HISTORY & POLITICS
This nonviolent leader of India is often called the “Father of the Nation.”
Who is Mahatma Gandhi?
This spiced tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages across South Asia.
What is chai?
This classical dance form from Tamil Nadu features expressive hand gestures and eye movements.
What is Bharatanatyam?
This mountain range contains the world’s highest peak, much of it bordering Nepal.
What are the Himalayas?
This film industry centered in Mumbai is the world’s largest by output.
What is Bollywood?
This 1947 event split British India into two independent states.
What is the Partition of India?
This lentil-based dish is a staple across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
What is daal?
The epic Mahabharata centers on the conflict between these two groups of cousins.
Who is Rabindranath Tagore?
This island nation off the southeastern coast of India was once known as Ceylon.
What is Sri Lanka?
This actor, known as “King Khan,” stars in films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Who is Shah Rukh Khan (SRK)?
This Sri Lankan civil war group, active from 1976–2009, was known for its suicide bombings.
Who are the Tamil Tigers (LTTE)?
This fermented crepe-like South Indian dish is often served with coconut chutney and sambar.
What is dosa?
This Nobel laureate from Bengal wrote both a national anthem for India and for Bangladesh.
Who is Rabindranath Tagore?
This river, sacred in Hinduism, flows from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.
What is the Ganges River?
This 2001 blockbuster about Indian soldiers in Kargil revitalized patriotic cinema.
What is Border?
This Mughal emperor built the Fatehpur Sikri capital and was known for fostering interfaith dialogue.
Who is Akbar the Great?
This “pink tea” uses baking soda for its signature color.
What is noon chai / Kashmiri chai?
This musical tradition from Pakistan and North India, associated with Sufi poetry, includes harmonium and tabla.
What is Qawwali?
This desert spanning India and Pakistan is one of the world’s largest hot deserts.
What is the Thar Desert?
This legendary playback singer, known as the “Nightingale of India,” recorded over 25,000 songs.
Who is Lata Mangeshkar?
After losing his empire, this South Asian ruler made one of history’s most dramatic comebacks: he crossed the Hindu Kush in the middle of winter, reclaimed his throne, and later joked in his memoirs that the whole ordeal “would’ve been easier if my soldiers actually listened to me.”
Who is Humayun?
This ancient Indian yogurt-based drink, mentioned in the Vedas, is churned by hand into a light foam and is different from lassi.
What is chhaas (traditional churned buttermilk)?
This Sanskrit poet wrote the Meghaduta, a 4th–5th century poem in which a cloud delivers a lover’s message.
Who is Kālidāsa?
This remote Himalayan kingdom is known for the philosophy of Gross National Happiness.
What is Bhutan?
This 2001 Bollywood film about three college friends became a cultural phenomenon, revived campus-drama movies, and made the phrase “ All izz well ” iconic before that was even a thing.
What is Dil Chahta Hai?