Multi-Cultural, Multi-Racial India
Posted on October 22, 2006 by Nita

'Indians are very very different from each other,' I said casually to a teacher once. He was American. I, an Indian.
'Really, how different?' the American asked me, staring at me with his pale blue eyes, eyes as alien to me as his blond hair. But he was a teacher who was interested in the peoples of the world and I could talk to him. I was a substitute teacher in the same school in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania, in a school called IST, the International School of Tanzania.

We are multi-cultural, like no other country in the world,' I said.

You mean different religions? Lots of countries are like that, he said.

'Not like India is. We are majority Hindus but we have the second largest population of Muslims in the world, Plus we have a sizeable population of Jains, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Jews. That's all the major religions of the world,' I said.

There was a touch of arrogance in his blue eyes. 'America is a multi-cultural society too. In fact we have people of different races living together.'

I sighed. 'In India it's the same. Only difference as that our different races have kept their identity…but in your country everyone talks the same, wears the same clothes...'

'What are you talking about? Indians are all ethnically the same!' he said.

'No. People from the state of Kerala for example are different ethnically from lets say Maharashtra.'

'Different accents you mean.' he said.

I could see that he was irritated.

'No no,' I said. 'Different racially, There is as much difference between a Keralite and a Maharashtrian as between a Spaniard and a German.'

You could see that he didn't believe me, and I knew what he wanted to say. That he didn't see the difference and that he knew quite a few Indians personally. I wanted to tell him that I too wouldn't be able to see the difference between a Spaniard and a German. Or for that matter between a Britisher and an American. Sure I knew some people from these nationalities but to me they looked the same, from the same country. As for accents, I am still confused about them'

'Look,' I said in a diplomatic tone, 'I'll give you some examples of how different we are. A Hindu in Kerala or Kashmir or Bengal eats different food, and wears different clothes. In Bengal, Diwali is not as important as Durga Pooja while no other state in India celebrates Durga Pooja, and we are talking of people from the same religion. The Ganesh festival is a big thing only in Maharashtra. And I haven't even got to the religious differences as yet! But I can assure you that there is far less difference between a Punjabi Hindu and Punjabi Muslim that between a Punjabi and a Sindhi! There is less difference between a Bengali Muslim and a Bengali Hindu than between a Bengali and a Bihari. There is less difference because they are the same race, they speak the same language, wear similar clothes.'

I could see that I had lost him.

'That's interesting,' he murmured.

'We have a different languages, more than thirty of them!' I exclaimed, not a little proudly.

'Dialects?' he asked.

'Oh no! Languages! Knowing Tamil doesn't mean you can understand Gujarati or Punjabi'the languages are very very different. As different as English and French! Plus we have different scripts!' I was enjoying myself now because he was surprised. 'Doesn't Spanish and Italian use the same script as English? And what about the Americans? Don't they too use the same language as the British? English? And the same script as well?' I asked.

He was silent, but I could see that he was fascinated.

'We have an ancient culture. Almost as old as the Egyptians. Maybe older,' I continued deliberately, because just a day earlier another teacher had asked me whether Indians were tribals before the British established the education system.

'Ancient Indians were educated in maths and astrology and science before the west was. We had an ancient library called Nalanda in Bihar, which was destroyed by invaders.'

Well, this teacher was open to new knowledge. He pulled out a map of the world and spread it out in the empty staff-room. He pointed to India. 'That's a very large area, you are bound to have such differences. And yes, I know that India has a rich culture.'

'Yes, rich and diverse. Do you know that the Parsis left their homeland of Iran hundreds of years ago just so that they could practice Zoroastrianism in peace, here in India? Today, Parsis are Indians, though they have maintained their distinct identity.' I was getting late for class, but as I walked out I couldn't resist my parting shot. 'We are the most tolerant country in the world,' I said.

(This is an actual conversation I had with a teacher at IST. I have combined two conversations into one.)

http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2006/10/22/multi-cultural-multi-racial-india/

absolute rubbish .......... r u trying to destroy india by saying that there are differences between us ??

THERE ARE NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDIANS ...............

absolute rubbish .......... r u trying to destroy india by saying that there are differences between us ??

THERE ARE NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDIANS ...............

Yeah sort of, a lot of Indian states are ethno-linguistic entities. It's more or less the concept of being from the same motherland that bonds everyone together.

I thought the American teacher was pretty rude even if later he became interested.

Hello to our resident Fake Indian.

There is a lot of truth to the article. Infact India isn't just one great civilization, it is a collection of great multiple civilizations. India has states/civilizations that make Rome and Ancient Greece look like new kid on the block.

Kalinga (Modern Orissa) for example an Ancient Republic has history going back thousands of years, and the same can be said about majority of Indian states. All can trace back thousands of years with their ancestors having built massive empires. India is like a more successful EU or more precisely EU is trying to be like India in the future, with a common bond uniting them, even though they all are distinct societies, especially in case of India which has a history spanning longer than European States.

Or a proportional representative congress that actually manages to represent everyone. <---This I find very important.

fool ofcourse we are like EU or ASEAN ........ there are lots of different cultures and foods in india than anywhere else ........

i meant in a racial sense there is limited to no difference between indians just like in EU or ASEAN .........

biatch dont call an indian nationalist like me a 'fake indian' ...........

I'm going to sound brash, but you really aren't getting a proper upbringing, falcon.

I would think Canada is more like a "salad bowl". ("cultural mozaic" is the term)
Its true that the U.S. is more of a melting pot (supposibly).

for the last few years, there has been an increasing number of native Brits whining about minorities not adopting their culture (or telling them to get the fock out of their country if they don't)

just like what a lot of other Europeans and Americans have been doing for a while now.

From what I've read, native Britons say that to minorities whether or not they're Westernized...

I've never heard Americans whining about minorities not assimilating except for Hispanics who "refuse" to learn English.

Only BNP supporters go that far. Most native Brits don't care much about race, but many of them do want minorities to become more Westernized.

All the whining probably only happens on the internet. But then again, minorities in America have already become more Westernized to a greater extent than Britain's minorities.

absolute rubbish .......... r u trying to destroy india by saying that there are differences between us ??

THERE ARE NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDIANS ...............

Hello to our resident Fake Indian.

There is a lot of truth to the article. Infact India isn't just one great civilization, it is a collection of great multiple civilizations. India has states/civilizations that make Rome and Ancient Greece look like new kid on the block.

Kalinga (Modern Orissa) for example an Ancient Republic has history going back thousands of years, and the same can be said about majority of Indian states. All can trace back thousands of years with their ancestors having built massive empires. India is like a more successful EU or more precisely EU is trying to be like India in the future, with a common bond uniting them, even though they all are distinct societies, especially in case of India which has a history spanning longer than European States.

^^ There aren't too many Brits who have issues with minorities, and most people that I talk to and know are usually pretty interested in foreign cultures. Currently the big issue is with the concept of Multi-culturalism in the UK, as whilst many are as I mentioned, and very open to foreign and new cultures

there are many who feel Britain is losing it's identity and culture.

Okay.
Britain has an identity and culture? It seems pretty Americanized just like Australia. If they want their own identity, they should worry more about Americanization.