Zackary.Evans

The Music Of India

India is a South Asian country rich in culture tradition. Along with its dress, arcitechture and cuisine, a spectacular part of India's culture is its unique and recognizable music; stretching over several different genres and characterized by a colourful array of beautiful and extraordinary instruments.


 * National Anthem **


 * Jana Gana Mana** (Bengali: **//Jôno Gôno Mono//**) is the national anthem of India. It was written in the Bengali dialect of Sadhu bhasa, borrowing greatly from the Sanskrit language.
 * **Original Bengali Script:**

জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে. ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উৎ‍‌কল বঙ্গ বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছল জলধি তরঙ্গ তব শুভ নামে জাগে তব শুভ আশিস মাগে গাহে তব জয়গাথা জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয়, জয় হে॥ || **Sanskrit Transliteration:**

Jana gaṇa mana adhināyaka jaya he Bhārata bhāgya vidhātā Punjāba Sind Gujarāṭa Marāṭhā Drāviḍa Utkala Banga Vindhya Himāchala Yamunā Gangā Ucchala jaladhi taranga Tava śubha nāme jāge Tava śubha āśiṣa māge Gāhe tava jaya gāthā Jana gaṇa mangala dāyaka jaya he Bhārata bhāgya vidhāta Jaya he jaya he jaya he Jaya jaya jaya jaya he! || **English Translation:**

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, Dispenser of India's destiny. Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha, Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal; It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand, Thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, victory, victory, Victory to thee. ||


 * Geography **

India is seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,263 sq km or slightly over 1/3 of the United States. India has thesecond highest populace in the world (after China), with an estimated 1,189,872,000 citizens (2010) and it's official languages are Hindi (language of the Union)and English (official subsidary). The currency in India is The Indian Rupee (INR), despite having a huge and quickly growing economy, the standard of is quite disparate, with rural areas being quite basic and cities boasting huge industrial and technological sectors. India's national animals are the Royal Bengal Tiger, the Indian Peacock and the Dolphin, the national flower is of course the Lotus.


 * Government **

India is a federation with a parliamentary government form. They have both a President, Shrimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil, and a Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The President being an electoral Head Of State, and the Prime Minister a Head Of Government, having most executive power.


 * Education **

Indian education is provided by the public sector and controlled mainly by the Union Government. Education is compulsary, or expected, much like in Canada, and is funded by Federal, State and Local sources.Recent increased attendance rate of and secondary schooling is often credited as a main contributor to the recent ecomonic rise in India.


 * Sport **

The national sport of India is field hockey, yielding the country 8 Olympic Gold Medals. Chak De! India, is a Bollywood film about Indian Field Hockey, starring Shahrukh Khan as former Indian field hockey captain Kabir Khan. Other sports popular in India are Cricket, Football, Volleyball, Badminton and Tennis.


 * Products **

Some of India's main exports are growing to be Zinc, sugar & steel, but they are remarkably well known for their stunning cuisine. Indian cuisine is based upon the staples of rice and legumes, along with various interesting spices. The "fad" popularization of spiced curry dishes and other Indian foods throughout North America and the UK has brought much fame and notoriety to the country of India as a whole, despite the shocking variance in cooking style throughout it's many regions. India has few types of special plate or utensil necessary for eating.


 * Music **

The two predominant genres or branches of Indian music are classical, often remaining traditional and more contemporary folk music. Most Indian pop music is called filmi, meaning taken from Indian films; filmi accounts for 72% of music sales in India, filmi composers like [|S. D. Burman], [|Naushad], [|C. Ramchandra], and [|A. R. Rahman] often include elements of both classical and folk styles in their music.One of the most popular of all time in India is Sri Sri [|Ravi Shankar]. The GIMAs or Global Indian Music Awards aired on December 5, 2010.

