The Key to Success in KBC - Part 18 - Indian Culture and Flags of the World

7/30/2019 The Key to Success in KBC - Part 18 - Indian Culture and Flags of the World

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THE KEY TO SUCCESSIN KBC - PART 18

INDIAN CULTURE and

FLAGS OF THE WORLDIncluding FOLK DANCES, FESTIVALS, MELAS, POETS

etc.

Know about the Culture of India including Forest Area,

Indian Cuisine, Folk Dances, Festivals and Melas,

Mahotsav, Poets and Writers, Indian political Authors

and their Books, Flags of the World, N.R.Is etc.

2013

By - Vipin K. Bansal

5/7/2013


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgement.................................................................................................................................... 2

Preface......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Culture of India ............................................................................................................................................. 4

Forests in India .............................................................................................................................................. 4

Countrywise population of NRIs ................................................................................................................ 5

Indian Cuisine ................................................................................................................................................ 7

Folk Dance and Music ................................................................................................................................... 8

Festivals of India ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Mela or Mahotsav ......................................................................................................................................... 9

Poets and Writers ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Selected Indian Authors and Books ............................................................................................................ 15

Flags of the countries .................................................................................................................................. 16

Questions Related to this Chapter ....................................................................................................... 23

Scoring System......................................................................................................................................... 25

Bibliography: ........................................................................................................................................... 26

Thank You!.............................................................................................................................................. 26
http://e/INDIAN%20CULTURE%20ETC..docx%23_Toc355436486http://e/INDIAN%20CULTURE%20ETC..docx%23_Toc355436486http://e/INDIAN%20CULTURE%20ETC..docx%23_Toc355436486


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Acknowledgement

When a book like this comes into existence, it is very hard to name

and thank all the people that helped me shape this book. It took me

over 7 years to consolidate and format all the content in a manner

that may benefit the readers. However, I would like to start by

thanking my wife Suman Bansal for her patience and the time I

stole from her. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my

father Shri B. D. Bansal for his encouragement, invaluable

experience and support.

I would like to thank my elder son Anurag Bansal who helped me

design it and offer it on various online portals. My younger son

Gaurav Bansal helped me put together all the questions related to

the content.


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Preface

As I mentioned in the previous parts that the idea of this book came to

my mind after reviewing so many competitive examinations in

examination halls or through Media and many people drop out

without any success. I think most of the time the reason was either not

enough preparation or lack of resources to enhance the knowledge

required to compete with others.

Thats why I started writing this book on various subjects so that it can

offer the basic guidance to the people preparing for the competition.

Nonetheless everyone can get benefitted with this set of books because

Ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly

to heaven.

The Key to Success has been written for the people trying to prepare

for any competition. Therefore the scope of this book is not to deep diveon any subject rather swim across various layers but what one need to

qualify. However, this book cannot be used to gain exhaustive

knowledge on any given subject but it provides enough information

that you can easily remember and be better prepared for anything.

As usual, at the end of the book, a multi-choice Questionnaire is given

that has only one correct answer. Try to attempt those questions on

your own and then check the correct answers from the Answer Sheet.

Good Luck !!!


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Culture of India

he culture of India refers to Art,

Customs, Dance, Food, Music and

Tradition. India is the birth place ofHinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and

Sikhism.

There are more than 1650

languages spoken in India, out of

which 30 languages are spoken by

more than one million persons and

120 languages spoken by more

than 10000 persons. 22 languages

are official languages of India.

o Hindi is spoken by more

than 400 millions people.

The other major languages

are Bengali by 83 millions,

Telugu, Tamil and Marathi

by 70 millions and Gujarati,

Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya,

Punjabi and Urdu by about

50 million persons

individually.

Popular styles of dresses for

women are Sari whereas Dhoti

Kurta for men. Indian women wear

up Bindi, mehendi, bangles and

other jewelry items. Bindi and

Sindoor are the traditional mark of

a married woman for Hindus.

Eight classical forms of Dances of

India are Bharatanatyam from

Tamil Nadu, Kathak from UttarPradesh, Mohiniattam and

Kathkali from Kerala, Kuchipudi

from Andhra Pradesh, Yakshagana

from Karnataka, Manipuri from

Manipur, Odissi from Orissa and

Sattriya from Assam.

Indian Standard Time (IST) is the

time observed throughout India

and Sri Lanka with a time offset ofUTC+05:30. India does not observe

Daylight Saving Time.

o Indian Standard Time is

calculated on the basis of

82.5E longitude from a

clock tower situated in

Mirzapur near Allahabad.

The Country's East and

West distance of more than

2900 km covers over 28

degrees of Longitude

resulting two hours

difference in Sun rising and

setting.

Yoga and Chess were originated in

India. Cricket was also introduced

to India by the British people.

Forests in India

Name of StateTotalArea

Forest(sq.km.)

