Indianity - A Phenomenon

The diversity of our country is truly exemplary. I truly believe that the diversity you witness living and traveling in India will be an unique experience. We can travel different countries to see the extremes of cultures and lifestyles, but the spectrum of variance one can experience in India is incomparable.

Let’s begin with the extreme northern part of the country, the resemblance of a Kashmiri and an Afghan (appearance) is not difficult to identify. Similarly, the inhabitants of the state Punjab across both sides of the border are not different. Along the east, I dont find any linguistic or cultural differences between the residents of the West Bengal and East Bengal (Bangladesh), except for the spiritual belief. Reach the North east of the country and one cannot differentiate an Indian to a Chinese, Infact Arunanchal remains to be a disputable issue till date. As we move down towards the south, we can identify the cultural transition in a manner that amazes me to a very great extent. A very simple example of this transition is that the languages Bengali and Oriya are sound similar while the script is entirely different. Now, if Telugu and Oriya is compared, one can observe an similarity in script while it sounds entirely different. Is this transition not amazing? I had experienced this during one of my long distance train journeys. Now, as we move further south, Can one distinguish a Sri Lankan national to a one belonging to Tamil Nadu? Probably very rare.


This demographic variance of our country is the most amazing and unique to India. However, this is not the only example of variance. Economically also, we are the nation which shelters the worlds poorest as well as the richest. Its not rare to witness a case where, a Mercedes Benz zooms past you on the 8 lane Mumbai-Pune highway constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) where an old lady sits haplessly on the glittering side track with a broken aluminum bowl begging for a square meal. This is truly a slap on the face of development, but again its diversity. Its also worth a mention that things are improving. Slowly but surely.....

The same phenomenon can be witnessed on the political front too. The coalition UPA, constitutes of members who are pre-liberalization and global integration, while it also constitutes of members who fail to recognize whether they belong to India or China. (that’s my opinion)

Given the above facts, it’s not foolish to ask how India bonds together.

The answer to this comes from more than thousand years of history behind us, Our secular paradigm, Our ability to adapt to circumstances, Our pride in diversity, The meticulous policy framework of the independent India and Democracy.

Its of course a very simplified justification of terms, but again the scope is very limited.