What does living in a diverse country mean?

The moment we hear diversity, India pops up in our mind. Indeed, India is known for its diversity. But what exactly are parameters for understanding diversity in India? Why native people take pride and assert themselves for their originality? In a previous blog, we briefly delved into what diversity means in India and specifically we looked into textile diversity in India. In this blog, we shall continue to decode diversity in India and what binds them together.

Diversity, which means variety, is helpful in understanding what it means to live in India. As we discovered, India not only has variety in culture, traditions, religion and languages but also food, social practices, lifestyle, clothes, climatic conditions and much more. It has a majority of Hindu people yet it is a secular country. Moreover the same Hindu religion has different sects, social practices and beliefs. For instance, a Hindu person from South of India will be completely different from Hindu in North of India. Though they must be believing in the essence of Hinduism still they will be speaking different languages, eating different food, believing in different Hindu gods and their incarnation and leading completely different lifestyles. It is also true that some Hindus believe in consuming only vegetarian food whereas others have non-vegetarian food like fish as their staple food. Even if you travel from one town/city to another within the same province or state, still one could notice a wide difference in overall lifestyle and outlook! In addition to religion, there is an additional layer of ethnicity or sub-groups that brings in even more deep diversity. But what stands important is that different festivals are celebrated by almost everyone regardless of their religion or ethnicity. For instance, Diwali, which is the festival of lights, is celebrated everywhere in India from north to south and east to west! Therefore, it is festivals and special days which binds people of India by fostering mutual respect, tolerance and cultural assimilation. 

The aspect of secularism guaranteed by the constitution, meaning all religions are equal towards the state and everyone has the right to practice their own religious practices, is also an important aspect that allows people to have their own choices and preferences. Additionally, this fosters peaceful living conditions and tolerance towards each other.  

Similarly, we at CCD-NL believe in the same notion of peaceful co-existence, mutual respect, tolerance amidst cultural and religious diversity in the Netherlands. We work towards integrating different cultural practices through our projects and initiatives to lead a sustainable life. To know more about what CCD-NL does and its vision do visit our website!

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