Variety, they say, is the essence of life. And, here in India one finds people of different castes and creeds living and working side by side. According to Dr B S Guha, the Indian population is mainly derived from six ethnic groups namely, Negritos, Austrics, Mongoloids, Dravidians, Nordic Aryans and western Brachicaphals. These have been sub divided into various castes and tribes having different religious beliefs.

A lot of improvement was shown by the Indian people since the days of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who introduced a lot of reforms for the spread of literacy and eradicated superstitions and faulty customs. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was known as the “Father of Indian Nationalism” and his greatest contribution was the abolition of “sati” in India and the introduction of English and western education.

Post Independence saw a lot of reforms that catapulted young Indians into various trades and fields of learning. Only talent was recognized to recruit personnel in factories and offices that mushroomed as time went by. Amidst all round development, divisive forces are still at work and heterogeneous trends pop their head now and then. It is the conservative and narrow-minded political leaders that still foment trouble, with selfish motives, bypassing the dictates of the Constitution of India, that emphasizes that we are Indians first and any fissures created by regional or language bias are retrograde for the unity of the Nation.

It was lack of foresight on the part of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders to divide India on linguistic basis. They did it with a view to strengthening their vote banks. In the initial years of Independence, though we had political liberty, most Indians living below the poverty line were in economic bondage. And to make matters worse this economic problem was made more acute by the active role of moneylenders who never batted an eye to confiscate life and property of those who could not repay the loans that attracted very heavy interest. This scenario was exploited by the political leaders who could buy votes at a price. Each state of the Union had strongmen taking advantage of this feudal pyramid. These men, who thus strengthened the vote banks stole the limelight and were, allotted Ministerial posts in the Congress party hierarchy.

There were other political leaders like Subhash Chandra Bose, who wanted to divide India in four administrative zones to overcome linguistic squabbles and border disputes between states of the Union. But Nehru had a strong clout even with the businessmen in resurgent India. Business was the strongest pressure group and so India was divided on linguistic basis. Indian society became more heterogeneous with this step as each state was free to enforce the language.

Today below the names written in English we find the same name written in the state language. Most English names are replaced by the synonyms in state language that is Bombay is called Mumbai. This was a prelude to the emergence of various state senas (parties) in India. In Maharashtra we have the Shiv Sena, in Tamil Nadu (Madras), there is the Tamil Sena, Hindi speaking states have the Hindi Sena. In Gujarat they have the Sardar Sena, in Orissa Jaganath Sena, in Assam Lachi Sena, and in West Bengal Anti-Hindi Sena. Fortunately with increase in literacy, cosmopolitan living, migration to the West, and a broader exposure to the western way of living, has made Indians broadminded, and the divisive forces are under control. Most states of the Union emphasize that they are Indians first and Punjabis, Gujratis or Madrasis later. Indians, nowadays, also vote on the merit of the aspiring representative of the people. We, therefore, are heading towards a healthier democracy with better representation of the difficulties faced by the electorate. 

During the early years of Indian Independence, the political leadership had another cadre of party workers who had good rapport with business leaders. Political donations by business houses was very common during elections and the quid pro quo was that the big industrialists got licenses through which they were allowed to amass fortunes. This license raj that was predominant during the Congress rule created a sellers’ market and this raised a scepter of corruption in India. In many cases it created monopolies and the rich became richer and the poor poorer. 

But the average Indian can take a lot of reverses. They seem to say the words of Omar Khayam, “Oh ye wise, we arise, out failures, dreams and disasters, we arise to be your masters”. Indians are hard workers. They had seen bad days during the British rule and sometimes surpassed them at their own game. Endeavor and persistence paid results. The colonizers did not create any strong educational infrastructure to suppress any awakening. But Indians excelled in many fields like manufacture of textiles and steel, scientific and technological knowledge and even sports.

So it was not very difficult to go through the trying times of the license raj. Today the various castes and creeds have galvanized into patriotic Indians who are rearing to go anywhere and everywhere to face any challenges. Though there are some hiccups at the state level, we are doing well as a Nation and in the last two decades there is a lot of liberalization and Indian goods are thrown open to international competition. The license raj is under control and we are experiencing a buyers’ market. Private sector has been given a great role to help the economic prosperity of India and they are doing a fine job complementing the Public sector. All and sundry work side-by-side and there is a lot of unity in diversity.

People in India, when it comes to international competitions — academics or sports— forget about their heterogeneous background and fuse in a great show of nationalism. The same is the case during wars and even beauty pageants. These challenges from across India’s sovereign borders have contributed a lot to the unity of the Nation. Most Indians in towns and cities live in cosmopolitan societies. Brahmins and Harijans, Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Buddhists are Indians first. The rise of literacy and the experience of brushing shoulders with the commuters of different hues and standards in the crowded trains and buses and also the experience of studying and working together in various institutions have developed a camaraderie that is not easy to forget. 

The Government of India is specially inclined towards the girl child due to various incidents in our society, which always welcomes the birth of a boy child. Education is made free for girls till the college level. The government also provides for the children of backward castes and tribes by reserving certain number of seats in schools and colleges and even at work place, lest they feel discriminated. 

But recently there was an uprising of a backward community called Gujjars in Rajasthan who were not included in the schedule tribe status and naturally were not eligible for this job reservation. Finally the government came to an agreement and the uprising stopped. 

Right now there are more than 14 crores people in the country, who belong to the scheduled castes. Again, with the increase in literacy with leaps and bounds these people are absorbed as the need of human resources has increased with the rapid development of the country in the last 2 decades and the out sourcing of jobs by foreign countries to India. Besides information technology, our service sector has developed rapidly in the fields of trade, hotels, health care, construction, transport, social and personal services, banking, insurance and real estate. 

India is also a secular nation. There is tolerance of religious practices. No wonder India is known as the land of thousand gods. The bottom line is that people believe in the supernatural powers of the almighty. This fear of God and the conviction that they must lead good moral lives is etched in the very personality of the average Indian. 

Automatically, other virtues of respect for authority, secure family life, helping your neighbor, kit and kin, becomes the order of the day. A vivid example was the bomb explosions on the local trains in Mumbai in July 2006. In a matter of ten minutes there were 8 explosions on the western railway from Churchgate to Virar. Hundreds died and many others were maimed for life. But the way Mumbai rose to the occasion was an example of unity in diversity. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Dalits worked round the clock to help alleviate the sufferings of their brothers and sisters in distress. 

Another recent example is the appeal made by The Times of India to teach the illiterate children of India and the response from more than 10,000 talented people from various castes and creeds who were allowed to teach 2 hours a week during their work time by their employers. These experiences of Indian people have strengthened nationalism in the country, with all the diversity that still exists.