Music is a huge part of Indian life as it is often written to celebrate or praise a specific event or quality, as with a wedding or a sunny afternoon and is often accompanied by a dance. Music (especially singing) is a tradition carried through the generations as means of cherishing one's surroundings and endeavors, it can be a large part of spirituality, rituals and prayer. Students gain their musical background often directly from a private teacher or "Guru". The guru dictates theory and techniques orally and without the use of any notation. Teaching instead using a solfege-like system of the tones Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni, shortened from Shadja, Rishabh, Gandhar, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat and Nishad. The clothing of a musician is often determined by their social status, a popular musician wearing fine clothes to perform, while poorer men may perform in something more simple and casual. Clothing of dancers is often widely traditional and very extravagant, usually in bright colors and fine silks. There is an abundance of musical instruments created in India and the surrouding area creating a unique sound. Some of these include:
 * Indian Charts 24-07-09**
 * 1. I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) || Pitbull ||
 * 2. Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny) || A. R. Rahman & Pussycat Dolls ||
 * 3. Tu To Na Aayi || F4 ||
 * 4. Takin' Back My Love || Enrique Iglesias & Ciara ||
 * 5. When Love Takes Over || David Guetta & Kelly Rowland ||
 * 6. Boom Boom Pow || Black Eyed Peas ||
 * 7. Thriller || Michael Jackson ||
 * 8. New Divide || Linkin Park ||
 * 9. Paparazzi || Lady Gaga ||
 * 10. Master Saleen || Teri Sajni ||
 * The Sitar:** A long necked lute, with a resonating chamber made from a gourd and several sympathetic strings adding a tin-like resonance to each note. There are several frets, each of them adjustable in position.
 * The Tambura:** Another long lecked, plucked lute without frets, the open strings droned as harmonic accompaniment to other musicians.
 * The Dilruba and Esraj:** These are the northern and southern counterparts of the same idea, a long wooden neck sports 20 frets, 12-15 sympathetic strings and 4 main strings which are played with a bow.
 * The Veena:** A heavy stringed plucked lute, having four main strings, tuned to the low tonic, and fifth, and then the tonic and fifth above that, as well as 3 subsidary drone strings, tuned to the tonic, fifth and upper tonic.
 * The Algoza or Ngoza:** A "double flute" either two chambers connected to one mouthpiece or a pair of flutes played simultaneously, a musician plays using three fingers on each side, breathing rapidly to create a swing type of rhythm.
 * The Morsing:** A plucked idiophone consisting of a horseshoe-shaped metal ring, with 2 parallel forks forming a frame, and a metal tongue fixed to one side of the ring. When plucked this tongue or "trigger" vibrates freely, creating a tone.
 * The Tabla:** A very popular perscussion instrument, consisting of 2 hand drums of contrasting timbres, called dayan and bāyāñ. The smaller drum, or dayan, is tuned to the dominant, sub-dominant or tonic note of the soloists key, with the larger, bassy bāyāñ tuned either a fourth or fifth below that.


 * Game **

A popular Indian game is Pachisi, or "Twenty-Five". Played on a large X-shaped board, each player is given 4 game pieces. The players throw cowry (or snail-like) shells like dice in order to decide the amount of movement around the board, as the objective is to move all pieces (including your partner's) from your charkoni (castle or home) around the board and back. ^Taken from http://www.mastersgames.com/rules/pachisi-rules.htm A grace is an allowance, letting you move your pieces from the charkoni and into play. Once in play, friendly pieces can occupy the same square but you are not allowed to move into a charkoni containing enemy pieces, and instead must choose not to move. If you move into a non-castle square containing enemy pieces, your game piece must be moved back to your charkoni, and you must use a grace to get out again. The game is completed when all 8 pieces are safe in your home charkoni; in order to enter their charkoni, one must roll exactly the number of spaces neeeded, or choose not to move.
 * 2 cowries with mouths up - 2
 * 3 cowries with mouths up - 3
 * 4 cowries with mouths up - 4
 * 5 cowries with mouths up - 5
 * 6 cowries with mouths up - 6 + grace
 * 1 cowries with mouths up - 10 + grace
 * 0 cowries with mouths up - 25 + grace


 * Stereotypes **

There are several stereotypes about Indian culture. To list a few:
 * Indians cannot speak English
 * Indians are telemarketers
 * Indian food makes you sick
 * India is unsafe for women
 * India is dirty
 * Indians are uneducated
 * Cows walk the city streets


 * Useful Phrases **

^Taken from http://www.bharatonline.com/travel-tips/common-phrases.html
 * **English Phrase** || **Hindi Translation** ||
 * Hello || Namaste/Namaskar ||
 * How are you? || Kaise hain? ||
 * I am fine || Main theek hoon ||
 * Goodbye || Main chalta hoon (chalti for female) ||
 * How much/ What is the cost? || Kitna hua/ kitna daam hai? ||
 * I want to go to hotel || Mujhe hotel jana hai ||
 * Can you please help me? || Kya aap meri madad karenge? ||
 * What is your name? || Apka naam Kya hai? ||
 * My name is … || Mera naam … hai ||
 * Yes || Haan ||
 * No || Nahi ||
 * Thank you || Shukriya/ Dhanyavaad ||
 * OK/Fine/Good/Whatever || Achaa ||
 * What happened? || Kya hua ||


 * Conclusion and Comparison **

Like any country, there are many differences and many similarities between India and Canada. Both have a parliamentary form of government. Both have a Prime Minister; only India having a President. Our two cultures are mingling, causing Indian food and practice to become our own. India is one of the oldest countries in the world, Canada is relatively young. Many Indians immigrate to live in Canada, while not many Canadians have settled in India. The standard of living is better in Canada (a large factor in immigration) but the economy is sky rocketing in India. Canadian military is not a high priority while India is becoming a military super-power. Despite the celebrated genres of music between our countries being so different, several songs on the Indian charts are on our charts as well. India has a very unique and beautiful culture which we Canadians are lucky to be able to share to the extent that we do.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_in_India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_India http://www.ravishankar.org/indian_music.html http://wikitravel.org/en/India http://www.bharatonline.com/travel-tips/common-phrases.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India <span class="category_data" style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: top;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_India <span class="category_data" style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: top;">http://www.mastersgames.com/rules/pachisi-rules.htm