10 Things Only Indians Can Be Proud Of
From wearing a piece of cloth in numerous ways to being viewed through a satellite in space, India is exceptionally unique. And we Indians are really proud of it. People, culture, customs and diversity, make India one incredible nation. But, there are a bunch of little things that make a huge difference in us and the rest of the world. Things that only we can celebrate and shoot a line about. Things that are a part of our everyday life. Can’t recall? Well, here are 10 things that only Indians can be proud of.
1) Mumbai dabbawalas
With an efficiency rate of 99.9999999, one error in six million transactions a Six Sigma rate by Forbes Global, a weekly American business magazine, each day 3,5000 of them collect, deliver and return back tiffins to 1.5 lakh office goers.
2) Amul
Technically, the Kaira district cooperative milk producers union Ltd was set up in 1946 to break the cartel of milk contractors. Today, Amul has become a household name and has made India the largest milk producer in the world.
3) Yoga
Physical fitness, mental peace or a disease, yoga has the ultimate solution for everything. By practicing ‘the kechari mudra’, Devraha Baba, the sage of Vrindavan, has been claimed to have lived for 700 years! This 5000 year holistic science was noticed in the Indus Valley seal of a yogi and later codified by Patanjali in the second century B.C.
4) Indian railways
It has a network of 1 lac and 9000 kilometres (second in the world) ; 7000 stations; runs 13000 trains daily, ferries one million passengers a day; has the longest tunnel, the highest stations, has 1.2 lac bridges on railways, is the largest railway in the world and is the nation’s largest employer – 1.65 million employees.
5) STD booths
20 years ago, making long distance calls were a nightmare – it meant exasperated shouting, a habit still imprinted in Indian DNA – it has come to a point where even zero is a number of value: 022.
6) The Dhaba
Be a Mercedes or a fiat, the tradition of stop still ensures. Secrets – very tasty food, quick service and unbelievable prices.
7) The sari
It exposes a strategic circumference of skin and there are 100 different ways of wrapping it without any accessory. Its eternal folds give elegance and a sensual appeal which is timeless and enduring.
8) The curry
The curry, tikka masalas and daal makhani – do we have to prove that it is Indian? But casual cooking has curry in trouble today: 2 Japanese patent agencies have an application pending that could give them the exclusive rights to the general process of making it.
9) Darjeeling tea
‘India’s champagne’ started in 150 years ago by a British civil surgeon, Dr. Archibald Campbell in his garden at Beechwood, Darjeeling, 7000 feet above sea. Today, there are 86 gardens over 19000 hectares with 15000 employees and 11 million kilograms a year production. A kilo of this tea from Castleton Estate fetched highest price of Rs. 15000 at Kolkata auctions in 1989.
10) Jugaad
Indian innovativeness – a bicycle wheel run on the rooftop is a TV antenna, ‘Maruta’, rural Punjabi transport vehicle fashioned from a pump, wood plants, cannibalized steering, three and other junk; making lassi in liters in modified washing machines; kitchen knives sharpened for decades by on grind wheels powered by pedaling in a stationary bicycle and dosa mix in churned by a motorized pestle in households and restaurants.
So, what are you proud of as an Indian?
…