The ongoing census in India, the sixth since its independence in 1947, is bound to unfold an ocean of data, perhaps bewildering to an outsider given the country's complex social and caste divisions.
But the gigantic exercise in enumeration -- which will end Feb. 28 -- is sure to reaffirm an already well-known and disturbing trend: the galloping climb in population.
India is home to over 1 billion people, making it the second most populous nation after China, which is geographically much larger.