India being the largest democracy in the globe, with a civilization of more than five thousand years old prides itself of multiple cultural origins. These cultural origins of the Indian subcontinent can be traced long back to the Indus Valley Civilizations, the remnants of which are respected even today.
Since the late sixteenth century, India was under the influence of the British Empire until 15th of August 1947, the day, when India achieved its independence In our struggle for freedom, people from different communities participated keeping one thing in mind that they all are Indians first. ‘Unity in Diversity’ has been the distinctive feature of our culture. To live peacefully has been our motto and this motto has helped us to achieve independence.
It was the forbearance shown by the people of India that the amorphous, flexible Indian culture never lost its jetty during the rule of the Mughals as well as other outsiders, who brought in their own traditions and sought to compel them on this country. India has always assimilated much of the thinking of other cultures, thus enriching and making itself durable and virtually indestructible.
India is a land of varied cultures, religions and communities. There is great assortment in our traditions, manners, habits, tastes and customs. Each and every region of the country depicts different customs and traditions. The religions, habits, geography, climates, languages, lifestyles, cultures might be different but still they unite us into an invisible frame of ‘Indianism’.
India connotes ‘Kanchivaram sadi’ along with the ‘Pashmina shawl’. India not only connotes the extreme hot climate of the southern India, but also reflects the snow-covered mountains of the northern India. If India depicts the desert of Rajasthan, then India also means the highest rainfall grounds of Assam. There are regions with extreme and moderate climate in India. There are snow-capped mountains, plains, plateaus, hilly terrains and coastal areas. There are deserts and places with severe and scarce rainfall.
Diversity is found there in every aspect of India, a land that encloses almost 1,222,559 square meters of land and is also a home to more than one billion people. The real strength of Indian culture lies down in the basic unity, vigor and the ability to contain an amazing diversity within itself. India won’t be India if not for this diversity and variety.
People of India follow diverse religions, cultures and castes. They follow different traditions, customs and speak different languages. They also differ in dress and food, in spite of so many differences; people have a feeling of oneness and are bound by common cultural heritage along with sharing basic human values. Whenever Indians go abroad, they proudly call themselves Indians and they are known as Indians.
The people of India are unified with a widespread cultural heritage have a feeling of unity in spite of having external differences. From ancient times it has been seen that India is divided into various castes, creed, religions, and regions but then too they are united as one whole nation. It is a whole of a nation with an enormous population, and will remain united in whatever circumstances they may put to. In the past, nothing has made them broken into pieces.
However, intolerance and narrow-mindedness may weaken national unity. We should therefore create state of affairs in which people should become conscious of the likeness which make them Indians rather than the dissimilarities which differentiate them from others. People must be encouraged to feel big-headed of India’s cultural heritage, of being called Indians while retaining their divergent features.
India is a live example to the world to prove them that they have “Unity in Diversity.” This country not only remains together during an emergency but also in natural calamities such as floods, famines and earthquakes. This country has become quite inspirational for the countries that have heavily been divided racially.
