An Introduction

Below you will find some information on India, divided by categories. This information should help you familiarize yourself with the country. I think this is a proper step before accessing the trip details that will be found in the “Trip Manual” section. The introduction to India is followed by some information on the local Habitat for Humanity.


History
The name India derives from the name of the Indus river around which the Indus Valley Civilization flourished some 2500 years ago. Over the centuries India was a meeting ground between the East and the West. The vastness, isolation, and the natural inhabitants’ tolerance allowed India to adapt and absorb the many people that over the centuries invaded the country. Each new wave of conquerors left a contribution to what in the end emerged as a land in which people of diverse cultures live in harmony as a nation. Worth mentioning among the events that shaped India are the Vedic civilization of 2000 BC, the Buddhism that arose in northern India in the 700 BC, the invasion of Alexander the Great in 400 BC, and the reign of the Hindu kings that started at the same time. Another substantial contribution to the Indian civilization came from the Muslim emperors in northern and central India. They contributed to the development of a spiritual, artistic, and linguistic heritage. Life in India changed dramatically with the coming in the 16th century of the first European colonizers, initially French, Portuguese and Dutch, and later the British. In the late 17th century Great Britain established the East India Company that opened permanent trading stations under the protection of native rulers. Over a 300 year period called “The Raj” the British introduced legal, educational, political, industrial and transportation systems that shaped modern India. Perhaps most significantly, the British introduced the widespread use of English and public education. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, millions of Indians began to protest British rule by adopting a passive resistance tactics used by the leader Mahatma Gandhi. Independence was finally granted in 1947. At that time the British India was split into two countries: Muslim Pakistan and (mainly Hindu) India. In 1947 some Indian Portuguese and French enclaves still existed. The French possession included Pondicerry. The history of Pondicherry was initially peaceful: its territory had been purchased by the French in the middle of the 17th century from the Mogul Governor of Bengal. Following frictions between French, Dutch and British Pondicherry was lost and regained by the French a number of times. The last time that Pondicherry was returned to France (from the British) was in 1816. Since than, and until 1954 when India eventually occupied it, Pondicherry remained in continuous French possession. The final formal link to France was cut in 1963 when the French Parliament formally approved the transfer on Pondicherry to India.

Location and Geography
Located in Southern Asia, India is the world’s seventh largest country, and the second largest country in Asia after China. Her territory covers more than 3 million square kilometers (some 2 million miles). Set apart from the rest of Asia by the Himalayas in the north, India is a vast triangular peninsula surrounded by three large bodies of water: the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Arabian Sea to the west, and the Indian Ocean to the south. India is composed of three major geographic parts: Himalayan peaks and ridges along the northern borders, the vast alluvial floodplain of the Ganges and the other rivers that run off south-facing slopes of mountains and flowing toward the Bay of Bengal, and the elevated Deccan Plateau that forms the core of India’s triangular southern peninsula. The Deccan Plateau has faulted hedges (called Ghats) that can be found on the eastern and western border of the Tamil Nadu State. Tamil Nadu is one of the largest States of South India and Pondicherry is located there on the eastern coast on the Bay of Bengala.
One-quarter of India is forested. In the north there are pine and cedar trees, while in rainy areas, tropical rainforests thrive. Other regions support mangrove trees as well as rosewood, sandalwood, and teak. Dry regions have a savannah landscape.

Demography
India has the world’s second largest population after China. It is estimated that the total population crossed one billion in the year 2000, and that it was 1,15 billion in 2008.
Ethnically, the majority of the people- about 72 percent- are Indo-Aryan. They are followed by the Dravidian (25 per cent), and others: 3 percent. The difference between Aryan and Dravidian is based on the languages they speak since both are branches of the Caucasian race.
Despite India’s many large urban centers, the last census (in 2001) revealed that the nation is still overwhelmingly rural with an estimated 75 percent of its population living in the countryside. Three quarters of those who reside in rural areas live below the poverty line. Poor people also occupy overcrowded urban slums. The main causes of poverty are illiteracy and population growth. The latter substantially exceed the India’s economic growth rate.

Linguistic Affiliations
India has over 200 languages, a heritage of the country vast cultural diversity. About three-quarters of Indian languages are Indo-European, meaning that they share the same structure and roots of French, Italian, and other European languages. Some languages have their own distinct writing system. Hindi is the official language of India. Next to English and Chinese, Hindu is the language spoken by the largest number of people in the world. It uses a phonetic system of writing based on an alphabet of 61 letters. In spite of being the country official language, Hindi is often known as the second one since different states in India have different official languages and those local official languages are used for teaching in the schools. The situation changes at the government level, in universities, and on business relations. In those instances-and each time a common tongue is needed-Indians switch to English. Because of this peculiar language situation, people in India often grow up learning several languages at once.

