how did people of india belonging to differnt communities ,regions and languages develop a sense of collective belonging
Answers
India is a colourful country, inhabited by people who believe in different religions, follow different tradition, culture and have their individual belief and lifestyle; yet they come together to celebrate festivals of each other. While Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with a lot of vigour in West India, Diwali, Holi are the attractions for North, Navratra is Gujarat’s heart and Janmashtmi is UP’s soul. This is one of the factors which attract foreign tourists the most and they especially visit India during Holi, Diwali, EiD, Christmas, Lohri, etc. India has the oldest civilization and culture and some of which still being practised today. Though there is no dearth of diverse and assorted cultures in India, it is still an epitome of the famous Slogan ‘Unity in Diversity’.
Our present Indian civilization is sustained and nurtured by the multi-ethnicities of different states. We all are aware that diverse races such as Mughals, Britishers, etc. have migrated into India via sea and land routes. They conquered the country and settled here for several years.
India is a huge and populous country. It has 29 states with 22 official spoken languages, but in reality there are 150 different mother tongues spoken in different parts of the country. This is certainly amazing because despite so many differences, India still stands firm as a strong nation. People here are emotional and that’s the most popular language they understand which keep them united in all aspects. Not only language, but Indians vary from each other in food habit, attire, social and cultural behaviour, ethnicity, festivals and religious beliefs.
The political condition is stable in India and it allows multinational companies to start their venture, which opens up employment opportunities for the Indians. People in India are soft spoken and caring irrespective of the part they belong to.
Not to forget, there are some anti-social elements who try to corrupt the country by their behaviour and activities, yet India remains united. It is the force of our motherland, which give us so much of strength and tolerance to accept the adversity and promote ‘Unity in Diversity’.
The cultural processes helped in creating a sense of
collective belongingness in India:
a. Nationalism is a belief that all are a part of the
same nation which binds the people together and
make different communities, regions and language
groups united.
b. This came through the muted struggles like the
different Non-Cooperation Movements, Civil
Disobedience movements, the wars like 1857,
history, fiction, folklores, folk songs, prints, icons
and symbols etc. all these helped in unifying the
Indians and inspired a feeling of nationalism in
them.
c. The image of India was first visualized as Bharat
Mata by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and
also a hymn ‘Vande 3 Mataram’ was written by
him in 1870s. This hymn was later included in
his novel Anandmath and sung in the Swadeshi
Movement in Bengal. The image of Bharat
Mata was portrayed as calm, composed, divine
and spiritual which acquired different forms in
different years by different artists. This image of
India developed the ideas of nationalism in India.
d. The Indian folklores were revived and the folk
tales were recorded and sung by bards which gave
a true picture of the traditional Indian culture
and tells how it was ruined by the Britishers.
e. A tricolor swadeshi flag, using red, green and yellow
was designed during the Swadeshi Movement in
Bengal which had 8 lotuses for the representation
of the 8 provinces and a crescent moon for
symbolizing the Hindus and the Muslims.
f. A tricolor Swaraj flag was designed by Gandhiji
in the year 1921 using the colours red, green and
white. A spinning wheel was in the Centre of the flag which represented the Gandhian ideal of self-
help.