Percentage

AndhraPradesh

275000 47000 17

Arunachal Pr. 84000 69000 82

Asom 78000 24000 30

Bihar 94000 27000 28

Chhatisgarh 136000 56000 41

Goa 3700 1200 32

Gujarat 196000 12000 6


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Haryana 44000 16000 32

Himachal Pr. 56000 21000 38

Jammu & K. 222000 20000 9

Jharkhand 80000 24000 30

Karnataka 192000 32000 17

Kerala 39000 10000 25

Lakshdeep 32 3 10Madhya Pr. 308000 135000 44

Maharashtra 308000 44000 14

Manipur 22000 18000 82

Meghalaya 22000 16000 73

Mizoram 21000 18000 86

Nagaland 16000 14000 88

Odisha 156000 47000 30

Puducherry 500 45 10

Punjab 50000 3000 6

Rajasthan 342000 13000 11

Sikkim 7000 5700 82

Tamil Nadu 130000 18000 14

Tripura 10000 6000 60

Uttar Pradesh 241000 34000 14

Uttrakhand 52000 25000 25

West Bengal 89000 12000 14Andaman &N.

8000 7000 86

Chandigarh 114 7 7

Dadra &Nagar H.

500 200 40

Daman & Diu 112 6 5

Delhi 1500 30 5

Countrywise population of NRIs

on Resident Indian is a citizen of

India who has a valid Indian

passport and has migrated to

another country for more than six

months or so either for work or for

residence.

A person of Indian origin (PIO) is a

person who was or whose

ancestors were born in India but is

not a citizen of India. About 25

million NRIs are based in different

parts of the countries. 9th January

is celebrated as Pravasi Bharatiya

Divas in India.

As per a survey report, in African

countries alone, about 3 million

NRIs are settled mainly at South

Africa, Mauritius and West Indies.

About 10 million NRIs at based in

Asian countries like Nepal,

Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka,

Singapore, Thailand, Philippines,

Maldives etc.

In Middle East countries more

than 5 million NRIs are located

mainly in Saudi Arabia, United

Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman,

Bahrain and Qatar.

o NRIs in the Middle East are

mostly from Kerala,

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,

Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,

Tamil Nadu and Bihar. The

country does not provide

citizenship or permanent

residency but can live for a

longer period.

In European countries like

England, Netherlands, Italy,

Germany, Switzerland, London,

Portugal etc., about 2 million

persons are enjoying their life.

Trinidad and Tobago is the country

where most of the persons from

Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

have been migrated.

N
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_law


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United States of America and

Canada are two countries where

80% of Indian persons out of more

than 5 million NRIs are settled for

a long time. Guyana and

Suriname, South Americancountries have about 5 lac NRIs.

More than one million persons

have reached in Australia, New

Zealand and Fiji alone.

A consolidated chart below shows

the range of number of persons ofNRIs in each country.

Population Range Name of the Countries

Range up to 2000 Argentina Brazil Cambodia Kazakhstan

Mexico Poland Turkmenistan

Range


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Indian Cuisine

otato and Chilli were brought to

India by the Portuguese.

Every State of India has some

specific varieties of food, sweets

and drinks which are very popular

in India and Abroad also. Like

Mysore Pak, it was first prepared

in the Mysore Palace and was

served to the royal family, hence

this sweet dish is popularly known

as Mysore Pak.

Bisi bele bath is a favourite name

of Pulao in Karnataka.

o Rajasthans Daal Baati,

Tarfini and Ghujia (also

known as Karanji in

Maharashtra, Ghughra in

Gujarat, Karachika in Tamil

Nadu) and Ghevar;

o

Goas Vindaloo;o Puran Poli or Holige of

Maharashtra;

o Odishas Pakhaa Dessert

which is also popular in

West Bengal (as Panta

Bhat), Assam, Jharkhand

and Chhattisgarh;

o Keralas Aviyal Soup;

o Andhra Pradeshs Baghara

baingan, Hyderabadi Sheer

Korma, kheema;

o Assams Poitabhat;

o Bihars Saalan, Chokha;

o Jharkhands Thekua sweet

dish;

o Chattisgarhs Red ant

chutney;

o Kashmirs Rogan Josh,

Wazwan;

o Gujarats Dhokla, Khaman,Khakra, Khandvi, Fafda;

o Madhya Pradeshs Daal

Bafla;

o Manipurs Umarok known

as Jolokia or Ghost Chilli;

o Meghalayas Momo;

o Mizorams Bai and

Sawchair;

o Punjab de Makke di Roti

and Sarson da Saag,Tandoori Chicken, Dal

makhani, choley Kulcha;

o Tamil Nadus Dosa and idli;

o Uttar Pradeshs Kebabs,

Dum Biryani, Sheer Qorma,

Ghewar;

o Uttarakhands Chudkani,

Dubuk, Moong dal Mungodi,

Urad Dal Badi was

originated from here;

o West Bengals Luchi, a

substitute of bread or roti

and Shondesh, a popular

sweet dish are very popular

dishes of the States.

During 19th century, Indian

Chinese dishes popularized like

Chicken Manchurian, Chicken

lollipop, Chilli chicken, Hakka

noodles, Manchow soup, sweetcorn etc.

Jalebi is a famous sweet item

popular in India, Pakistan, Sri

Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Middle

East countries, Africa etc.

