The western world always had a misconception about India. People thought a snake charmer, wearing a turban, having a woman draped in a sari and a coloured dot on her forehead as a wife, performing rope trick, an Indian. Ofcourse, there are other things like Elephants, Tigers, Horses, Maharajas, Palaces, Jungles, Bandits, Sadhus, Mystics, Beggars, Slums, etc., which was always associated with India. When I first came here, somebody asked me whether my family back home owned Elephants! HA! Well, I don't blame you for this incredible imagination. It is our own mistake for not presenting a correct picture of ourselves.

In this article I would like to give you a glimpse of the most important contributions India has made to the human civilisation. Here, when I say India, it is not just talking about a place called, "The Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic of India." I am talking about the present nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet. I would also like to warn the class that the opinion expressed here is solely mine and no second Indian would subscribe to most of the theories, particularly about Religion. Some Indians might even consider it as blasphemy. Others might dismiss this as an estranged thinking of a mad man. But these interpretations were based on logic and facts, which I encountered in my journey through life and death, in search of the Truth.

India, the name originated from Indus, the Anglicised version of Hindu, which in turn is an Arabic version of Sindhu, a major river in the western part of India. Sindhu or Indus river is the home of one of the earliest known human civilisations in history, The Indus valley civilisation. The Indian name of this place is Bharatha, which has its origin on a character called 'Bharatha'. The explanation of who this character was, is typical Indian. There are two different versions -- One says, it is the sage Bharatha, who is credited for writing the first book on acting. Others say, it is Bharatha, a character in the epic Mahabharatha. In the ancient world India was known as 'Aryavrata', which closely means, "The land where superiors live" - superiors by knowledge.

Religion, the theory of the unknown. The living religions of this planet were created in and around India. The most important of them are Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Others being, Parse, Jain and Sikh philosophies. Except for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the rest of the philosophies are Indian. The most important of Indian philosophies are Buddhism and Hinduism, which originated from the Vedic period. According to me, Vedic is the only period in time where, as a society, Homo Sapiens lived as Humans.The creation of Buddhism was a continuous process of the Vedic school of thinking, whereas, Hinduism originated from a distorted and misinterpretation of the same. Most Indians believe that Vedic and Hindu philosophies are one and the same. But, unfortunately, it is not so, Vedic philosophy is based on Logic, Hinduism on Magic!

'Veda' means knowledge in Sanskrit language. Science and Mathematics -- including numeral system and "zero", Geometry, Astronomy, Astrology, calculation of time and space, theories on the origins of life, definition of abstraction, research of sound effects on humans and nature, ethics, democratic administration, architecture, mechanics, metallurgy, advanced system of communication in the form of Sanskrit language and Devanagari script, systematic study of medicine, study of knowledge, narcotics and mind control substances to name a few were achievements of this period. Vedic Indians worshipped nature in an abstract form. It is believed that this civilisation existed somewhere between 3000 and 4000 BC.

Language, the form of communication in sound, writing and performances were perfected in India. Communication by sound and writing in the form of Sanskrit language and Devanagari script is the only combination ever created wherein any sound can be written down. It has a vast vocabulary, well-defined grammar and speech system which later in time largely was adopted by other living languages of the world. Unlike, other languages, Sanskrit and Devanagari did not evolve in time, they were created and perfected by research.

Sanskrit literature has the largest collection of masterpieces in prose, poetry and play forms in both fiction and non-fiction versions. 'Mahabharata' is the longest poetry ever written in history. It has 100,000 stanzas and is the largest epic of all times. The author, 'Vyasa' also wrote eighteen works of fiction called the 'Puranas', a collection of moral stories based on imaginary characters which can be considered as the origination of modern day Hinduism. His other work is the 'Vedas', which is a compilation of the research done in the Vedic period, centuries before him.

Sanskrit theatre is the oldest in the world. Even before the Greeks opened their show, books were written on the fine art of Drama, Dance and Music. Sage Bharatha's work, 'Natyashastra' is the Bible of acting. Classical dance forms like, Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, etc., originated from his principles. Hundred's of plays has been written and performed through centuries. The most famous of the dramatists was "Kalidasa" who is believed to have lived in the first century BC in the court of 'Bhoja Raja' of Ujjain city in central India. One of his works, 'Abhignana Shakuntala' is considered as a masterpiece by both western and eastern scholars. Some of his other works were 'Meghadootam' and 'Kumarasambhava'. His style and usage of language have no parallel in the history of theatre.

Thousands of books in prose form were also written in Sanskrit, briefly, some of them are Chanakya's "Arthashastra" (325 BC) the book on statecraft that describes the art and methods of administration, control of economy, construction of cities and houses. This book also contains techniques of spying, diplomacy, make-up, regulation of prostitution among other things; Vishnu Sharma's "Panchatantra", a huge collection of moral stories with humans and animals as characters. This work is considered as an inspiration to the Buddhist 'Jataka Tales' and Asop's fables; Vatsayana's "Kamasuthra", systematised and converted carnal act of sex to a fine art; Etc.

There are so many things that originated in India which later in time was adopted by other civilisations. The subject of 'Indology' is as vast as infinity. It is not easy to explain or describe India in one paper. The deeper one goes, the more they discover. It is a tragedy that the present day Indians are constructing a building far away from the foundation their ancestors built. I know, understand and accept the fact that majority of Homo Sapiens would not accept my points of view. The reason, they don't look around. There is an ancient Indian saying, "Knowledge is for those who seek." And, knowledge is buried deep inside a place called India.

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