INCREDIBLE INDIA: ONE NATION, ONE PEOPLE

India is a very diverse nation. There are hundreds of ethnic groups; Hindustanis, Punjabis,
Bengalis, Maithilis, Marathas and so on. In one hand, diversity makes for a vivid nation, while
on the other hand, it makes communication difficult while travelling around the country. For
example, few years ago, I went to Bengaluru on a family tour, if not the signboards were
written in English, we would have no idea about what was written on them. There are twenty-
two official languages in India. In spite of such diversity we all are acknowledged by only one
identity - Indians.
Because, India was never really a unified nation in the past, these groups have been able to
preserve their heritage. The Indian constitution allows the individual cultures to flourish.
There are several religions in our country too. India has been the cradle of three religions.
Hinduism originated when migrants called Aryans settled in India. Siddhartha Gautama, most
commonly known as The Buddha (The Enlightened One) was the founder of Buddhism. Lord
Mahavira founded Jainism. I guess, there are many tribal religions too!
In northern and central India, there are Aryans who speak Indo-Aryan languages and, in the
south, there are Dravidians who speak Dravidian languages. It will be headache for either of
these groups to learn each other’s languages due to differences in grammar. In this case,
English protects unity in diversity in India.
India is secular nation. Our Constitution protect these using provisions like Right to Equality
and Right to Freedom of Religion. We hope that unity in diversity keeps us united as Indian in
the future too.
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