Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

January 26 - Republic Day in India

   Posted on January 26, 2022


This is an update of my post published on January 26, 2011:




Parades! Pageantry! Presidential speeches!

Today is one of the most important national holidays in India. It commemorates the day when the constitution came into force, in 1950, finally realizing the dreams of freedom fighters and patriots.

Unless the pandemic cancels the usual activities for a second year, the President, Prime Minister, and governmental Ministers will host the Indonesian President and others at a grand parade in India's capital city, New Delhi. There India's military strength will be shown off. The President will likely award medals of valor, there will be a 21-gun salute, and members of the armed forces will march by (or, in the case of the Air Force, fly by). This will be followed by moving displays or tableaux of school children and dancers from all over the country. The parade and pageants will be televised.






Celebrate India!

Learn about Ancient India from Mr. Donn,  and learn about modern India here. 

You can also watch some of the YouTube videos on “Incredible India. (They are all made by different people, I think, and they have very different but wonderful vibes. Here is one.)


Activity Village has some India-themed crafts for little kids, and here is an article about handicrafts in India.





 





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October 2 - Happy Birthday, Mahatma Gandhi

 Posted on October 2, 2021


This is an update of my post published on October 2, 2010:




Born on this day in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became the political and spiritual leader of India during the India independence movement. He led his people to stand up to British rule—what might be called tyranny—through mass civil disobedience. But he made sure that the protests were also nonviolent.



Not only was Gandhi successful in helping India gain independence from Great Britain, he inspired other civil rights and freedom movements around the world. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr., was very influenced by Gandhi's philosophy and tactics as he led the African American civil rights movement, and Nelson Mandela continued the tradition as he worked to end apartheid in South Africa.

Many people think that Gandhi's first name was Mahatma, but Mahatma is a title that means “Great Soul.”

Gandhi was a Hindu and a vegetarian. For a while he was a fruitarian—which is someone who not only avoids meat, but also avoids dairy products, vegetables, and grains. That means that fruitarians only eat fruits and nuts! Gandhi famously used fasting—that is, not eating at all for hours or even days—to purify himself and to call attention to his political goals.


Nowadays, the memory and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi are facing fresh scrutiny for his attitudes about race and about women. When he was young, Gandhi was decisively racist. However, biographer Ramachandra Guha states that Gandhi learned and grew and became anti-racist. Some of the push-back on Gandhi as a great man has come from women who question some of his words and deeds - and such criticism is fair. However, Gandhi did work on ending discrimination based on sex and gender, and he also was a huge promoter of women in politics.

All in all, Gandhi was a hero for Hindus, and Indians, and he added some great ideas for making needed changes through ethical and non-violent resistance. And that benefitted the whole world! It was a tragic day in 1948 when a Hindu extremist assassinated him.


Find out more...

  • Here is a short biography on Gandhi. 

  • Here is a bio that also has puzzles near the bottom of the page, including a jigsaw puzzle of Gandhi and his wife. 


Powerful words...from Mohandas Gandhi

  • A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.


  • If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.


  • An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.





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November 26 - National Milk Day in India

Posted on November 26, 2020


Today is the birthday of "the father of the White Revolution."

"White Revolution"?

Dr. Verghese Kurien is also called the Milkman of India, and Wikipedia gives his occupation as a "social entrepreneur."


Kurien, who was born on this date in 1921, needed a scholarship to attend university, and apparently the only government scholarship left was one to study dairy engineering. But Kurien ended up "cheating" on the scholarship and - once he'd reached Michigan State University - studied metallurgical engineering and nuclear engineering! (Not necessarily the sort of "cheating" that means less work!)

Kurien returned to India with master's degree in mechanical engineering.

But the government still had Kurien pegged as a dairy guy, and he was sent to a run-down creamery. Dairy farmers in India, at that time, had a problem with having too much milk in some seasons and not enough milk in others, and the nation didn't have enough cows to meet its own dairy needs. Kurien started tinkering with primitive dairy equipment and ended up - with colleagues - pioneering a dairy co-op. With the collaboration Kurien helped build, the invention of making powdered milk, cheese, and condensed milk from buffalos' milk, rather than from cows' milk, was a game changer - because buffalo were plentiful!

When I say "buffalo" were plentiful,
don't think of American bison!
This is a photo of the buffalo commonly
used by dairy farmers in India.

Because of Kurien's work - along with all the other scientists and dairy workers - India went from being milk-deficient to being the world's largest dairy milk provider! In just 30 years, the milk output was multiplied by four!

More than that, Kurien also fought against multinational corporations like Nestle - and won! - and helped make India self-sufficient in edible oils because the "oil king" corporations used horrible and sometimes violent methods to maintain profits and market domination.






Also on this date:






Anniversary of the first European spotting Maui

































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