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Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Soul Of India


The Soul of India
We watched this Rick Ray documentary this evening. Darling daughter is heading there in three weeks. (3 weeks! Egads!) Lots of stone palaces and forts. Very diverse terrain: deserts, jungles, mountains, rivers, oceans. The English were not the first invaders to have a big impact on the country, but they made a sizable one: English language, the railroad, and cricket. Cricket is to India like Rugby is to white South Africans. The Sikhs make the most sense to me, the Jains, the least. We need more tigers.

By the numbers:
  • 1 billion people
  • 100 million Muslims
  • 30 million Christians
  • 24 languages with over one million speakers
  • 12 million movie goers every day
  • 10 million railway passengers every day
  • 1.6 million railway employees (largest employer in the world).
  • 75% of the people still live in rural areas
  • 2% of the Earth's land area.
  • 40,000 tigers 100 years ago.
  • 4,000 tigers today.
Update January 2017 replaced missing picture.

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