P


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Folk Dance and Music

S t a t e Dance and Music FormAssam Bihu Jhoomar

GujaratDandiya -

GarbaGarba

Maharashtra Lavini Paavri

AndhraPradesh

Kollattam Kuchipudi

ArunachalPradesh

Bardo Chham

JharkhandKarma -Munda

Chhatisgarh Panthi Raut Nacha

G o a Tarangmel

Himachal

PradeshSaang Jhanjhar

Haryana Dhamal Ghoomar

Karnataka Yakshgana

Kashmir Dumhal Chaakri

Lakshdeep Lava

MadhyaPradesh

Tertali Matki

Jawara Maanch

Uttar Pradesh CharkulaKajri &Karan

Manipur Thang Ta

Mizoram Cheraw

NagalandChang

Lo/Sua LuaZeliang

Odisha GhumraChhau/Ruk

mar

Puducherry Garadi

Punjab Bhangra Giddha

RajasthanKalbelia Teratali

Panihari Phoodi

Sikkim SinghiChham

Tamil NaduKamandi Kolattam

Devarattam Mayilattam

Tripura Hojagiri

West Bengal Gambhira Kalikapatadi

Festivals of India

ndependence Day, Republic Day and

Gandhi Jayanti are National Holidays.

Holi, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi,

Dussehra, Id-ul-Fitr, Moharram,

Guru Nanak Birthday, Christmas

Day, Gudhi Padva, Vasant

Panchami, Maha Shivaratri, Naag

Panchami, Rath Yatra, Ram

Navami, Hanuman Jayanti,

Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami,

Onam, Hartalika Teej, Chhath,

Buddha Purnima, Good Friday,

Easter, Mahavir Jayanti, Ravidas

Jayanti, Vaisakhi etc. are major

festivals of India.

Secular holidays are celebrated in

most part of India as 1st Januaryas New Year's Day, 23rd January as

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Birthday in Orissa, Tripura, West

Bengal;

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o 19th February as Maharaja

Shivaji Birthday in

Maharashtra;

o 15th March as Kanshi Ram's

Birthday in Uttar Pradesh;

o 14th April as B.R.Ambedkar's Birthday in

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,

Chandigarh, Karnataka,

Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu

and Kashmir, Kerala,

Maharashtra, Puducherry,

Odisha, Uttrakhand, Tamil

Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West

Bengal;

o 31st October as Sardar Patel

Jayanti in Gujarat.

The countries where large Indian

population resides, they celebrate

these festivals with great joy andentertainment.

Holi is celebrated in Nepal,

Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia,

South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago,

United Kingdom, United States of

America, Mauritius, Fiji etc.

Similarly, Diwali, Durga Puja,

Shivratri, Vaisakhi are also

celebrated abroad.

Mela or Mahotsav

umbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage

of faith held for about 40 day

duration.

It is one of the largest festivals in

the world with about 10 crores of

people gathering. It is held every

third year at Haridwar, Allahabad,

Nashik and Ujjain by rotation i.e.

Kumbh Mela is held at each of

these four places every twelfth

year.

o Ardh Kumbh is held at

Haridwar and Allahabad at

every sixth year. Purna

Kumbh Mela is held atPrayag every 12 years and

Maha Kumbh Mela is held

at Prayag on every 144

years.

o The sacred rivers of these

places are Ganges at

Haridwar, Sangam at

Allahabad, Godavari at

Nashik and Shipra at Ujjain.

o The next Kumbh Mela will

be held at Nashik from 15th

August to 13th September,

2015.

Taj Mahotsav is a 10 days annual

event from 18th to 27th February at

Shilpgram Agra. Craftsmen from

different parts of India come and

display their art work including

Stone Carving, Silk and

Handicrafts, Bamboo, Marble,

Brass, Zardozi work etc. from

South India, North East India,

Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West

Bengal etc.

o Throughout the Mahotsav,

various types of folk and

classical music and dances

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are performed by artists

from various regions.

Foreign visitors have free

entry in Taj Mahotsav

whereas for others the Entry

ticket is charged. Howeverchildren below 10 are free.

Lucknow Mahotsav is also a 10

days Annual event organized

between 25th November and 5th

December at Lucknow. Craftsmen

from all over the country bring

their products to the festival.

o Colorful processions,

dramas and dances are heldin Lucknow style. Sarangi

and sitar recitals, ghazals,

qawalis and thumri produce

a cheerful atmosphere

during the festival.

o Other villageous attractions

like Ekka race, Kite flying,

Cock fighting etc. are

celebrated during this event.

Gwalior Trade Fair is a large trade

fair of Gwalior. It was started by

Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior

sometime 100 years back as a

Cattle Fair.

o About 5000 shops provide

ready to use structures for

show room and exhibitions.

It has an independent power

sub-station, water system,

hospital, police station,banks etc. About 5 million

visitors witness the fair.

o Reputed Indian and Multi

National companies, Public

sector Enterprises, State

Governments, Institutes and

other businessmen

participate in the fair. The

revenue generated in the

fair roughly estimates Rs. 5

billions.

o The other major attractionsare Kavi Sammelan,

Mushairas, Music events

etc.

Nagaur Ramdeo Cattle Fair is one

of the largest cattle fair in

Rajasthan which was founded by

King Umed Singh of Jodhpur. It is

held during the month of January

and February each year.o The fair is a big market of

farm products but the

Mirchi market is the most

thrilling and over crowded.

