Unity In Diversity?

The diversity and heterogeneity of India makes it unique and presents the country with somewhat unique challenges. What made a bunch of such diverse Indian states join together into a country has been a subject of debate. No doubt Sardar Patel made huge efforts to get all 20-odd states to join India, but towards what end? What are international borders defined as? Whatever the definition is, India hardly fits into it anyway. Maybe it is cultural unity which is difficult to attempt defining or shared history? Either way, there are states in India which have MORE in common with neighboring COUNTRIES than with other states in India making the concept of a shared anything quite invalid.

With the challenge of such enormous diversity, comes the need to find and enforce some "commonalities" between all states - for example the choosing of something like a national language. Like any mainstream concept/idea, the introduction of Hindi leaves several other Indian languages marginalized in all areas except in their region of origin. This has led to widespread resentment against native Hindi speakers amongst many regional language speakers for what the latter perceive as lingual and therefore cultural oppression. The choice that there be a national language, and that it be Hindi were both taken by legislators, so while it is unfair to subject common folk to this resentment, it is easy to understand - just like any other ism, mainstream-ism also exists.

This is one reason why several different states in India have often wanted to break away from the country. To break away from mainstream-ism and have their own regional language and culture be dominant.

Mainstream-ism is widespread in the United States where not subscribing to the popular mainstream culture can leave people marginalized. This speaks poorly of a nation which is by definition an amalgamation of cultures - a melting pot of ethnicities. What is America ? It is a land of immigrants, and yet, shockingly, after centuries, many immigrants populations still see themselves as immigrants and still live in ghettos on the complete fringes of the mainstream white-dominant "coastal" culture. The mid-west and the south have little voice in the mainstream media and it is the culture of the coasts that is the face of America for the rest of the world to see. Though the United States can compare with India in terms of ethnic diversity, it has much to learn from the Indian model of unity in diversity, of the "live and let live" paradigm (of tolerance of all cultures to a larger extent), of meaningful integration and fine blending of heterogeneity to make for a more continuous country of shades rather than the stark and jarring white, non-white juxtapositions the United States presents.

But then, there is so much the United States can learn from India. :). Unfortunately for them, they stop at stealing patents for Neem, Basmati,turmeric, etc. To say nothing of those that think of India as one big tropical fruit.

In a town called Northampton in Massachusetts, there is a sign outside a classroom that invites you into " Mama Nirvana's Yoga Classes" - one cannot but wonder what the pop culture Mama will do next with respect to matters of the soul and salvation. Personally, I do not wish to find out.