“Here we are in India!” Squirmy exclaimed, with ancient wonder. “This is such an old part of the world. And in all that time, a lot has happened here.”

“And look at all the people,” Wormy said bug-eyed. It’s wall-to-wall people. Ant colonies have fewer inhabitants. I don’t think I’ve see so many people in one country in my wormy life.”

“Excuse me?” hinted Squirmy. “Can you spell China?”

“China? Oh, yeah. I forgot. China is number one in population. Sorry, Squirmy.”

India indeed has a lot of people living in her country, which is shaped like a triangle. At last count there were some 1.2 billion people living in an area about one-third the size of America. That’s like living in a crowded elevator.

But on this crowded elevator, you can go to the highest point in the world: Mount Everest. This majestic, mighty mountain stands 29,028 feet among the grand Himalaya range.

Mount Everest, named after British surveyor Sir George Everest, is the tallest point in all the sky. And it’s growing! Scientists put a Global Positioning System (GPS) up there and saw the mountain is growing a few millimeters every year because the continental plates under the sea are pushing it up.

The Sherpa people who live way up in the mountain call it “Goddess Mother of the World.” That’s one way to say it in the Nepal language. But in India there are more than 1,500 native tongues. Still, these different people speak common English so they can do business. English is the “language of commerce.”

“I speak English to Indian people all the time back in Wisconsin,” Wormy said proudly. “In fact, I told some friends there we were coming to India to visit.”

“You were on the phone to India from back home?” Squirmy asked in international wonder. “Why were you calling someone in India from Wisconsin?”

“Because I needed computer help,” Wormy said with a sly smirk. “And when I called the help number, I got someone in India.”

Big American computer companies have lots of offices in India. They hire thousands of people in many cities in India to help customers back in the USA. A lot of Indian people are educated, but poor. And they will work for low wages. So companies go to India and hire people to work. They are happy to have jobs.

   “Hey Squirmy, what other cool things are there to see in India?” Wormy said, growing impatient and itching to travel around. “There are natural wonders like huge mountains, but what about some things man has made?”

“I can point to something fantastic with two words,” my eager friend.

“Just two words?” Wormy said in disbelief. “What are they?”

“Taj Mahal,” Squirmy said, and said no more.

The Taj Mahal is one of the greatest man-made wonders of the world, which is a little morbid because the Taj Mahal is a tomb.

Back in the 17th century the emperor of India named Shah Jahan got married to a lovely girl named Mumtaz Mahal. It was the king’s third wife. They loved each other very much and were so happy together.

But in giving birth to their fourteenth child, something went wrong and she was going to die. She begged Shah Jahan to build her a fantastic tomb. He wept and told her he would. The year was 1631.

Broken-hearted, he invited architects from around the world to design the most grand, fantastic marble mausoleum ever built. An architect from Persia won the contest.       

And for 21 long years, more than 20,000 workers labored day and night building the massive-domed tomb made of beautiful white marble. Over 1,000 elephants hauled the materials from India and Asia. Stone cutters chiseled deep intricate designs, which were inlaid with precious stones of Tibet and Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Arabia. Sparkling crystal was shipped from China.

It cost 32 million Rupees back then. Today that would be billions of dollars.

“Wow! Squirmy, in two words you said a mouth full.”

“No kidding, my amazed friend. The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. That’s why some three million people go see it every year.”

“India is full of great things,” Wormy said with amazement. “They have tallest mountains and grandest tombs. But what about important people?”

“Last time I summed up your request in two words,” Squirmy replied with brevity. “This time I’m going to answer you with one word.”

“How can an important person be recognized in one word?” Wormy queried.

Squirmy looked at his anticipating friend and peacefully said: “Gandhi.”

He was born in 1869 in India. He went to college in England and became a lawyer. A company in South Africa needed some legal help, so they hired him as an advisor. But after he got there, many people treated him as a second-class person—all because his skin was brown. They told him this made him inferior.

He was not regarded like this in England. And he was shocked how ugly Indian immigrants were treated in South Africa. He took up their cause of wanting justice and good civil rights.

“Squirmy, it’s important that everyone be treated fairly. It doesn’t matter what you look like or even how you think. Everyone deserves a fair shake—even worms!” Wormy proclaimed in justice for all.

“That’s the spirit my free friend,” Squirmy seconded. “And we must keep at it, because the minute we get lazy bad things creep back in.” 

So for 20 years Gandhi worked hard in South Africa and was beaten for his good deeds. He often went to prison for protesting the cruel injustice by white South Africans. It was there he developed his strong principle of civil disobedience. He called it “truth and firmness.” Gandhi was of the Hindu religion, but loved people of all faiths.

After he finished his important work in South Africa, he returned home to India. The British government ruled there. They too did not treat the Indian people fairly. They exploited their land and kept Indian people in extreme poverty.

Gandhi took up their cause and organized national strikes and peaceful protests. He simply did not cooperate with a bad government. He used the principle of civil disobedience. And he became a living example and a symbol for a free India.

Every day he prayed and often fasted for peace. He wore simple loincloth and never dressed fancy. He ate vegetables and drank fruit juices.

“Didn’t I read he liked milk?” Wormy said, remembering his Indian history.

“Oh yes. In fact it was goat's milk,” Squirmy said with historical exactness.

People loved Gandhi as a saint and called him Mahatma (great soul). And by leading his beloved country in non-cooperating and nonviolence he believed that Great Britain would eventually give up, give in and leave India. He was right. In 1947 India was free from British rule.

Gandhi loved all people, even the British. He saw them all as equal in God’s eyes. Even the poor and dirty people called “Untouchables,” he saw them as the “People of God.”

On his way to a prayer meeting, he stopped to greet followers in the garden. It was a cool evening on January 30, 1948. And out of the crowd stepped a fanatic Hindu man who pulled a gun and gunned down the frail, saintly man. Gandhi was 79 years old.

Gandhi was dead. But his inspirational life and his belief in justice for all lived on. Great American leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were inspired by Gandhi and went on to lead us in justice and civil rights for all.

“India sure has a lot to offer and think about,” Wormy noted.

“Again, you said a mouth full. India has more than 4,500 years of history to consider,” Squirmy replied.

The many natural wonders, fantastic manmade buildings and inspirational people are all part of incredible India, a country that’s shaped like a triangle.

Things to remember:

India has 1.2 billion people, second in population to China.

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.

The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Gandhi led India to freedom.