Indian Religions & Customs
This 'festival of lights' celebrates Rama's return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile
What is Diwali?
With nearly a billion registered voters, India regularly stages the world's largest one of these democratic exercises
What is an election?
This clarified butter is the foundation of Indian cooking and even fuels the lamps in temples
What is ghee?
This comedian from Davis, California hosted Netflix's 'Patriot Act' and famously roasted Congress at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
Who is Hasan Minhaj?
This 'salt to software' conglomerate owns Jaguar, Land Rover, and Tetley Tea
What is Tata?
The Golden Temple in Amritsar is the holiest of these Sikh houses of worship, where volunteers serve free langar meals to all visitors
What is a gurdwara?
Thanks to Operation Flood, India is the world's largest producer of this dairy staple
What is milk?
Hyderabad and Lucknow have a long-running feud over which city makes the best version of this layered rice and meat dish
What is biryani?
Before creating 'Never Have I Ever', this actress played Kelly Kapoor on 'The Office'
Who is Mindy Kaling?
'Utterly Butterly Delicious' is the slogan of this dairy brand, whose polka-dot mascot girl has appeared in ads since 1966
What is Amul?
During this festival, sisters tie a protective thread around their brothers' wrists in exchange for a lifetime of gifts
What is Raksha Bandhan (Rakhi)?
This self-taught genius from Madras mailed a letter full of theorems to Cambridge in 1913 and revolutionized mathematics before dying at 32
Who is Srinivasa Ramanujan?
West Bengal and Odisha fought an official legal battle over who invented this spongy white sweet soaked in sugar syrup
What is the rasgulla?
This British-Tamil actress plays Kate Sharma, the viscountess of 'Bridgerton'
Who is Simone Ashley?
Coca-Cola bought this Indian cola with a hand-gesture name in 1993, but it still outsells Coke in India
What is Thums Up?
Central to Jainism and later adopted by Gandhi, this Sanskrit word names the principle of complete non-violence toward all living things
What is ahimsa?
In 1913 this poet became Asia's first Nobel laureate, and he wrote the national anthems of two different countries
Who is Rabindranath Tagore?
Grown in Kashmir and worth more per gram than silver, this is the world's most expensive spice
What is saffron?
This author won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for 'Interpreter of Maladies', her debut story collection
Who is Jhumpa Lahiri?
Co-founded by Rishi Sunak's father-in-law Narayana Murthy, this Bangalore IT giant was the first Indian company listed on an American stock exchange
What is Infosys?
Held every 12 years where sacred rivers meet, this Hindu pilgrimage is the largest peaceful gathering of human beings on Earth
What is the Kumbh Mela?
This physicist's Nobel-winning scattering 'effect' explains why the sea is blue, and India celebrates National Science Day on the date of his discovery
Who is C.V. Raman?
Goan vindaloo evolved from carne de vinha d'alhos, a garlicky pork dish brought to India by these European colonizers
Who are the Portuguese?
This Stanford-educated executive succeeded Susan Wojcicki as CEO of YouTube in 2023
Who is Neal Mohan?
First distilled in 1954 and sold in a distinctive dark bottle, this cult Indian rum is named after a religious figure
What is Old Monk?