18 Things You Didn't Know About India
There's a lake near the Chinese border where, for one month of the year, the water clears and you can see a few hundred ancient skeletons.
Mumbai's high court has a 300,000-case backlog, some of which are 20 years old.
As of a couple of years ago, there were some 4 million pending cases across all high courts in India. And only two-thirds of available high court judge positions are filled.
Source: CNN International
Mumbai has just 1.1 square meters of open space per person.
Open space is defined as gardens, parks, recreation grounds, and playgrounds.
Compare that with New York's 26.4 square meters, or London's 31.68.
Source: Times of India
India is home to Asia’s cleanest village -- and it's a matrilineal society with a 100% literacy rate.
The village is called Mawlynnong, in Meghalaya state, and women rule there.
Source: Lonely Planet
Hindus tend to apologize to their books.
Books are really important in Hindu culture. Often, if somebody drops a book, or papers, or some sort of stationery, they’ll “apologize” to it by touching it to their forehead. It’s not a conscious action -- it’s more of a gut reaction, like saying “Gesundheit” when somebody sneezes.
If you're sending an international package you may have to go see a "package specialist."
They may hand-sew your package with a burlap sack. If you're lucky, he'll even seal it with a wax stamp.
Source: CNN International & Bagels and Lakhs (for a first-hand account)
Authorities coined the term "Super-Dense Crushload" to describe extreme overcrowding on Mumbai's commuter trains.
At rush hour in Mumbai, some 550 people can be jammed into train cars built for only 200 people.
Source: The New York Times
Mumbai has a toilet deficit of 64,157 seats.
That's according to a 2009 government-sponsored human development report.
(India also has an international museum of toilets, located in Delhi.)
Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Allevement via guggeinheim.org
You can get cars, motorcycles and TV sets for offering to be sterilized.
In 2011, health officials hoped these incentives would recruit at least 30,000 people to agree to be sterilized, in an attempt to control India's increasing population.
Source: The Telegraph
The Royal Calcutta Golf Club is the oldest golf club outside of the UK.
Indians like their old, British sports. This club was established in 1829, before British colonial rule, back when the East India Company was running the show.
Many Indians consider it rude to accept money with your left hand because that’s the hand you use in the restroom.
Some people in India consider it cleaner to splash water with your left hand after going to the restroom, instead of using toilet paper. Which is why the left hand is thought to be unclean.
It's also rarely used for eating.
The Calcutta Polo Club is the oldest in the world.
It was established in 1862, four years after the beginning of British Rule in India.
Source: Times of India
Scholars think plastic surgery started in India.
The first recorded “nose job” is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts (600 B.C.)
Source: Times of India
Chess comes from India.
Even the word "chess" comes from the Sanskrit word "chaturanga," which means "four members of an army."
It’s illegal for non-residents to take rupees out of the country
A 2013 rule from the Reserve Bank of India requires foreigners and non-residents to exchange rupees for other currencies before taking off.
Source: Times of India
Once every 12 years, India hosts the biggest street party ever.
The Kumbh Mela (Grand Pitcher) festival is a massive religious festival in India.The last ones took place in 2013 and 2001, and were photographed from space.
Source: BBC
Obama will break a bunch of rules when he visits India this weekend.
The president will be the guest of honor at India's Republic Day ceremony, and will spend more than two hours in public on an open air platform -- the longest ever for any US president.
He's also expected to ditch his own bullet-proof car to ride in President Mukherjee's to the parade.
Source: NDTV
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