India as we all know is an amalgamation of different cultures coiled with various traditions, beliefs, and value systems spanning over different regions of the country. Each state has its own languages and cultural ethos which makes India unique globally.

Some of the salient features of the Indian society which shows her diversity are as follows:

• The joint family system traditionally
• Patriarchy
• Religiosity
• Linguistic diversity
• Casteism
• Spirituality, Tolerance, Collectivism
• Tribal presence

The diversity in the way of development

Although we have a diverse country, it would be wrong to say that diversity will have negative implications in the path of development.

• Linguistic diversity
  • Language gives identity to people. There are around 197 languages that are endangered in India.
  • With the loss of language comes the loss of everything in culture, knowledge, and loss of solidarity.
  • When a language dies, speakers decide to migrate to another and then to other regions.
  • Indian Constitution identifies 22 languages in its 8th schedule.
  • data-pm-slice=”1 1 ["table",{"style":null,"summary":null,"width":"1085px","cellspacing":null,"cellpadding":null,"align":null,"cols":[{"width":190},{"width":895}],"backgroundColor":null,"color":null,"selected":false},"tr",{"style":null,"backgroundColor":null,"textAlign":null,"verticalAlign":null,"color":null},"td",{"style":null,"abbr":null,"nowrap":null,"height":null,"colspan":1,"rowspan":1,"colwidth":[895],"backgroundColor":null,"textAlign":null,"verticalAlign":null,"color":"","inversionType":"smart"},"ul",{"style":null,"backgroundColor":null,"color":null,"lineHeight":null,"listStyleType":null},"li",{"style":null,"checked":null,"value":null,"displayValue":null,"backgroundColor":null,"color":null,"listStyleType":null,"isCollapsed":null}]” data-en-clipboard=”true”>Ganesh N Devy cultural activist  & man behind the People’s  Linguistic Survey of India campaign said, that when a language dies, a worldview dies with it.
  • ["table",{"style":null,"summary":null,"width":"1085px","cellspacing":null,"cellpadding":null,"align":null,"cols":[{"width":190},{"width":895}],"backgroundColor":null,"color":null,"selected":false},"tr",{"style":null,"backgroundColor":null,"textAlign":null,"verticalAlign":null,"color":null},"td",{"style":null,"abbr":null,"nowrap":null,"height":null,"colspan":1,"rowspan":1,"colwidth":[895],"backgroundColor":null,"textAlign":null,"verticalAlign":null,"color":"","inversionType":"smart"},"ul",{"style":null,"backgroundColor":null,"color":null,"lineHeight":null,"listStyleType":null},"li",{"style":null,"checked":null,"value":null,"displayValue":null,"backgroundColor":null,"color":null,"listStyleType":null,"isCollapsed":null}]” data-en-clipboard=”true”>It is important to integrate Indigenous knowledge systems alongside modern sciences in the curriculum of schools

So if languages are not preserved, development has a negative impact rather than the other way around.

• Religious diversity
  • Religious freedom means the freedom to adopt the faith of one’s choice.
  • Basic cultural values like tolerance help India sail through the glaring differences in religious practices.
  • According to Pew research report, respect for other religion is very high.
  • Secularism adopted in Indian constitution give the freedom of religon to our citizens.
• Geographical diversity
  • This is one of the gluing features of India as it contains mountains to beaches to snow cladded high ranges to deep forests.
  • It can be called as world’s natural laboratory.
  • This can have a greater impact on dietary practices, dressing, cultural values, housing patterns, racial diversity, etc.
  • This is a great source of income when it comes to tourism and related activities.
  • India has the potential to become a self-sufficient country as it is blessed with abundant resources. Every product from each region will have global value as we have all the climates available.
  • This paves the way for development and reputation in global eyes.
• Caste diversity and ethnic diversity
  • Given the historical contexts, we have had numerous castes and different ethnic cultures.
  • Each culture contributes its potential knowledge to society and has an impact on the same. For example, festivals, art forms, traditions, etc.

Has diversity helped India grow or is it a liability?

Given the scenarios and analyzing our past and upcoming future, India is a country with vast knowledge and has great potential to lead the world. The values that we hold are proven and time-tested. During the adversities, we have invariably come forward with our age-old beliefs like “Vasudhaiva Kudumbakam” and succeeded among others and solved several issues. For example, Providing COVID-19 vaccines to nations, humanitarian services during international conflicts, having peace talks with world leaders, etc.

It is only the diversity that helped India sustain its global presence as we have the greatest of brains working in all parts of the world spreading our local and regional way of living . As every coin has a flip side, all these have a downside as well, but our diverse value system itself helps it sustain the balance. For example, a sense of brotherhood, tolerance, collectivism, etc forms the bed rock for the negative aspects of it.