Folk songs and dances are

held during the festival.

Chhath is an ancient Hindu

festival dedicated to Sun God,

Surya. The Chhath Puja is

performed in order to thank Surya

for sustaining life on earth. Sun

worship cures from diseases.

o It is a 4-day festival and is

observed mostly in Bihar,

Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar

Pradesh etc.

Nauchandi mela is held in Meerut.

It has thousands of stalls which

are visited by millions of peopleduring one months period.

o Mandodari was born in

Meerut. She was a great

devotee of goddess Chandi

and she had a temple

erected in her honour. A


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religious festival was held to

celebrate this occasion and

since then the fair has been

held every year.

o It is a rare symbol of

communal harmony withHindu and Muslim shrines

Nauchandi temple and

Dargah of Bala Mian, a

muslim saint.

o Every evening some cultural

programmes are additional

attraction of the mela.

Poets and Writers

Meerabai was devotee of Lord

Krishna. She was a significant

figure of Vaishnava bhakti

movement. Meera was a Rajput

princess from Merta City, Pali

district of Rajasthan.

o During her childhood, she

became deeply enamored by

Lord Krishna. Meera was

taken care of by her

grandfather and got

education there.

o Her uncle, Rao Viram Dev

arranged Meeras marriage

with prince Bhoj Raj, son ofRana Sanga of Chittor. She

was not happy with her

marriage as she considered

herself already married to

Lord Krishna.

o She went to live in Chittor

and prayed Lord Krishna

there. Her husband was

died in a battle. Rana Sanga

protected Meera Bai butafter his death, her other in-

laws tried to harass Meera

to give up her worship

towards Lord Krishna.

o Meera was a disciple of the

guru Raidas. She spent her

last period at Dwarka,

Gujarat.

o It is said that Mirabai

disappeared into the

Dwarkadhish Murti. She

versed her poems in

Padavali in Rajasthani and

Braj language.

Munshi Premchand was born on

31st July, 1880. He died on 8th

October, 1936. He was a famous

Indian writer. He was born as

Dhanpat Rai.

o He has written more than 1dozen Novels, 250 Short

Stories, Essays and

translations of foreign

literary works into Hindi. He

worked as a teacher at the

Govt. School Bahraich.

o The Mystery of God's Abode

was his first writing which

explores corruption among

the temple priests and theirsexual exploitation of poor

women. It was published in

Benares-based Urdu weekly

Awaz-e-Khalk.

o He established a Printing

press and publishing house


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in Benares, named as

Saraswati Press.

o Kishna- women's fondness

for jewellery, Rangbhoomi,

Gaban, Godaan, Mangal

Sutra, Bade Bhai Sahab,Beti ka Dhan, Panch

Parameshvar, Boodhi Kaki,

Pariksha - Sujan Singh to

search for a new minister,

Shatranj ki bazi, IdgahEid

and buys tongs for his

grandmother, Kafan, Namak

Ka Daroga, Lottery - bought

a lottery ticket are his

famous stories.

Amir Khusrow, real name Abdul

Hasan Yaminuddin Khusrow was a

musician and poet. He is regarded

as Father of Qawali.

o Jalaluddin Khilji, Alauddin

Khilji, Qutbuddin and

Muhammad bin Tughluq

were the kings with whom

Khusrow was attached

during their reign. He wrote

in Persian and Hindustani.

Ghalib born Mirza Asadullah Baig

Khan on 27 December 1797died

15 February 1869 was a classical

Urdu and Persian poet from the

Mughal Empire during British

colonial rule. He used his pen-

names of Ghalib. Mirza Ghalib was

born in Agra.

Kabir was a poet and sant of India.

He was takencare by Muslim

weavers Niru and Nima in

Varanasi. He did not believe in

worshipping of murtis.

o Bijak, Sakhi Granth, Kabir

Granthavali and Anurag

Sagar are Kabirs favourite

granths. His poems are in

Hindi, Avadhi, Braj andBhojpuri languages.

o Kabir's legacy is today

carried forward by the Kabir

Panth, a religious

community.

Surdas was a poet and musician.

His poems are dedicated to Lord

Krishna. He was blind. Surdas

composed in Sur Sagar. His guruwas Shri Vallabharacharya who

taught him Hindu philosophy and

meditation and lived with him in

Vrindavan.

Kaka Hathrasi was born on 18th

Sept., 1906. His real name was

Prabhu Dayal Garg. He established

Sangeet Karyalaya, a Publishing

company in 1932. He was awarded

Padma Shri in 1985.

o He participated in Radio

programme, Meethi Meethi

Hasaiyan. "Kaka Hathrasi

Puraskar" is given annually

to the best humor Poet. He

died on 18th September,

1995.

Raskhan was born in 1548. His

real name was Sayeed Ibrahim. Hewas a poet and was follower of

Lord Krishna. His guru was

Goswami Vitthal Nath and spend

whole life in Vrindavan.

o He translated Bhagavata

into Persian. His shrine is


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located in Gokul. Prem

Vatica and Sujan Raskhan

are his creations.

