North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat (Devanagari: उत्तर भारत, Nastaleeq: اُتر بھارت) or Shumālī Hindustān (Devanagari: शुमाली हिन्दुस्तान, Nastaleeq: شُمالی ھندوستان), is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. But in a broader sense, North India includes northern and most of eastern India, the Indus Valley of Pakistan, parts of southern Nepal and all of Bangladesh. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia. North India has been the historical center of the Maurya, Gupta, Mughal, Maratha, Sikh and British Indian Empires. It has a diverse culture, and includes the Hindu pilgrimage centers of Char Dham, Haridwar, Mathura, Allahabad and Varanasi, the Buddhist Mahabodhi Temple, the Sikh Golden Temple and the Muslim pilgrimage destination of Ajmer, as well as world heritage sites such as the Valley of flowers, Khajuraho, Bhimbetka Caves, Qutb Minar and the Taj Mahal.

Raj Shrikant Thackeray (Marathi: राज श्रीकांत ठाकरे) (born 14 June 1968) is the founder and president of the right-wing^{[citation needed]}Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ("Maharashtra Reformation Army") in the state of Maharashtra, India. His official name is Swararaj which means the king of musical notes. He is the nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, and a cousin of the current Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray.

Raj was born on 14 June 1968 in a Marathi Kayastha (CKP) family to Shrikant Thackeray (younger brother of Bal Thackeray) and Kunda Thackeray (younger sister of Bal Thackeray's wife Meena Thackeray). Raj’s father Shrikant Thackeray was a musician, cartoonist and was also well versed in Urdu. He studied in Balmohan Vidyamandir, Mumbai and graduated from the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art, Mumbai. As a child he is said to have learnt the tabla, the guitar and the violin. He also loved drawing which later turned into a passion for drawing cartoons.

Anjum Anand (born 15 August 1971 in London, England) is a British Indian food writer and TV chef of Indian cuisine.

Anjum Anand, of Scottish-Indian descent, grew up in London but has also lived and studied in Geneva, Paris, and Madrid. She speaks French and Spanish, holds a degree in European business administration from the European Business School London, and for a period ran a business importing flat-pack furniture from eastern Europe. She has worked in the kitchens of hotel restaurants including at Café Spice in New York, as a waitress in Park Royal Hotel in New Delhi, and for Tommy Tang at Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles.

Her perspective on adapting healthy meals from a traditionally rich Indian diet came from personal experience of weight problems while growing up. Her diet consists of varied traditional dishes, recreated with wholesome ingredients and limited oil. At age 25 her first book Indian Every Day: Light Healthy Indian Food was published.

Anand became a regular guest on UKTV Food's Great Food Live from 2004 to 2007, and featured in the BBC Two series Indian Food Made Easy broadcast in 2007. Her accent and flirtatious manner have led to her being dubbed "the Nigella Lawson of Indian cuisine in Britain". Reacting to descriptions of herself as "television's tastiest chef", she finds it "preposterous".