When you love someone, your teacher or a friend, you would like to know more about that person. India is our country. We are all citizens of India. It is a vast country with people of many religions and with a rich cultural heritage. This was clearly depicted in the scenes and pictures that were telecast along with ‘Vande Mataram’ presented both by A.R. Rahman and Lata Mangeshkar. All the languages of India are rich in their literature. Sanskrit, which is the mother of all India languages, is characterized by a variely, which can hardly be found in any other language. Sanskrtit literature is a treasure house of the gems of knowledge in all disciplines or subjects. It contains valuable concepts of Astronomy, Mathematics, Science, Music, Medicine, which are greatly valued even today. The architectural monuments all over India have attracted tourists from the world over. To leam more about India, here is a game you can play. The Game (1) Make five groups of two or three students in each group in the following manner: Group I – States of India. Group II – People. Group III – Language. Group IV – Monuments in the state and other tourist attractions Group V - Special Arts and Crafts of the state. (2) One student will be at the board to write the responses of each group. She or he will draw five columns on the board for each group. (3) As the members of Group I names the state, the other groups will give the information to be filled in each column. (4) If any group fails to supply the relevant information the group has to try to get it from the observers. If the information is still not available the group has to take the responsibility of going to the library and finding it out. (5) If the group supplies the information, the group gets a point. At the end of the game, a complete picture of India will emerge. Your last year’s Geography text book will be helpful to you in playing the game. Our Great Personalities The patriots who sacrificed for the country and at last made the country free are a great source of inspiration for all of us. Many of them laid down their lives for the country like Bhagat Singh and Mangal Pandey. Our great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Neteji Subhashchandra Bose, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. S.Radhakrishnan, Lokmanya Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Mahatma Jyoutirao Phule etc. created an awakening and enkindled the spirit of patriotism in us. Our great scientists such as Homi Ghabha. J.C. Bose. C.V. Raman Vikram Sarabhi conducted scientific researches, established famous institutions, and made valuable contributions in the field of scientific reseach Bhaskaracharya and Ramanujam, the great mathematicians of India have discovered many concepts in Mathematics. Whe Indian culture was in a tottering state spiritual awakening was created by Santkabir, sant jnanadev, sant tukaram, sant namdeo,surdas, tulsidas and Mirabai. Besides, there were many authors in all the Indian languages, who have enlightened Indian people and been acclaimed internationally. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Noble prize for literature for his collection of poems, ‘Gitanjali’. Sarojini Naidu ‘The Nightingale of india’ as she was called, awakened the people. Similarly subramania bharati wrote patriotic songs in Tamil, which are sung even today in musical concerts. Coming to the field of music and dance, we have outstanding musicians like pandit Ravi shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Smt. M.S. Subbalakshmi, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle and many others have toiled herd to popularize Indian Music among the Indian and western audiences, and contributed to the cultural development of India. Some of the reputed dancers who have promothe Indian dance are Kanak Rele, Sonal Man Singh, Birju Maharaj, Gopi Krishna. In the field of sports too, some players like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, P.T. Usha, Geet Sethi have shown their outstanding abilities and won world-wide fame. Thus India’s achievements in the various fields are praiseworthy. Yet it is not enough, if we sit back and feel proud about the outstanding achievements of our writers, scientists, performing artistes and painters, information and software technologists. We have to work hard and try to do a lot more. You, as students, should work, develop your potential to the best of your capacity and excel in the field you enter.