Rachnavali is the collection

of his poetry.

Abul Fazal wrote Akbarnama and

Aina-e-Akbari is Persian

translation of Bible. Miyan Tansen

was a singer of King Akbar. His

real name was Tanna Mishra.

Birbal, real name Mahesh Das,

was a poor Brahmin but was very

brilliant so he was appointed in

Akbars court. Even his main dutywas Military and administrative

but was very close friend of King

Akbar. He was also a poet. He died

in a battle due to unrest amongst

Afghani tribes in Northwest India.

Raja Todar Mal was a Hindu Khatri

and was Finance Minister of king

Akbar. He introduced standard

Weights and Measurements.

o Raja Man Singh was of

Jaipur Dynasty and was a

General in Akbars Army. He

was Mughal Viceroy of

Afghanistan, Bihar, Orissa,

Deccan and Bengal.

o Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana

was a poet and was step son

of Akbar.

Baiju Bawra real name was BaijNath Mishra. He was the court

musician of Raja Mansingh Tomar

of Gwalior along with Tansen and

others. Baiju learnt Dhrupad

music by Guru Hari Das Goswami

in Vrindavan.

Tulsidas was a Hindu poet, saint

and devotee to Lord Rama. He was

born to Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey

at Chitrakoot. His nickname was

Rambola. Tulsidas was married toRatnavali. Tulsidas lived

permanently in Varanasi.

o Ram Charit Manas was

completed by Tulsidas in 2

years 7 months and 26 days

in the year 1575 CE at

Ayodhya. After completing

it, Tulsidas came to

Varanasi and recited Ram

Charit Manas to Lord Shivaand Parvati at Kashi

Vishwanath Temple.

o Vinay Patrika is last

composition of Tulsidas.

Tulsidas died at the Assi

Ghat on the bank of Ganga

river.

o Tulsidas Awadhi works

included Ram Charit Manas

whereas in Brajbhasha he

wrote Krishna Gitavali,

Dohavali, Vinaya Patrika.

Tulsidas also composed

Hanuman Chalisa,

Hanuman Ashtak and Tulsi

Satsai in Avadhi.

Sumitranandan Pant was a poet.

Real name was Gosain Dutt. He

received Jnanpith Award in 1968

for first Hindi poet. He was alsoawarded Sahitya Kala Academy

award and honored with Padma

Vibhushan Award.

Bihari full name was Bihari Lal

Chaube was a Hindi poet. His


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famous writing is Satsai in

Brajbhasha. He was born in

Gwalior in 1595 and spent his

boyhood in Orchha.

o He got an opportunity to

meet Mughal Emperor ShahJahan, who immediately got

impressed by his work and

invited him to stay in Agra.

o He learnt Persian language

and came into contact with

Rahim. Raja Jai Singh I of

Jaipur also invited him over

to Jaipur where he

composed Satasai.

Mahadevi Varma was a writer,

Poet, Freedom Fighter, Woman's

Activist. She was Principal and

Vice Chancellor of Prayag Mahila

Vidyapeeth. She was awarded

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in

1979, Jnanpith Award in 1982 and

Padma Vibhushan in 1988.

Rahim Khan, real name Abdul

Rahim Khan-I-Khana was one of

Navaratnas of King Akbar. He was

son of Bairam Khan. After death of

Bairam Khan, his wife became the

second wife of Akbar which made

Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khan his

stepson.

o Rahim was a devotee of Lord

Krishna and wrote poetry

dedicated to him. He was

also an astrologer. Rahimtranslated Babar's memoirs,

Baburnama.

Maithili Sharan Gupt was a

modern Hindi poet. He composed

in Khari Boli. He was an honorary

member of Rajya Sabha where he

used poetry to put his opinions

before the other members. He

remained a member of the Rajya

Sabha till his death.

o His poetry names were Rangmein Bhang, Bharat-

Bharati, Jayadrath Vadh,

Plassey ka Yuddha,

Gurukul, Panchavati,

Yashodhara, Arjan Aur

Visarjan, Kaaba-Karbala,

Jayabharat, Dwapar, kirano

ka khel etc.

Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' was a

poet, essayist and patriot. He was

elected three times to the Rajya

Sabha. He was awarded Padma

Bhushan award in 1959. He was

also the Vice Chancellor of

Bhagalpur University in 1960s. He

got the Sahitya Akademi Award in

1959 for his work Sanskriti ke

Char Adhyay. Dinkar was awarded

the Jnanpith Award in 1972 for

Urvashi.

o Poetic work were Vijay

Sandesh, Kurukshetra,

Itihas ke Aansoo, Dhup aur

Dhuan, Mirch ka Mazaa,

Dilli, Neem ke Patte, Suraj

ka Byaah, Seepee aur

Shankh. Major Prose works

were Ardhanaarishwar, Reti

ki Phool, Sanskriti ke Chaar

Adhyaay, He Ram!, MeriYatrayen, Vivah ki

Musibaten.

Kavi Pradeep was born in 1915.

