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.

India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi ( pronunciation (help·info)); February 4, 1922 – January 24, 2011) was an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana (school), he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). He was the most recent recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, awarded in 2008.

Joshi was born into a Kannadiga family in the town of Ron, which was then in Dharwar, District in northern Karnataka state of India. His father, Gururaj Joshi, was a school teacher. Bhimsen was the eldest in a family of 16 siblings. Some of the siblings still live in their ancestral home in Gadag. Bhimsen lost his mother when he was young, and his step mother then raised him. His parents lived initially with his grandfather as tenants of a Kulkarni household, but then moved to Gadag (now a district headquarter).

As a child, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's craving for music was evident to his family as he managed to lay his hands on a 'tanpura' used by his 'Kirtankar' grandfather, which had been kept away from his gaze at home. Music had such a magnetic pull over him that a 'bhajan singing' procession or just 'azaan' from a nearby mosque was said to draw him out of house.

Shahrukh Khan (pronounced [‘ʃaːɦrəx ˈxaːn]; born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred to as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Known as "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films and shares the record for the highest number of Best Actor awards with Dilip Kumar, eight wins. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s and later made his Hindi film debut in 1992 with Deewana. Early in his career he was recognised for his unconventional choice of negative roles in films such as Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994). Since then he has played leading roles in a wide variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies, thrillers, action films, sport films, and historical dramas among others.

Karan Singh is an Indian politician and member of the royal family of Jammu and Kashmir. He is a MP in the Rajya Sabha, a senior member of the ruling Indian National Congress Party serving as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), India's Ambassador to UNESCO, Chairman of the Auroville Foundation and of the Temple of Understanding, author, diplomat, champion of interfaith dialogue, and Hindu scholar. Singh (born 1931) is the son of the last ruler of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, Maharaja Hari Singh. In the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India promulgated in 1971, the Government of India abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration (privy purses). Singh received the Padma Vibhushan in 2005.

Karan Singh was born on March 9, 1931, in Cannes, France, to the last ruler of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu (also known as The Royal House of Jammu and Kashmir), Maharaja Hari Singh and his wife Maharani Tara Devi. He was educated at Doon School, Dehra Dun, and received a B.A. from Sri Pratap Singh (S. P.) College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir University, and an M.A. in Political Science from Delhi University. He went on to receive a Ph.D. from Delhi University.