29 Interesting Facts About India That You Had No Idea About

India is a big country not only in terms of area and population, but also in terms of diversity. Knowing everything about this great country is almost impossible. Here are 29 shocking things that will make you even more curious about India.

1. Hindi is not the National Language of India

There are more than 20 official languages and Hindi is one of them but it is not our National language. Official languages are the ones which a country uses to communicate on an official level. In fact, there are some cities in India like Chennai, where people are happy not to communicate in Hindi.

2. India does not have a National Game

It’s not hockey and definitely not chess. In an RTI reply , the centre said that there is no National game.

3. There are places in India where men demand gender equality for themselves

There are places in India where a man marries a woman and moves to his mother-in-law’s house. Khasi and t he matrilineal Muslim s in Minicoy, Lakshadweep are some of the examples.

4. These cities make it to the list of World’s Fastest Growing Cities and urban areas from 2006 to 2020

Ghaziabad, Surat and Faridabad. There.

5. Bear Grylls wanted to join The Indian Army after getting out of school

Presenter of the famous show, Man Vs. Wild, Bear Grylls always knew he wanted to do something adventurous with his life. No wonder, his first choice was to join The Indian Army.

Source: wikipedia

6. USB was developed by an Indian-American computer architect

Ajay V. Bhatt is the man behind USBs. You can also credit him for AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) , PCI Express , Platform Power management architecture and various other chip-set improvements.

7. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch volunteered as an English teacher at a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling , India

The actor, famous for portraying the role of Sherlock, took an year gap to teach English in Darjeeling. Lucky students, we must say!

8. Calculus and Trigonometry came from India

As much as the students hate it, India is responsible for it.

9. India has been the largest troop contributor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions

And this is how they saved thousands of lives.

10. The gathering at the Kumbh Mela is so large that it is visible from the space

This picture shows how it looks.

11. T he City Montessori School in Lucknow is the world’s largest school in terms of the number of students

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the City Montessori School in Lucknow, India, had 39,437 pupils and 2,500 teachers on December 29, 2011.

12. Indian Railways has more than 1.4 million employees

That’s more than the population of Trinidad and Tobago, Estonia, Mauritius, Bahrain, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Vatican City.

13. India has the largest English-speaking population in the world after USA

And only 11.38% of people in India know the language.

14. India’s first rocket was transported on a bicycle (1963) and the first satellite on a bullock-cart (1981)

We have come a long way.

Source: SW

15. D espite budgetary constraints, India’s space program is one of the top 5 space programs in the world

Remember Mars Orbiter Mission? It was the cheapest mission to Mars.

16. Actor Ben Kingsley’s birth name is Krishna Pandit Bhanji and he is of Indian descent

In a career spanning over 40 years, he has won an Oscar , Grammy , BAFTA , two Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards.

17. The Pentium Chip was invented by an Indian

Vinod Dham is also called the Father of the Pentium chip for his contribution to the development of highly successful Pentium processors from Intel.

18. Buttons were invented in India

Yes, the shirt buttons we all use and don’t acknowledge.

19. We played a major role in the invention and development of Plastic Surgery

Sushruta, an ancient Indian surgeon, made important contributions to the field of plastic and cataract surgery in 6th century BC. The medical works of both, Sushruta and Charak originally in Sanskrit later spread. British physicians travelled to India to see rhinoplasties being performed by native methods.

20. Until 1986, India was the only official place where Diamonds were found

21. Dolphins are treated as ‘ non human persons ‘ in India

Dolphins are extremely intelligent animals who also display culture, which was long-believed to be unique to humans . And that is exactly why The Government Of India declared that they must be treated like we treat humans. Captive Dolphins are also banned in India.