How many different languages are there in India?
Around 800 languages, and roughly 2000 dialects. We have twenty-three official languages, of which two are primary (Hindi and English). The central government uses Hindi when dealing with Hindi-speaking provinces, and English when communicating with other provinces. Each state has its own language, which it uses as the state's official language, and that is the language of administration within the state.
What are the most common thoughts about China in India?
Most conservative Indians view China with suspicion. The last war still rankles.
What are the fundaments of Hinduism, and how does these affect your everyday life?
That's a very, very tough question to answer. Probably the first tenet which I can think of is the appeal to personal experience. According to Swami Vivekananda, you are not required to believe anything except that which you have experienced.
The ultimate goal is the liberation of the soul from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and from its attachment to the world. We must BECOME the supreme.
According to many schools, god is attributeless, but manifests himself in forms which have attributes.
As to how they affect my everyday life - they make me more receptive towards intellectualism. They also stop me from accepting bullfeathers in the name of religion, because the use of the critical faculty is encouraged. It makes me patriotic and nationalist, because I want my country and religion to excel. It makes me a builder of institutions whenever I can be, because I know that they are the only way I can live beyond the death of my physical body.
And probably most importantly, it gives me a cultural rootedness which almost no other civilisation could have, because the sense of continuity I feel with history goes back farther than known history itself. I feel that I am part of a culture which has lasted throughout history, and if we are strong and do our part, will last into the future as far as can be seen. We have accumulated so many things of value over these years, so many lessons learnt, so many experiences undergone, that it enriches me tremendously in a way most people will scarcely begin to understand.
) that I create a thread like this, because I'm probably the only Hindu around here (though I guess there may be another Indian, but because that hasn't been covered, I thought I'd cover that, too).
