Scenes From India

India is home to over 1.2 billion people of wildly varying religions, cultures and levels of wealth. Only 61 years since declaring its Independence from English rule, modern India is still defining itself, sometimes against the friction inside and outside of its borders. Recent newsworthy events in India include vast Monsoon flooding, conflicts in still-disputed Kashmir, and religious clashes between Hindus and Christians - and celebrations conducted by Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and more. Though there's no possible way for these images to be comprehensive, here are some recent photos of scenes in India.

What is Bollywood Dance

Let us begin by discussing the term "Bollywood".  In the strict sense the term "Bollywood" refers to the Hindi culture, art, and film industry from Bombay.  The other film centres of South Asia are often referred to by their own designations (e.g., Lollywood (Lahore), Tollywood (Andhra Pradesh)).  However since the Bombay Hindi film industry dwarfs the other productions centres, the term "Bollywood" is generally extended to mean the entire South Asian film culture.  

The international appeal of Bollywood dancing is something that has been many decades in the making.  Originally it was found only in places that had a significant consumption of Indian films (i.e., Former Soviet Union, and the Middle East).  But a few years ago it started to become chic in Europe, and today it is rising in popularity in the US, and Canada.  Today, dance schools that teach this style may be found in most major cities.