His real name was Ramchandra

Baryanji Dwivedi. He was a


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renowned poet and song writer for

his patriotic song Aye Mere Watan

Ke Logo which was later filmized in

Kangan.

o He wrote about 1700 songs

and nationalistic poemsincluding the lyrics for more

than 70 films. Aye Mere

Watan Ke Logo song was

famously performed live by

Lata Mangeshkar in the

presence of Prime Minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru at the

Ramlila grounds, New Delhi

on 26th January, 1963.

o

Despite many offers, KaviPradeep pledged the royalty

of this song to 'War Widows

Fund'. He died in the year

1998. On 25th August, 2005,

Mumbai High Court ordered

Saregama (HMV) to pay Rs.

1 million as arrears as

Royalty to the War Widows

Fund.

Valmiki, real name was Ratnakar,

was the author of Ramayana.

Narada Muni changed his life when

he was passing by the jungle and

Ratnakar tried to harass him. He

was called Valmiki because he had

done his penancy on an ant-hill

(Sanskrit word).

o

Ramayan was writtenoriginally by Valmiki in

Sanskrit which consist

24,000 shloks in 7 Cantos.

Selected Indian Authors and Books

Author Name of the Book (s)

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Wings of Fire Ignited Minds

Ravindra Nath TagoreCrescent Moon Post Office

Geetanjali Hungry Stone

Mahatma Gandhi My Experiments with Truth Conquest of Self

Jawahar Lal Nehru Discovery of India Glimpses of World History

Atal Behari Bajpayee New Dimensions of Indias Foreign Policy

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Indian Philosophy An Ideal View of Life

T.N. Seshan The Degeneration of India

M. Hidayatullah My Own Boswell

Jaswant Singh A Call to Honour

V.V. Giri My Life and Times Jobs for MillionsR. Venkatraman My Presidential Years

Bimal Jalan The Future of India

L.K. Advani A Prisoners Scrap Book

Indira Gandhi Eternal India

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto If I am assassinated

Khushwant Singh Train to Pakistan The Company of Women


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P.V. Narsimha Rao A Long Way

Neelam S. Reddy Without Fear or Favour

Jai Prakash Narayan Prison Diary

Flags of the countries

he flag is a symbol of any Country.

Each country has a specific Flag

which is flown on a pole to identify

that country.

The shape of most of the flags

usually rectangular but may be ofSquare or Triangular shapes also.

There is a protocol involved in

proper display of flags. It should

never be flown upside down and

should be flown in a position of

honor and not in an inferior

position of other flags. When a

National Flag is displayed together

with any other countrys flag, it

must be hoisted first and lowered

last and should be of equal size

and must be flown at equal height.

If a Flag of any shape or

any color is waved

vigorously on a Railway

track, it means STOP.

Mostly flags are made of three

strips. The flag of each Nation has

minimum one particular color

which shows its Continent such as

Red for American flags, Yellow or

Saffron for Asian flags, Black for

African flags, Green for Australian

flags and Blue for European flags.

There are 193 countries recognized

as Member States of United

Nations, 8 countries Non-united

Nation Members, 38 Inhabited

Dependent Territories and 6

Nations are recognized by

International Agreement i.e. a total

245 countries have their own

Flags.

While the flag of Denmark is the

oldest flag, the flag of Netherlands

is the oldest Tri-color flag. Union

Flag of United Kingdom is the most

commonly flag and also being used

by Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and

Tuvalu.

Nepals Flag is the only non-

quadrilateral flag in the World. The

flag of Switzerland and VaticanCity are the only National flags

which are in Square shapes. The

Flag of South Africa has Six colors

whereas Seychelles flag has 5

colors.

AmericanRED

AsianYELLOW

AfricanBLACK

AustralianGREEN

EuropeanBLUE


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Flag of Marshall Islands represents

the Pacific Ocean in Blue color

whereas white orange bands

represent the Ratak Ralik

(Sunrise and Sunset) chains. A

consolidated sheet of the flags

arranged in order of its shape or

color is given below.

FLAGS SAME AS INDIAN FLAG

INDIA NIGER TAJIKAN HUNGARY IRAN IRELAND ITALY

FLAGS WITH RED AND WHITE TWO COLOR

BAHRAIN CANADA GREENLAND DENMARK MALTA HONG KONG INDONESIA

FLAGS WITH RED (MEROON) AND WHITE TWO COLOR

LEBANON MONACO TONGA PERU POLAND LATVIA AUSTRIA

FLAGS HAVING MOON AND STAR(S)

SINGAPORE TURKEY TUNISIA MAURITANIA PAKISTAN ALGERIA AZERBAIJAN

COMOROS CHILE UZBEKISTAN MALDIVES LIBYA MALAYSIA TUKMTAN

FLAGS HAVING SUN PICTURE


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ANTIGUA & B. KIRIBATI ARGENTINA KAZSTAN URUGUAY RWANDA NAURU

FLAGS WITH UNION JACK SIGN

AUSTRALIA FIJI N.ZEALAND UNITED K. TUVULU BERMUDA

FLAGS WITH MULTI STARS (Decreasing Order)

U.S.A. BOSNIA & H. CAPE VERDE VENEZUELA KOSOVO SOLOMON ISL. CHINA

FLAGS

WITH

MULTIPLE

COLORS

PAPUA NEW G. SAMOA QATAR CEN. AFRICAN R. SEYCHELLES SOUTH AFRICA

FLAGS HAVING CIRCLE

BANGLADESH JAPAN LAOS PALAU

FLAGS HAVING BIRDS

ALBANIA DOMINICA EQUADOR MALDOVA VIRGIN ISLAND ZAMBIA MONTENEGRO

FLAGS WITH CHRISTIANITY SIGN


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FINLAND ICELAND NORWAY SWEDEN FAROE ISL.

