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ornatc brassware is produced in India.
Gold- aud silversmiths are talented in
design and production of exguisite jew–
elry, which thcy set with extremely
valuable stones such as Indian emeralds
and rubíes.
Many hundreds
of
ancient forts, pal–
aces, monuments, tombs and shrines
sti ll reveal the meticulous, paiustaking
effort of the builders.
The classically majestic T
AJ
MAHAL,
acclaimed by many as the world's most
bcautiful structurc, ís onc magnificent
example! This imposing structure -
built ent irely of gleaming white marble,
with decorations of semi-precious stones
inlaid in the marble - was constructed
du ring the Mogul Oynasty of Empcror
Shah Jahan. It was built by the Emperor
bctween 1632 and 1654 as a mausoleum
in loving memory of his wife, Mumtaz
Mahal, who died giving birth to their
fou rteenth child. Approx imately 20,000
men labored
22
ycars to complete this
bcautiful structure. Tt is
a
masterpiece
tlf
architectural precision and flawless
construction.
for a person to consider India a
nation of unskilled, uneducatcd, untal–
cnted beggars is to havc a grossly
one–
.rided
vicw of the true s ituation.
In this conncction, the idea that India
is a nation of ONt.Y teeming cities is a
gross misrepresentation.
True, India does have its over–
crowded, slum-like cities - Calcutta,
Old Delhi and Bombay. This is what
most W estern travelcrs sce, but thcy do
NOT sce the real India.
India is
110 1
primari ly a land of buge,
tc<:ming, o,·crpopubted cities. Over
80
percent of the people Jive in small vil–
lages. The typical Jandowning family
livcs on a
5-
to
1
O-acre farm near one
of those small villages. This average
family would have perhaps six children
to help with the farming, a two-room
hut, sufficient grain (but not protein)
to feed themselves, and a school for
all the children to allcnd.
Agrarian India
India is a rural nation blessed with
excellent soil. Over hal f the nation's
land area is under cultivation. This,
unfortuantely, is not widely stressed in
what we read or see. Let me briefly
'J'he
PLAIN TRUTH
reiterate what 1 wrotc in an articlc that
appeared in the December 1968 PLAJN
TRUTH.
The popular ideas in the
W estero W orld are that much
of I ndia is a dry, barren land
largely devoid of natural re–
sources, and that other regions
are tragically rain soaked. When
India comes ro rnind, most West–
erners think only of the vast
overpopulation with rampant
poverty ancl hunger.
Little is heard of the huge
acreage of arable farmland which
should and usually does produce
immense quantities of foodstuffs.
Few realize the large variety of
excellent fruits that are indi–
genous and are seen in abun–
dance.
India has about 430 million
acres under cultivation. Looking
across the landscape in many of
the f arming communities, we
spotted scores o f irrigation wells
- often as far as the eye could
see- nearly al! of thern filled
with an
abundar¡/
water supply.
The number of acres under irri–
garion has tripled since 1950.
The water resources of Jodían
rivers, measured in ternlS of
annual flow, are estimated to be
over
1.3
billion acre-feer. (An
acre-foot is tbe volume of water
needed to cover an acre to the
depth of one foot.) This is
enough runoff, alooe, to irrigare
Inclia's 430 million arable acres
with 36 inches of water per year,
which could produce enough
fruit and vegetables to com–
pletely eliminare hunger in India.
Most Indians do not eat beef,
but their 200 million cattle are
useful in many otber ways.
Contrary to the opinions of
sorne, most of India's
30
or so
breeds of cattle are of good
quality ancl are potentially very
procluctive. When well fed, most
compare favorably with West–
ern beef breeds in both produc–
tivity and quality. As work ani–
mals, their bullocks are ooted for
willing, industrious work and a
very rapid pace. Several breeds
produce an abundance of rich
milk, even by Western dairy
standards. And a few !odian
breeds are as adapted to produc–
ing both mea t and milk as are
the Red Poli and tbe Dexter.
But Indians know they cannot live
off the land alone. Since they won
indepe.ndence in 1947, they hav<: mod-
October-November 1970
ernized production and distribution tech–
niques to the point of being among
the
TOP
SIX NATIONS in th<: world
in
most
of the important economic
products.
India's Economic Power
India
leads the world
in iron ore
reserves, tea production, groundnuts,
and cat tle. India ranks second among
world
nations
in tota l arable land,
rice production, and cotton spinning.
Despite highl y publicized problems of
illness and illiter.Ky, India also ranks
second among thc nations in numbcr of
hospitals ( 18,000), number
of
dentists
(75,000), and number of students
enrolled, in both primary and sccondary
educationa1 institutions. She ranks third
in number of passcnger railroad miles
tra,·eled, numbcr
of
daily newspapers,
and in textile production.
India ranks a strong fourth in the
annual production of milk, cotton, iron
ore, and yarns. India is also fourth
among the world's nations in the num–
ber of doctors ( 100,000). She ranks
fifth in the annual number of frcight
miles of railroad traveled, and sixth in
the all-important production of wheat
and li sh .
In
corn production, she ranks
eighth,
but
the corn crop has increased
more than
50
pcrcent just in the last
se,·en years. At this rate she will soon
r<lnk sixth in corn production as well.
In addition to her famous iron-ore
reserves, India also has large deposits of
manganese
1
mica, coal, bauxite, and lig–
nitc. (India is also internationally
known as a haven of privately-owncd
gold and sil ver.) Oil production is
g rowing phenomenally, with a self-sup–
porting 14 million tons of petroleum
products manufactured last yea r.
The Tndian Atomic Energy Depart–
ment has discovered in the northeastern
region of the country what are bclieved
to
be
the world's largest deposits of
radioactive mincrals. These deposits are
rich in
thorimn. 11ranimn,
and
ilmenite
- important minerals in this "nuclear
age."
Ilmen it<: - a main source of tita–
nium, which is an
essentia/
metal in
construction of jet aircraft and space
vehicles - is also found in large quan–
tities in the beach sands of Kerala State.
India, in fact, is a Jeading source of