India



HUM 101 • Myers

India

I. Comparison of India and U.S. Demographics

|India |United States |

|1.1 billion people |300 million people |

|80% Hindu |80% Christian |

|13% Muslim |15% No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic |

|2% Christian |1.4% Jewish |

|2% Sikh |0.6% Muslim |

|Less than 2% Buddhist, Jain, and others |Less than 2% Buddhist, Hindu and others |

|30% live in urban areas, 70% in rural |80% live in urban areas, 20% in rural |

|Average annual per capita income: $720 |Average annual per capita income: $43,740 |

|(137th in the world out of 187 ranked in 2006) |(sixth in the world) |

II. Vedic Period

A. c. 1500 to 325 B.C.

B. Origin of “Hinduism:” The word Hindu derives from the Sanskrit word for the Indus River, Sindhu.

C. “Aryan Invasion”

1. Theory that Aryans, Indo-European language speakers from areas that are now Iran and Afghanistan brought Sanskrit and Hinduism to India.

III. Languages

A. By any estimate, there are hundreds of different languages spoken in various regions of India, and thousands of dialects of those languages.

B. Predominent languages are:

1. Hindi, based in part on Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Hindu scriptures, spoken by about 40% of Indians

2. English: English is the language of government and commerce in India. About 35% of Indians have at least a fundamental ability to speak English, making India the country with the largest population of English speakers in the world.

3. Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, and Tamil, each spoken by 7-9%

4. Urdu, spoken mostly by Muslims, 5%

IV. Hindu Religion

A. Three key concepts:

1. Karma: Law of cause and effect. Through your actions in life you can affect the fate of your soul.

2. Reincarnation: Transmigration of the soul from one body to another. Wheel of samsara.

3. Dharma: Proper conduct in life that leads to auspicious rebirth.

B. A key symbol: Om (or Aum)

1. Sacred syllable representing Brahman -- the sound that was uttered at the creation of the universe.

2. Symbol of piety, Om is often found at the head of letters, pendants, enshrined in every Hindu temple and family shrines.

3. Made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined, make the sound Aum or Om.

4. Prayers and invocations to most deities begin with it.

V. Hinduism: Polytheistic? (many gods)

A. Room for everything: Animism (belief in spirits or gods that inhabit natural objects and cause natural phenomena) to Monotheism (belief in one God).

1. Brahman: the indivisible essence of all spiritual reality and the divine source of all being.

a) Everything in the universe can be considered part of Brahman. This is close to Animism.

2. Trimurti: “Three powers.” The three principal manifestations of the godhead in Hinduism.

a) Brahma, the creator

b) Vishnu, the preserver

c) Siva, the destroyer

3. Devotion to one of the gods of Hinduism – especially Vishnu, Siva, or the Goddess – can be seen as Monotheism.

B. Castes - Why?

1. It was a way to impose order on society by a strict division of labor. Originally not hereditary, but it turned into a way to identify one’s social class.

2. There are four basic caste divisions, which include more than 3,000 specific divisions and 20,000 sub-divisions:

| |Caste Category |Original Function |% of Current |

| | | |Population |

|Upper or Forward |Brahmins |priests and teachers |3.5% |

|Castes = 15% of | | | |

|the population | | | |

| |Kshatriyas |rulers and warriors |5% |

| |Vaishyas |farmers and merchants |6.5% |

| |Shudras |servants, manual laborers and artisans |62% |

|Outcastes – known as Untouchables, Harijans (“children of God”), |15% |

|or Dalits (“oppressed ones”) | |

|Other (aboriginals, non-Hindus) |8% |

VI. The Buddha

A. Siddhartha Gautama, born in Lumbini in what is now Nepal in about 563 B.C.

B. Buddha means “enlightened one.”

C. Born Hindu, but eventually rejected Hinduism in favor of his own religious approach to eliminating human suffering.

D. Buddhism

1. Commonalities with Hinduism:

2. Reincarnation: Wheel of samsara, but no transmigration because there is no soul.

3. Karma: This law of cause and effect does affect rebirth.

4. Dharma: The teachings of the Buddha.

5. Today, there are very few Buddhists in India.

E. The Dharma Chakra of Ashoka.

1. Dharma Chakra = “Wheel of Duty.”

2. Ashoka was the 3rd century B.C. emperor who embraced Buddhism and spread its message throughout India.

VII. India Conquered

A. Muslim Mughal Empire ruled most of India, 1526-1858.

B. Co-existed with Hindus, persecuted Sikhs, eventually cooperated with British.

C. Taj Mahal built by a Mughal emperor as a tomb for his wife.

D. Raj: Dominion or rule, especially the British rule over India, 1757–1947. From the Hindi word rāj, which comes from the Sanskrit rājā, or king.

E. India controlled by the British East India Company, c. 1757-1857.

F. India part of the British Empire, 1858-1947.

VIII. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), known as Mahatma, “Great Soul” in Sanskrit

A. Leader of nonviolent resistance to British rule of India, beginning about 1915.

B. Influenced by Jesus Christ and Henry David Thoreau.

C. Influenced Martin Luther King, Jr.

D. Independence August 15, 1947.

E. Opposed the partition of India after independence.

F. Assassinated by a Hindu fanatic January 30, 1948.

IX. India vs. Pakistan

A. New country of Pakistan created in 1947 because of the fear among Muslims that the Hindu majority would oppress them.

B. Some 7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from Pakistan into India, and about 7 million Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan.

C. Kashmir

1. Two major wars: 1947-48 and 1965.

2. Led to nuclear buildup on both sides.

3. Line of Control in the disputed territory since 1949.

4. Intermittent hostilities on both sides of the Line of Control continue.

5. India claims the entire region; Pakistan claims all but the China-controlled areas.

6. The population of the Pakistan-controlled areas is about 6 million, of which 99% are Muslim.

7. The population of the India-controlled areas is about 10 million, of which 67% are Muslim, 30% Hindu, 3% Sikh and Buddhist.

8. The population of the China-controlled areas is about 10,000.

9. Recent polls of the populations of both areas indicate a majority prefer independence from rule by either country.

X. Modern India

A. Globalization has led to extensive investment in India.

1. “Outsourcing” of lower-wage jobs to India has created an economic boom, especially among young urban Indians.

a) Lower wages and cost of living means Western companies can provide the same service while dramatically decreasing costs.

2. Customer service and sales call centers.

3. Outsourcing of technical jobs.

4. Threat to traditional values and culture?

B. Bollywood

1. World’s largest film industry.

2. Hindi, the language the largest number of Indians speak (40%).

3. Romance is the predominant theme, but within strict limits.

4. Masala: Main Hoon Na

a) In Indian cuisine, a mixture of many spices.

b) In Indian cinema, a mixture of many film genres.

5. Music: Dil Se..

a) Most Bollywood films are musicals.

b) Bollywood film music is the popular music of India.

c) Almost always sung by professional “playback singers” and lip-synched by the actors.

d) Lata Mangeshkar, the real queen of Bollywood

1) Born September 28, 1929

2) Years active 1942 - present

6. Melodrama: Kal Ho Naa Ho

a) A play, film, or other production that features exaggerated emotions, stereotypical characters, and interpersonal conflicts.

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[pic]Swastika: HINDU symbol of the wheel of samsara.

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