our control so it is best to adopt strategies that will minimise the impact of such loss.

The first obvious strategy is to keep the contents of your wallet/bag to the bare minimum. Only carry the amount of money that you plan to use that day with a little extra. If you are travelling in a developing country such as Bolivia where they mainly deal in cash leave your credit cards with your passport. If you do need a credit card then carry one with you and leave the others back at the hotel safe or where ever your passports are being kept.

I am not a believer of having multiple credit cards but for travel it is a good strategy. I strongly recommend you have two different credit cards which allow you draw money out. That way, if you do loose one, then you will still have the other one safe and sound at the hotel. Make sure that for travel purposes that your partners card has a different number that way if one need to cancel one the other is still active.

Please take photocopies (front and back) of all important cards e.g. credit cards, ID cards and any other official documents. Photocopies will provide you with immediate access to those crucial phone numbers on the back of your card as you won’t always be able to find a phonebook.  Further, photocopies of your ID cards will you enable you to exchange money i.e. traveller cheques and get your ID card replaced easier.

Avoid centralising your funds i.e. have a combination of cash and travellers cheques available for emergencies. If you are only taking credit cards then you need to make sure that you have enough money to get you by for approximately two weeks. The reason for such a long period is that in some parts of the world it may take anything up to six weeks for your replacement card to arrive by either the post.  We had ours delivered by courier and that took over two weeks.

Have a phone card or Skype credits available to call overseas so you can get your cards cancelled and re-issued. Although, most of the financial institutions do have a reverse charge number the problem we found was that the telephone operators either did not provide reverse call services or the queues were so long that the line kept dropping out which cost us more money.

Finally and perhaps the most obvious, carry your wallet on the front of our person. I was carrying mine in my back pocket. I think it became dislodged when I was leaning with my posterior on top of a horizontal metal bar while crouching in a crowded bus.

So enjoy your trip and please safe guard yourself from a possible financial disaster when you travel.

Travel Tips

  • Clean out your bag or wallet and only keep the essential.
  • Carry on the money that you require for that day plus a bit extra
  • Only carry your credit card when you need it
  • Have at least two different types of credit cards or credit cards with different numbers
  • Only carry one credit card at a time and leave the other back with your passport (safe)
  • Take photocopies of your cards and documents
  • Have cash and/or travellers cheques for emergencies – you should have at least 2 weeks worth.
  • Have a phone card or Skype credits to make those important calls back home

Here are Some Tips to Make Your Travel Easier

Here are Some Tips to Make Your Travel Easier

When you are going on a family vacation or a trip with your friends for the weekend, you want to spend your time having a good time and looking forward to what yu will be doing. You don’t want to have to worry about the stress of getting there and packing and hotel details. So here are a few things you can do to make your trip easier for you.
The first thing you can do is start a list and keep a spot for things to put away starting a week (or even two) before your trip. This way you can keep a list of things that you remember you need to bring with you and you can start putting them in a place so when it is time to pack, you have everything written down and started and it goes quicker and more efficiently.
Next, if you are booking your flight and hotel online, you can make sure to print our your boarding pass and hotel and flight information and keep it all in a folder or one certain place as well as ID and passports for everyone. Making sure to get a copy of your passport ahead of time is also a good idea so you can have everything that you need in one place and ready to go.
Something to consider is chartering a private jet. This way you can fly at your convenience and not have to make stops and experience layovers. When you are family with your family or a lot of kids this is a great way to do it because you don’t have to get to the airport really early and keep them entertained and watch them. Also you don’t have to worry about unpacking your bag and taking your shoes off at security in front of thousands of people out in the open.
Doing everything that you can do to make your trip easier will just help you out overall. These tips will make your traveling less stressful and you can focus more on the fun parts of your trip and not have to worry about how you are going to get there and if you forgot something. Just make sure you are keeping your lists and you are staying organized. There is nothing worse than forgetting something and messing up everything else on your schedule.