Hey, everyone, it's Justin again! Thank you for joining me today. Now, you may have heard about
my plans to travel all over the world. Don't know when that trip's happening,
but it's all right because I've been learning as much as I can about as many different countries as
I can. I've been writing letters to kids all over the world, and they've been writing back telling
me what life is like where they live. It's really cool! And we've got another letter to read today.
But first, before we get into that, I w– Oh, sorry, I left my music playing. See,
I found out about this instrument called a sitar, and I think it's really cool.
It's got, like, this twangy, mysterious, enchanting sound to it. Do you hear it?
A sitar is a huge stringed instrument, kind of like a big lute or guitar. It's really
popular in Indian music, but these days, it's used in all sorts of music around the world,
even in American pop music! Can you guess what country we're going to be visiting today?
Oh no, I forgot my letter. Alright, I'll go get that, but first, sit back, relax,
and enjoy today's episode of Let's Take a Journey: India!
I've got the letter. Now we can dive right In to discover interesting things about
India. Ready for our journey? Here we go! Hi, Justin! My name is Kiyana. I have so
much to tell you about my country, India. I'm writing to you from my city, New Delhi. Okay,
so let's take a look at our map to see exactly where Kiyana lives. This is a map of the continent
of Asia. It's made up of a lot of different countries. Can you find India on the map?
Great job! Kiyana lives in the country of India. Let's zoom in a little bit so we can find her
city, New Delhi. There we go! Kiyana lives in the city of New Delhi, which is in the country of
India, which is on the continent of Asia. Let's keep reading! I am seven years old. At school,
I am in lower primary, which is for kids ages 6 to 10. This is our classroom. That's my teacher,
Madam Patel. That's me in front. Madam Patel is helping my best friend Dhruv.
You don't see my whole class in this photo. There are 30 kids in my class.
Madam Patel teaches us English, reading, math, and science. Well, it looks like Madam Patel's
teaching reading right now. Oh, bat, cat, bag, tap... hey! This is just like how they teach
reading in the United States! My favorite subject is art. I love to draw with colored
pencils. I think I have one in every color. I hope to be a famous artist when I grow up.
This is a picture of my best friends. We're playing at my friend Priya's house.
Besides art, I like to dance. I perform a style called Kathak. It tells stories
through dance moves. Ah, very cool! I know that India is known for quite a few different kinds
of classical dance, but I'm pretty sure Kathak is the only one of those that's from northern India.
We speak English here, but our main language is Hindi. Here, you can see the Hindi alphabet.
Would you like to learn new words in my language? Oh, you bet I do!
You know how much I love learning new words and new languages! You know,
I actually got to talk to a family that was visiting the United States the other day.
They were from a totally different country, and I was able to speak to them in words from
their language. It was really cool, and I was pretty impressed with myself too!
We say "Hello" with "Namaste." You can also say this as "Goodbye."
"Namaste." You know, I think I've heard that word before.
Want to say thank you? Say, "Shukriyaa." Is that easy or hard for you to say?
Shukriyaa. Okay, it's a little tricky, but I think I got it. One more! Since I
am seven years old, I will teach you how to say "Seven." "Saat." Okay, saat is seven.
Well, now I want to know how to count to 10 in Hindi!
My family lives in an apartment with my mother and father, my grandparents, and my aunt and uncle.
Wow, that's a lot of relatives! I wonder how big their apartment is. Living with many generations
in the same home is an important part of Indian culture. I have a sister named Meera. Meera is
five. See her hands? We were celebrating the end of winter with our holiday called Holi. Everyone
throws colored powder at each other and has a lot of fun. She still has powder all over her hands!
Oh, wow, I love the colors! We also celebrate Diwali. It is my country's biggest holiday. It's
a festival of lights, and it lasts for five days. We light special lamps called diyas.
We decorate our porch with beautiful colored powder and make patterns called rangoli. Huh,
Holi and Diwali, two big holidays in India that are super colorful!
Justin, do you like puppets? I love puppets! I grew up watching them on TV. I wonder why
she's asking me that. My country is famous for Kathputli puppets. They're controlled by strings.
These puppets tell Indian stories and folk tales. Theatre and drama are important to
us. Kids of all ages take theatre classes. Instead of Hollywood, in India, our movies and movie stars
are part of Bollywood. Ah, Bollywood movies can be long, and they're filled with drama, music,
and emotions. My favorite music is from Bollywood movies. They always have singing and dancing.
India is famous for the Taj Mahal. It is a beautiful building that an emperor built to
honor his wife. People come from all over the world to see the Taj Mahal. Okay, now that is
on my must-see list! The Taj Mahal is known as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.
India has many awesome animals. Tigers are my favorite. It also has elephants,
mongoose, and beautiful, colorful birds. Way too many to name them all here!
India seems like such a cool place, and Kiyana can't fit all the reasons why in
one letter! We wouldn't want her to have to write something that's a mile long, right?
I have to help my mom make dinner, but first, I'll tell you about some of the foods we eat in
India. Tonight we're having chicken curry, my favorite! My mom makes it with butter,
cream, honey, and spices. Oh, that sounds so good! No wonder it's Kiyana's favorite.
We get fresh food and spices from the local markets called bazaars. This is my mom's
favorite market. The owner is very nice. My dad likes to make samosas. They're a pastry
filled with peas, onions, and spicy potatoes. We dip them in a green sauce called chutney.
He will make them for you when you visit us. You will love the different flavors of Indian
food! I already know I love Indian food. I've got a couple favorite Indian food restaurants
nearby where I live. Oh my gosh, they just have so many colors and flavors and smells. It's so good!
My mom is calling me now, so I have to go. I hope you write back soon! Namaste. Namaste,
Kiyana! Wow, I hope you had as much fun learning about India as I did. Is there anything about
Kiyana's life that's different from your own? Is there anything you think is pretty much the same?
So that about wraps up our journey to India for today. Ready to stamp our passport?
Oh man, I am even more excited to get back to my sitar music. Now I'm gonna go do that
and say goodbye to you. Namaste, and until next time, remember to always be clever!