India is a land of beautiful diversity, where people of different cultures, traditions, languages and religions coexist. The phrase ‘The Land of Diversity’ aptly captures the essence of the Indian nation, as it reflects the cohabitation of such diverse elements. This unique characteristic has been a defining feature of India for centuries, shaping its social fabric and national Identity.
Being born to Kashmiri Pandit-Punjabi parents, and my father being an officer in Archaeological Survey of India, I was able to closely witness and listen to anecdotes of our diverse and glorious culture at home. During the event of Guinness World Record by Puma in Mumbai 2016, as a participant I experienced ‘unity in diversity’ when selected Indian females from different states gathered together and we successfully achieved the record. Every time I look back at my journey, I feel grateful for being able to experience this unity in diversity phenomena. As a mystic, I have travelled the length and breadth of our country and experienced the riches. But it makes me feel sad, whenever I hear of incidents that try to tarnish this very fabric of our culture, leading to disharmony. Hasn’t our Constitution spoken at length about how to preserve the integrity and composite culture of our country?
I made Goa my home in 2022. The scenic locale and the interesting people that Goa nurtures have given wings to my creativity. Historically speaking, Goa has witnessed plethora of peaceful settlements since ancient times to the recent modern era. Unlike the British, the Portuguese married indigenous women and settled in Goa becoming very much a part of the culture. Permeation of the Portuguese culture into the indigenous one has made Goa a synergistic beauty.
In recent times when many people move to different States in search of livelihood, Goa, too, has not been untouched by it. There are many advantages to this. For example, people learn about each other’s customs and practices thus appreciating the differences and the many layers of our culture. The intermixing of people further leads to the evolution of a composite culture. Inter-regional marriages lead to more integration in our society. It also boosts the working-age population, skill-sets and technical knowledge.
These movements come with their own ups and downs. People moving to different cities or States face many challenges but so do the locals. As every coin has two sides, diversity too comes with a cost. There are bound to be occasional clashes of interest between different communities. Most of the times it is the personal experience of one individual that gets stereotyped for a whole community. This is applicable to both the sides. Locals are generally quite welcoming but the moving party, because of the stereotypes, experiences apprehensions and paranoia. In most of the cases, it is not the settlement per se that causes problems but the preconceived notions that get played up. All these problems can be easily solved if we try to understand each other’s point of view with a sense of mutual respect.
Acceptance of diversity and welcoming it with open arms has been our civilisational forte. The differences in our regional cultures are nothing but varied expressions of the same ideals that we all have pursued for millennia as a nation. The unique learning of each community contributes to our shared pool of knowledge which gives us an edge over the rest of the world. We should also consider the fact that we are first and foremost Indians, and strengthening each other strengthens us.