FLAGS WITH SINGLE COLOR SURFACE

VIETNAM MICRONESIA HONG KONG GUAM SOMALIA MOROCCO KRYGHSTAN

FLAGS WITH CROSS-SECTION

JAMAICA BURUNDI GEORGIA SWITZERLAND DOMINICA R. PANAMA

FLAGS WITH DIAGONAL STRIPS

CONGO DEM.REP. CONGO MARSHALL IS. NAMIBIA ST. KITTS TANZANIA TRINIDAD & T.

FLAGS WITH MULTIPLE VERTICAL STRIPS

COSTA RICA MAURITIUS THAILAND GREECE UGANDA SWAZILAND

FLAGS WITH MULTIPLE VERTICAL STRIPS AND STAR

LIBERIA SURINAME TOGO ZIMBABWE

FLAGS WITH SOME OBJECTS ON IT

BRAZIL CAMBODIA BRUNEI BELIZE AFGHANISTAN ST. LUCIA MONGOLIA


21/27

FLAGS WITH UNIQUE DESIGN AND SHAPE

BHUTAN CYPRUS - MAP IRAQ ALLAHU AKBAR NEPAL S.ARABIA - SHAHADA SRI LANKA MACEDONIA

FLAGS WITH MULTI COLOR DIAGONAL SHAPE

KUWAIT BAHAMAS JORDAN MOZAMBIQUE SUDAN EQUI. GUINEA

FLAGS WITH 3-HORIZONTAL FLAT STRIPS

CHAD COTE DLVOIRE FRANCE GUINEA MALI NIGERIA ROMANIA

SQUARE

FLAGS

BELGIUM CAMERON SENEGAL MEXICO VATICAN CITY UKRAINE

FLAGS WITH BLUE SHADED EXTREMELY

BOTSWANA ELSALVADOR HONDURUS GUATEMALA NICARAGUA SAN MARINO

FLAGS WITH TWO COLOR AND TRIANGLE BASE

DJIBOUTI CZECH. REP. CUBA PHILIPPINES SAO TOME VANUATU

FLAGS WITH THREE VERTICAL FLAT STRIPS


22/27

ARMENIA BULGARIA GAMBIA COLUMBIA LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG NETHERLANDS

GABON ESTONIA SIERRE LEONE RUSSIA YEMEN GERMANY

FLAGS WITH THREE VERTICAL STRIPS WITH SOME OBJECT

CROATIA ETHIOPIA GHANA SLOVENIA LESOTHO MALAWI N. KOREA

MYANMAR BOLIVIA EGYPT PARAGUA SERBIA SYRIA SPAIN

BARBADOS ANDORRA ST. VINCENT ISRAEL S. KOREA

FLAGS HAVING SOME KINDS OF WEAPON

ARROW

TYPE

ANGOLA KENYA OMAN GUYANA

FLAGS WITH BLOCK TYPE DESIGN

BENIN GRENEDA GUINEA BISSUE MADAGASCAR U.A.E.

FLAGS WITH RED COLOR AND ONE MORE COLOR


23/27

BELARUS BURKINO FASO HAITI LIECHTEIN PORTUGAL TAIWAN TIMOR

Total : 201 Flags


24/27

Questions Related to this Chapter

1-G. Prem Vatika, poems on LordKrishna is a collection of which Poet?

(a) Behari (b) Surdas(c) Raskhan (d) Kabir

2-O. In which language, Surdas wroteSursagar?(a) Khari Boli (b) Sanskrit(c) Brij Bhasha (d) Bhojpuri

3-L. Which Indian writer published acollection of short stories titledMansarovar?(a) Pratap Narain Mishr

(b) Prem Chand(c) Jai Shanker Prasad(d) Mahadevi Verma

4-A. How many countries arerecognized as Member States of UnitedNations who have their own NationalFlags?(a) 191 (b) 193(c) 201 (d) 238

5-D. Bisi Bele Bath is a popular dish

of?(a) a kind of Rice item(b) a kind of beverage(c) a kind of dessert(d) a kind of snack item

6-N. At which Court, did famousPersian Poet Amir Khusro live?(a) Il-tut-mish(b) Akbar(c) Mohd. Tughlaq(d) Allauddin Khilzi

7-E. Which book is not written byRavindra Nath Tagore?(a) Gardener(b) The Future of India(c) Hungary Stones(d) The Court Dancer

8-A. Which book is not written byMahatma Gandhi?

