India

India is one of the largest countries in the world, especially by population. It is surrounded by ocean, sea, and the Bay of Bengal in Asia’s Indian subcontinent. Hindi and English are the official languages, and the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution listed 22 scheduled languages, a term that conferred official status. In 2003, four more were added. It is an incredibly diverse country with many different religious and ethnic groups. The terrain includes many mountains and rock formations, beaches, marshes, and rainforests. In terms of plant and animal life, India is actually termed megadiverse. Rare and endemic species include the Nilgiri leaf monkey, Beddome’s toad of the Western Ghats, the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, and the Indian White-rumped Vulture.

India has the eleventh-largest economy in the world according to market exchange rates, and it has one of the fastest rates of growth. Telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, engineering, and petroleum are all big business. You can study yoga in India, go trekking in the Himalayas, or descend to the banks of the Ganges River in wild, colorful Varanasi. Visiting India would be incomplete without a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra, a stunning, well-preserved complex of marble and semiprecious stones that Shah Jahan had built as a memorial for his beloved wife.

Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. There are many, many vegetarians in India, especially in the South. Okra, spinach, eggplant, and cauliflower are some of the most commonly-eaten vegetables. Fruits include mango, tamarind, guava, coconut, and starfruit. Legumes, which are also sometimes ground into flour, include chickpeas, sweet peas, and lentils. Spices, including cardamom, cumin, and ginger, play a key role in the cuisine, along with fresh herbs (also available dry) like fenugreek and coriander. Various preparations of dal, flavorful stewlike legumes cooked in ghee often served on rice, are a mainstay of the diet. Dosai pancakes made of rice, wheat flour, and/or legumes and stuffed with a multitude of fillings are popular in the South. Aloo methi are tasty potatoes flavored with fenugreek.

India seems to have offerings for people of varying budgets and tastes. You can find organic Ayurvedic cuisine or juices, raw foods, and vegetarian Mexican, Italian, or Chinese restaurants. Vegetarians won’t need to explain themselves twice. Indian foods can be a bit heavy, but a bite of light dessert or the omnipresent tea can be refreshing. You can cool out with a lovely faluda drink made of kulfi (Indian ice cream), rose syrup, tapioca pearls, and basil seeds.