Journal 2

Dear Journal,

Contemporary India…What IS contemporary India? How can we define it? This is what we discussed in our first class today. Many people would describe India as a sovereign, secular, socialist Republic. India is the largest Democracy in the world (population wise) and is known for its diversity and unity. However there is also the inequality between wealthy and literate people to very poor and illiterate people. In short, India is a land of contrast!!!

So how do we define a nation of contrast, how do we identify or characterize what is “Indian?” India is defined as ONE nation, which means it is geographically bound (ironically by someone else, the British…). So one could go so far as to say that the Indian nation is a legacy of the British. Because of this, the issue of English as an “Indian language” is often a subject of debate. What is an Indian language? There are many languages spoken and even though Hindi is considered the “national language” it is not spoken by all Indians. The same goes for Religions. India is a secular nation; it does not have a national religion. There are Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians living side by side struggling to find their Identity as “Indians.” So there is constantly this dialogue of “WHAT IS INDIA?”

There are certain “tourist images” sold to the world like India as a place which offers, hill stations and beautiful nature, beaches and deserts, history and religious temples, Wildlife and Safaris….This India however, is located in the past. This India that is being “advertised” does not talk about High-tech-city or the slums of Bombay. This advertised India is a glorified, unspoiled India of the past…

Then terms like “westernization” and “modernization” come to mind, which make it even harder to define “Indian Culture.” What is the Indian Culture? All states and parts of India have different lifestyles, different cultures, different languages, different food, different religions, so how do we choose any ONE of those many, very different characteristics and identify it as “Indian.”

We talked about the example of Muslims living in India are not ONE group, but yet they are…Take the way they dress for example…A Muslim woman in the South would wear a Burqa, which would cover them entirely in clothing. In the north eastern parts of India however women don’t even cover up their heads…so what or who is an Indian-Muslim woman? Or would she be a Muslim-Indian woman? What do we define ourselves as? Who am I? And among all the characteristics that make me me or that make a nation a nation, what am I first?

This is an intriguing subject and I am very interested in researching this topic further…..