Religious belief and Spirituality
Whereas India is by Constitution a secular country, the rights of citizens to worship, and to propagate any religious faith are protected. The Constitution just legalized a cultural heritage since religion and spirituality had always been central to the people life. As a matter of fact some of the world’s great religions like Hinduism and Buddhism began in India while others, like Islam and Christianity were accepted and flourished. Hinduism, practiced by the majority of Indians (some 82 percent), dates back more than 3000 years. Hindus believe that everyone goes by cycles of rebirth before finding salvation. Hinduism’s many Gods and Goddesses are all manifestations of Brahman, the creation essence. Practiced by about 12 percent of the Population, Islam is the India second most common religion. Islam is based on the Qur’an or Koran, the book of teaching by the 7th century prophet Mohammed. Indian Christianity, mainly concentrated in the southern state of Kerala, is said to have begun with the arrival of St. Thomas apostle in 54 AD. Today over 2 percent of Indians practice Christianity. Less than 1 percent of the population is Buddhist. Buddhism, which arose in the 6th century, is centered on the principle that following the teachings of Buddha, one can free oneself from the cycle of death and rebirth.

Social Issues
India is a patriarchal society where the influence of Hinduism and the tradition of the cast system have created a culture that emphasizes hierarchical relationships. From the concept of hierarchy derives the awareness that everybody has a status relative to other people and a tendency of defining themselves by the group to which they belong rather than their status as individuals. The tendency of belonging to a group has its immediate manifestation in the close personal ties that the Indians maintain with their families. In many instances the families are extended ones that include children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, and in-laws. The extended family creates a myriad of interrelationships, rules, and structures. Along with mutual obligations comes a deep-rooted trust among relatives. The strong links that connect the family members emerge on the occasion of marriages. Since a marriage is a joining of two families, it is regarded as more than an individual decision. The prospective bride and groom usually marry someone from their own caste (the hereditary social class into which Hindus are born) and religious background. Marriage partners are often found through the family network or, in urban areas, through marriage bureaus.
In terms of social issue, worth mentioning is the gender role. Indian society is male-dominated. Traditionally men have held the primarily responsibility for supporting their families whereas women are still not treated by society and law as having the same rights as men. This is still true at home. Within a family the only role that a woman is supposed to have in life is to be submissive and attentive to her husband’s need, and to devote her life to him and his children. Although the wife is the person who does the cooking, cleaning and running of the household and children, her work goes unnoticed in the Indian society. At present there are many feminist groups and educated women in India who are advocating a greater equality with men. This is an extremely difficult task since gender roles stem from tradition, religion, as well as from a well-routed culture.

The Economy
With the majority of people living in villages, India is basically an agricultural country whose crops are mainly grown under rain-fed conditions. This means that the climate changes with recurrent droughts and flood represent a constant treat to the life of millions of people. In the recent past India experienced a rapid expansion in the scientific and technological fields. The resulting boom of industries and factories encouraged a large migration from rural areas to the cities. The economy growth has been supported by market reforms, rising monetary reserves, a real estate boom, and a flourishing capital market. All of these conditions attracted foreign investors. Under these conditions India grew more than 9% in 2006 and 2007. Due to the year 2008 global economic and financial crisis India is experiencing a reduction of that percentage. Socially speaking, the economic growth while creating a huge mass of people living in city slums, contributed to reduce by 10% the level of poverty. This notwithstanding, the poverty alleviation is still a major challenge. The economic expansion did not come without a price since it brought a rapid rise of inflation. This is a crucial element that the Indian government has to cope with.

Political Structure
According to the Constitution that came into force in 1950, India is a union of 28 States and seven Union Territories. In other words, India is a federal republic like the US but retains something of the British System in the sense that there is a Prime Minister who is Head of Government, and a President who is the formal Head of State and retains approximately the same position as the British monarch. The federal form of government has a greater power than that of the US as, for instance, that the President of the Union appoints the State Governors and can dismiss them under certain circumstances.
Moreover federal rules (called President’s rules) can be imposed on the States. The Indian legislative branch includes a Council of States (Rajya Sabha) of no more than 250 members, 12 of which are nominated by the President, and the House of the People (Lock Sabaha) that as its name implies, is appointed based on general elections.
The States have their own Legislative Assemblies. In certain cases they have one Chamber in others they have two of them. The Governors normally exercise the same power in the States as the President does at the Union government level. As in the Central Government, each state has a Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister responsible to the elected State Legislature. Most of the years since independence, the India’s federal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC). Politics in the States is normally dominated by several national parties.

Habitat for Humanity India
Operating since 1983, Habitat for Humanity India, an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International US, functions through a National Office in Mumbay and Habitat Resource Centers in New Delhi, Mumbay, Chennay, and Bangalore. In turn, each of these Centers is responsible for a number of Affiliates around the country. The purpose of the HFH India is to assist families who cannot secure housing loans from established financial institutions. Those typical families mainly consist of agricultural laborers, small and marginal farmers, daily wage earners, slum-dwellers and so on. Those are the kind of people who live in sub standard houses, or in shelters of all kinds both in rural and in urban areas. It has been estimated that 60 per cent of the country’s estimated 180 million dwellings are temporary or falling in ruin. The HFH India response to this dramatic situation has been astonishing: over 25,000 houses had been build as of 2007 (these are the most recent statistics I found). Some 200 Global Village teams contributed to the build projects. Habitat is not a give away program. Down payment and regular mortgage payments are disbursed by homeowners who also invest hundred of hours of work into building their and others houses. The average monthly mortgage payments are between the equivalent of 10 and 17 US Dollar. The amounts that Habitat receives from the homeowners are invested in the purchase of material needed to build other houses.