It’s no doubt that every day we get to learn something new about India, our incredible India. Being such a huge country, it’s full of amusement and things that blow our minds every now and then. Here are strange facts that have been compiled, that’ll change the way you look at Incredible India.
1. The Largest Vegetarian Country In The World: India
India has been listed amongst the countries with the lowest meat consumption; making it one of the best countries for vegetarians and vegans. One of the main reasons behind it is that some religions in India preach against meat consumption; vegetarianism is deeply rooted in our tradition and culture. 60-70% of Indian population is vegetarian.
2. A Hundred-And-Sixty People Under One Roof
With India’s population booming up to 1.32 billion, this man called Ziona has a tiny civilization of his own with 39 wives, 94 children, and 33 grandchildren; making it one of the largest families. Incredible, isn’t it?
3. Moustaches Get Brownie Points
As per Indian standards, mustaches are a mark of masculinity. Thus, in the police department, officers with a mustache get paid slightly more than the ones who don’t. This is due to the belief that the mustache commands more respect from the folklore.
4. The Most Secular Country
India houses people from all the major religions followed in the world, making it the most secular country. Along with 70% Hindus, it’s easy to find Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Muslims amongst the population.
5. Children’s Day Is Well Timed
Is it a coincidence that Children’s Day in India is celebrated exactly 9months after Valentine’s day? It’s all about coincidences indeed.
6. Indian Currency Stays In India
Indian Rupee is a closed currency, which means that it can’t be taken out of the country. The RBI has set certain rules and figures about the amount of minimum currency that can be possessed by one outside the mainland. In airports, there are checkpoints reminding NRIs and foreigners that after the point, possession of currency is an offense.
7. Spiciest
India is home to the majority of the exquisite spices around the world. It contributes 75% of the global spice market. Spice export is a major boost to the country’s GDP. Flavour of India is a legit thing.
8. Ever – Growing Population
The number of people in the country is 1.24 billion. India is the second most populated country after China. The line of difference is as mere as 0.5 billion. It’s the most populated in the southern hemisphere. According to the UN, India will outrun China in terms of the population soon.
9. Animals With ID Cards
The Indian bred cows have been allotted a 12-digit Adaar card number, with the tags around their necks. The owners have been handed over with a data book to feed information about the wellbeing of the animal regularly.
10. Lowest Divorce Rate
India has the lowest divorce rate and long-lasting marriages. Indian household is bound by tradition and culture and its embedded in our culture that marriage isn’t meant to be broken and it must last forever come what may. Only 1 marriage out of 100 ends in divorce in India. Even today, most of the population gives more importance to commitment towards spouse than human emotions of happiness and love.
11. Innovative Farmers
Indian farmers have often been found using coke and other soft drinks as pesticides. According to them, it’s a cheap and gets the work done, thus it’s more feasible than conventional pesticides. As per the analysis, the beverage contains residual amounts of four toxic pesticides namely- DDT, chlorpyrifos, lindane, and malathion. Coke has even been tested in various cleaning scenarios and it has worked wonders; cleaning everything from oil stains to stripping off paint from furniture.
12. Civilization Rejection
Sentinel island is a part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The resident tribes have rejected all kind of contact from the outside world and react violently. They one of the last civilizations to be untouched by modernization. The government respects their desire to be left alone and monitors them remotely. Sentinel is pretty much a sovereign entity under the protection of India.
13. Rich Indian Housewives
Indian housewives are owners of almost 11% gold of the entire world’s treasure. They hold $900billion worth of hold. India is the greatest consumer of this metal, contributing a significant amount to the country’s GDP. There are about 22,000 tonnes of private gold locked away in Indian temples and households.
14. Large Cities With Large Amounts Of Pollutants In The Air
Air pollution is choking India. A day in the metropolitan city Delhi or Mumbai is as harmful as smoking 100 cigarettes. The worst days are during winters when pollution contributes to dense smog, narrowing down the visibility and making the air dense with pollutants.
15. Largest English Speaking Nation
India’s language of instruction is English. Being included in almost all school curriculums makes India the largest English speaking nation worldwide. We have 18 other official languages and 1650 dialects across the country, making it extremely diverse.
16. New Agreeing Gesture By Indians
By default, agreeing gesture is generally nodding the head. Indians always have it their way; they bobble their head side-to-side in order to say ‘yes’.
17. Six Seasons A Year
Six seasons is unique to India, whereas there are generally just four in other countries. There’s only one book in the world written on seasons, and it was written by an Indian writer Kalidasa. The seasons were separated at the Vedic days itself and coincide with the modern-day seasons, surprisingly. The 6 seasons are Vasant, Grishma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemant and Shirir; namely spring, summer, monsoon, autumn, pre-winter, and winter respectively.
18. Pioneers of Chess
Indians founded thing game which has so much craze in today’s world. The ancient name for the game was ‘Chaturanga’ which meant the division of army into four; cavalry, elephants, chariots, infantry. Let’s take pride in this.
19. Saviours Of Love: Love Commandos
In India, most families are against love marriages and often take drastic measures to mitigate it. Love commandos is a non-profit, voluntary organization that support lovers to unite, by protecting them from honor killing and harassment. They provide legal aid and shelter to couples in need.
India never fails to surprise us and we must embrace the uniqueness and diversity; that is why we call it Incredible India. And besides just embracing it, we are also proud of some of these that set us apart from other nations. If you have heard of India then you must have definitely heard for Mumbai. If you ever plan on visiting Mumbai, here are some things to do when you are there.