How different are we anyway?

A sight near Marketplace Gate, IIT Bombay (Look closely at the test on the blue box above the man's head)

A sight at marketplace gate, IITB got me thinking.. these were the very words that came to me when I saw the label on a small box meant for letters, installed outside a stall (note the word play) in IIT Bombay.

For quite some time, I was burdened by the thought that India isn't truly a single nation - claims of unity in diversity are a falsification - ideas drilled into children so that they adapt to the secular accommodative nation that we have been for centuries.. I am unable to trace the inception of this thought but the possibility that it might be true worried me.. Now that worry has been diluted greatly, and I am confident that it shall be wiped out entirely in the near future.

I have tried to identify the unity that lies beneath this sheath of diversity and failed to identify it, but the clouds seem to drift now.

My recent trips to the North (I'm referring only to Delhi and Kanpur, I now know that Maharashtra isn't supposed to be considered as a part of North India) have significantly diluted this notion of mine, slowing me how similar the people are.. But then again, I was- and still am gripped with the fear of seeing some fundamental closeness in human beings in general and becoming a universal brother of humanity- I am an average Indian wanting to cultivate some patriotism ..

The only aspect of unity I have observed is in religion- I will start with the practice of Hinduism- which, I will state here boldly, for I will not pretend to be a naive secularist. It is heartwarming, even to the eyes of a citizen not bound by this religion to see unity in the form of worshipping the same deities, prominently Ganapati, Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti in various forms (while the worship of other deities is more region specific). It comes down as a surprise that an otherwise unrelated set of States pay homage to the same deities, narrating to their children the same stories, performing naivedyam and arati, building similar temples, extolling Gods with similar names and reading the same holy texts. Needless to say, diversity does exist in each point I have expressed here, but it is the unity that appeals to my heart here.

One may argue that there are instances of religions being practised in totally unrelated countries, but those were an effect of invasions and forced conversions, or, in more rare cases, preaching followed by genuine, willful conversion among other such artificial reasons. The inability to stand a practice other than one's own, was pointed out to me as a European mentality by a friend studying philosophy, and I am more tan inclined to agree. History stands as evidence to the fact that most countries all over the world, not merely in Europe, seem to have this narrow minded approach towards not only religion, but towards culture and lifestyle in general. At most, a politically accepted silence is maintained, where one pretends to not interfere in another's personal life - an attitude christened 'professionalism'.

While this attitude is fast changing, with people not only exploring but even wiling to embrace the culture of other places (we have, of course had this quality in people from all over the world, but not to this extent), the coexistence of religions has been an inherent quality of India (yet another point contributing to the 'unity' aspect as an attitude in itself) in a manner that can probably be found nowhere else in the world. We not only coexist, we accept and revere other religions, considering them as sacred as our own, while holding strongly onto ours.

Tamil Nadu, specifically is a state not united merely by religion but also by language, a stark contrast that distinguishes it from its sisters upwards on the globe. The rulers of this soil have left vivid marks too - not merely as monuments or languages, but as a difference in outlook when compared to any other State. Tamil Nadu was never ruled by Mughals - it was the South Indian kings followed by the British. And in more recent politics, atheists have been more than successful in gaining followers and devotees (ironic, isn't it?) and getting their statues erected after their deaths in several towns and cities of the State, and they have managed to sow a love for the language - Tamil.. A language that has had a long life standing the test of time for centuries and continues to flourish to this date, prominent not only in Tamil Nadu, but on the official language boards of other countries as well... While this language adds to the grandeur of this great country, uniting the people of Tamil Nadu within themselves, I have always feared that it might prove to tear us away from the rest of the country, for I personally know several fellow Tamilians who refuse to learn Hindi, owing to their love of Tamil (silly, yes, but aren't most of our ideas so?)

And now, as I open myself to the cultures of the States I visit, a lot of similarity reveals itself to me, relieving my soul. A visit to a marketplace, a place of worship or any other public spot anywhere in India proves to be no different, be it Chennai, Mumbai, Kanpur, Delhi or Bangalore. Chawri Bazar reminded me of the long winding market streets of North Madras, and Matunga and Malleswaram feel so like Mylapore that I catch myself wondering if I'm in Chennai. In fact, I find Mumbaikars are indistinguishable from Tamilians by appearance, while people from much closer-situated states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are vividly different from Tamilians. While the culture of each State is so diverse that each one is qualified to be a nation in itself, this unity stares at you in the face, and is simply impossible to miss.

Such instances of similarity - especially ones that catch me unawares, come down as pleasant surprises, reassuring me that we are one people. The picture I've put here is one that I took near the marketplace gate at IIT Bombay - one labelled "Tapal petty" in the Devanagari script - incidentally, these are the very words used in Tamil (தபால் பெட்டி) to indicate the familiar, red British box. There are, indeed quite a few words and usages common to Indian languages - between those that have evolved from Sanskrit and those that are Dravidian. To stay safe, I'll just say this for now: languages intertwine in a inexplicable manner into a mesh, making one unable to decipher the source of certain terms.

Ultimately, for once, I'm happy to say that our social science textbooks were right. There is unity in diversity here. Hang on, where's diversity?

Disclaimer: Several points raised in this post were outcomes of discussions with friends, well wishers and colleagues, including Shabhrarethinam, Ngura and a spiritual discourse I attended a few months back.
This picture was taken by me.