A young girl born in India describes her birth country and what she remembers about it.
My name is Jameela Faith Ashanti Sandusky, and I am 7 years old. I was born in India, and I was adopted when I was three years old. I now live in America, but I remember some of my birth country called India.
India is located in the southrn part of an area called Asia; and the weather there is very hot a lot of the time, especially the southern part. There are many people in India, especially in the larger cities like New Delhi, Agra, and Bombay. There is a lot of poor people in India; but the government people there are trying to make things better for the poor people of India.
There are many animals in India, animals like tigers, elephants, monkeys, and birds; and it isn't unusual to see elephants in cities. They use elephants to take people from place to place, like they do cars or buses.
India is famous for foods like curry, roti, rice, and tea or coffee. I remember eating curry or roti (flat, round bread) as a very little girl; and I still like these foods very much today. Mommy gets me roti or curry at the Indian food store; and she makes Indian meals sometimes. Mommy is a very good cook. But she sometimes teases me because I love rice, and she is always telling me to save some rice for the other kids!
When I was growing up, I was raised Muslim; but I have accepted Jesus Christ now into my life; and now I am a little Christian girl. I no longer practice my Muslim religion; and I now read the Bible instead of the Koran. But I still have a Koran; mommy let me keep it. Most of India's people are either Hindi or Muslim; but you'll find other religions there, too.
My favorite thing to wear is my sari. A sari is a long piece of cloth that is wrapped around; and it looks like a long dress. The sari is one of the national clothes of India. I sometimes wear a round dot on my forehead, especially if I am going to do a report about my country or if I am going to go to a festival. This mark is called a "caste", and it is worn for decoration; but grown women who are married often have these marks on their foreheads. It tells other people that they are married and they are no longer available.
Indian people love a lot of jewelry; and sometimes you'll see their noses pierced besides their ears. The more jewelry they can wear, the better they seem to like it. Indian people love to dress up or look pretty. And a lot of Indian men wear turbans on their heads. Turbans look like small, round caps, and they come in all different colors. Indian men do not wear saris; instead, they wear dhotis. Or they may wear western (non Indian) type of clothing, like they do in America.
Did you know that India is the second most biggest country when it comes to people? Only China, which is bigger, has more people than India. I read in a book that 952 MILLION people live in India! That is a LOT of people!!
When I was living in India, I was living in an orphanage. I was living there because I had no mommy or daddy. I was there because nobody wanted me. I was born with spina bifida ("divided spine"), and as a result, I was born paralyzed and unable to walk without braces on my legs or crutches. But now I live in America, and I am doing JUST FINE!!
But I thought I would tell you about my birth country of India and what I remember most about it. Hope you liked what I wrote!
i enjoyed reading this story, karen, and i like joel's review. i learned from both! :) thank you both, karen and joel, for enhancing my knowledge of india. (((HUGS))) and love, karla. :)
Reviewed by Joel Raja Kumar J
2/19/2003
Nice write, Karen but I think the girl was too young to really remember the real things. She must be from North India I think from the things she says.
All the same it is a good job, but a little misleading as turban is not worn by many these days and mostly we wear pants and shirt though for special occassions we prefer our national dress.
Sari is worn by older women only. girls wear skirt and blouse or Salwar Kamis.
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