(a) The Degeneration of India(b) Story of my Experiment with Truth(c) Hind Swaraj(d) Key to Health

9-L. Other than Hindi, which languageis most frequently spoken in India?(a) Gujarati (b) Malayalam(c) Tamil (d) Urdu

10-E. Out of the following countries,which country has maximum number of

NRIs?(a) Thailand (b) Germany(c) Bhutan (d) Myanmar

11-E. Which country flag is just likeIndian flag with circle inside?(a) Ireland (b) Italy(c) Niger (d) Hungary

12-D. Which book is not written by anyPresident of India?(a) Ignited Minds

(b) An Idealist View of Line(c) My Life and Times(d) New Dimensions of Indias Foreign Policy

13-A. On which day, Pravasi BhartiDivas is celebrated in India?(a) 4th May (b) 9th January(c) 11th Sept. (d) 27th September

14-G. What is Noon-chai in Kashmirstradition?(a) Salty beverage

(b) Drink having in afternoon(c) Sweet dish(d) Non-vegetarian dish name

15-N. At what time is Raga Bhairvisuitable for playing?(a) Morning (b) Afternoon(c) Evening (d) Night


25/27

16-A. Which countrys time zone is asequal as of Indian timings?(a) Bangladesh (b) Pakistan(c) Sri Lanka (d) Nepal

17-B. Which tree is considered to be themost beneficial medically?(a) Guava (b) Basil(c) Banana (d) Neem

18-G. Which Mughal Emperor donatedthe land for construction of GoldenTemple at Amritsar?(a) Akbar (b) Humaun(c) Jehangir (d) Shah Jehan

19-D. Which country has the maximumNRI persons from Bihar who have settledthere?(a) United Kingdom(b) Trinidad & Tobago(c) United States of America(d) Dubai

20-L. From which States of India, MoongDal Mungodi (Badi) was originated as afood item?(a) Bihar (b) Rajasthan

(c) Uttrakhand (d) Haryana-Pb.

21-D. To whom it is believed, was bornand died on the same date?(a) Meerabai (b) Ras Khan(c) Tulsidas (d) Kaka Hathrasi

22-E. Of whom, surname was Chaube?(a) Tulsidas (b) Bihari(c) Kavi Pradeep (d) Birbal

23-E. In which country, maximum

American are residing or posted for anyreasons?(a) Brazil (b) Mexico(c) Israel (d) Canada

24-A. In which country flag, a Shahadais written inside the flag?

(a) Iraq (b) Saudi Arabia(c) Iran (d) Egypt

25-L. Which country first used the 365-days calendar?(a) Indian (b) Greeks

(c) Chinese (d) Egyptians

26-L. Which Dynasty is the oldest one inIndian History?(a) Bahmani Dynasty(b) Chola Dynasty(c) Lodi Dynasty(d) Satvahana Dynasty

27-E. In how many years, the OxfordEnglish Dictionary was conceived in1858?(a) 10 years (b) 25 years(c) 50 years (d) 70 years

28-L. Out of the following, whichcollection of poems is not of MaithliSharan Gupt?(a) Plassey ka Yuddh(b) KaabaKarbala(c) Jaydrath Vadh(d) Sanskrit ke Chaar Adhyaay

29-G. Who wrote the poem TwinkleTwinkle Little Star?(a) Ann Taylor(b) Jane Taylor(c) Ann & Jane Taylor both(d) Emily Dickinson

30-L. Which Dance form is originatedfrom Karnataka State of India?(a) Kuchipudi(b) Bharatnatyam(c) Kathkali

(d) Yakshgana

31-G. Which is the best selling book allover the world?(a) Ramayan (b) Geeta(c) Bible (d) Quraan


26/27

Scoring System

The questions are divided into ten slabs of rating, as usual which has a numeral

value. These letters are A, B, D, E, G, H, L, N, O and S.

Q. Ans. Q. Ans. Q. Ans. Q. Ans. Q. Ans.

1 c 2c 3b 4b 5 - a

6 d 7b 8a 9c 10 - d

11 c 12d 13b 14a 15 - a

16 c 17d 18a 19b 20c

21 d 22b 23b 24b 25 - d

26 d 27d 28d 29c 30d

31 - c


27/27

Bibliography:

When I compiled this chapter, I took help of some websites related to it. The following

quotes and references were visited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-resident_Indian_and_person_of_Indian_origin

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sovereign-state_flags

Manorama Guide upto 2012.

Thank You!18

thpart of the Book of The Key to Success

Indian Culture, Flags of the World ,

NRIs etc.

has been released. Hope you are enjoying.

Now in this part of book you will find knowledge

regarding Culture of India, its forests, Folk

Dances, Festivals and Melas, Cuisines, Poets and

Writers,Authors and their Books, N.R.Is. in

different countries and Flags of the World etc.

I tried to give you as much information as

possible regarding the above subject even

knowing that there is too much to write on the

subject matter.

Again I request you all to share it with your friends

too. Very soon you may buy the book in parts at a

discounted rate from various online services

including Amazon.com separately.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-resident_Indian_and_person_of_Indian_originhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-resident_Indian_and_person_of_Indian_originhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sovereign-state_flagshttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sovereign-state_flagshttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sovereign-state_flagshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-resident_Indian_and_person_of_Indian_originhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_India

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The Key to Success in KBC - Part 18 - Indian Culture and Flags of the World