“India is the farthest part of the inhabited world towards the east... In this part all animals, both quadrupeds and birds, are much larger than they are in other countries, with the exception of horses... There is abundance of gold, partly dug, partly brought down by the rivers. And certain wild trees there bear wool instead of fruit that in beauty and quality excels that of sheep and the Indians make their clothing from these trees" -   Herodotus , the histories III. 106

All of us, who wear cotton cloth, use the decimal system, enjoy the taste of chicken, play chess or roll dice, and seek peace of mind or tranquility thorld's oldest civilizations, and several of the great religions, India has been changingrough meditation, are indebted to India. The home of one of the w and reshaping itself for as long as anywhere on earth, forever producing new forms of culture and absorbing new influences. With one foot grounded in time honored traditions and the other fervently striding into the entrepreneurial e-age, India embraces diversity as passionately as few other countries on earth. Boasting a population of one billion people- and growing- India is as vast as it is crowded and as sublime as it is squalid. India it is often said is not a country but a continent from north to south and east to west the people are diverse, the languages are varied the customs are distinctive the landscape is manifold.

In a nutshell India's landmass roughly resembles an upside down triangle with the top formed by the mighty Himalayan mountains chain. Here you will find the intriguing Tibetan influenced region of Ladakh and awesome mountains areas of Himachel Pradesh, Garhwal, and the Darjeeling and Sikkim regions. South of this is the colorful Ganges Plain crossing east from the affluent Punjab in the northwest, past the capital city Delhi and buzzing tourist attractions such as Agra (Taj Mahal), Khajuraho, Varanasi and the holy Ganges to the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, where you find Kolkata (Calcutta), which has long been the cultural capital of India.  South of the northern plain the Deccan Plateau rises. Here you will find cities that mirror the rise and fall of the Hindu and Muslim kingdoms, and the modern metropolis built at Mumbai (Bombay) by the British.

Finally there is the scintillating south "India's Dravidian Heartland" and it's where you find the classical old cities of Chennai (Madras), Madurai, and the great temple sites in Tamilnadu. In the south west is kerala, the spice land of the world for many centuries, is stunning with its incredible beaches, breathtaking backwaters, rejuvenating Ayurveda, mouth watering cuisines, misty mountains and colonial history.

On a personal level, India is going to be exactly what you make of it. This country is not a place you merely "See". It is an assault on all the senses, a journey that is impossible to define because it is so different for every one. But there is one thing for sure no matter where you go or what you do; it is a place you will never forget.