Welcome to IndiaINDIA IS JAM-PACKED WITH DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES. There are twenty-eight states and eight union territories, and each region is unique. There are scorching deserts, sacred rivers, and precious forests inhabited by endangered animals such as lions and tigers. To the north lie the snow-shrouded Himalayas, which run for around 1,500 miles (2,500 kilometers), and in the clear blue seas beyond India’s shores, there are amazing islands with pristine beaches. It’s a huge country, with a huge, welcoming heart.
The history of India stretches five thousand years into the past. It had some of the very first sophisticated cities in the world. If you go to India today, there are still ancient temples filled with sculptures and paintings, as well as wonderful historic palaces sitting like jewels in beautiful lakes.
There are also vibrant cities with modern skylines, such as New Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Like many cities around the world, India’s cities are full of opposites: there are people who drive expensive cars and can spend all the money they like, and there are people who are forced to live on the streets. The buildings are home to both world-famous high-tech businesses and indoor bazaars and markets laden with handmade objects created using techniques that have been used for thousands of years.
One of the very special things about India is that it is a country of strong belief and faith. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism were all born in India, and religions like Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, the Baha’i Faith, and Judaism were brought to the country from elsewhere.
India now has the biggest population of Hindus in the entire world: over 900 million. Hinduism is one of the world’s most ancient religions. Hindus believe in the circle of life and reincarnation, which means that after a person’s death, their spirit does not disappear but passes into the body of another being and continues to live. This means that caring for wildlife is a big part of life for Hindus, because they never know who may have reincarnated in the creatures around them.
The most important texts in Hinduism are written in Sanskrit, India’s ancient classical language. Sanskrit can be traced back to 1700–1200 BCE. Scholars think that all the European languages come from it; look how similar these words are:
matr (Sanskrit),
mater (Latin), and
mother (English).
To make sure that everyone understands each other, Hindi and English are the languages used all over India in newspapers and on the main TV stations. Here’s how you say hello in a few of India’s different languages:
Urdu: As-Salaam alaikum
Hindi: Namaste
Punjabi: Sat sri akal
Tamil: Vanakkam
English: Hi there!
About This Book ALL THROUGH HER LIFE, Thara’s nanijee has collected special objects from around India and kept them in a beautiful wooden trunk. Each object reminds her of a wonderful place she has visited.
This book will take you on a journey around India—you can read it all at once or dip into it when you feel like visiting a particular place. Every time you choose a page, it will be as though you are choosing an object from Nanijee’s trunk yourself.
India is a land full of amazing things to discover. Things that will shake you up, take your breath away, and make you as curious as a monkey!
A Journey Around India Right at the top of my nanijee’s house, I have my own cozy room for sleepovers. My bed is layered high with a soft patterned rajai quilt, and Nanijee has hung an orange sari over it to make a canopy. In a corner of the room sits an old trunk made from sheesham wood, with beautiful carvings of elephants and tigers all over it.
Nanijee lived in India most of her life and has traveled all around the country. Wherever she went, she collected special objects as a reminder of each place—and all those objects are inside this wonderful trunk.
Friday nights are exciting nights: that’s when I sleep over at Nanijee’s. She makes me spiced milky chai sprinkled with cinnamon. I take a small sip and snuggle into the folds of her chunni. She smiles and creaks open the trunk. It smells sweet, like the heart of a tree.
She takes out one object and tells me all about it—which state it’s from, why she loves it so much, and what makes it unique.
Each Friday night, I hurry up the stairs to my room, butterflies zipping through my stomach. I run my fingers along the carvings of the trunk and imagine all the things lying inside. All the things I’m going to see.
I wonder what Nanijee will show me tonight . . .
Copyright © 2023 by Jasbinder Bilan; Illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
