Essays

"India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of human history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition," thus said Mark Twain. The rich and composite Indian civilization is more than 4,500 years old. It has a glorious history where one of the world's greatest civilization was cradled and nurtured. It is the melting pot of all the religions of the world where everything is assimilated in the large-hearted Indian character as its own. India is the land where everything is a way of life and full of life. It is a civilization united by its diversity more heterogeneous than any other country in the world, India is a land of great diversity. Four of the major racial groups met and merged in the Indian society and as a result there is a complex demographic profile in the Indian society. The Aryans managed to establish a dominant presence in the Indian society in the regions of the north-west and the Gangetic plains. However, the people of the Mongoloid descent remained undisturbed in the Himalayan region. The affinity of the Mongoloids with the south-east Asian world was remarkable, which is reflected in the motifs that the Mongoloids use in their crafts. Though the Mongoloid people stayed within the central part of India they also left a deep influence on the racial pattern of the eastern tribes of Orissa and Bihar. The southerners in the peninsular regions of India may have had a link with Negroid races. The ethnic diversity of the Indian society is reflected in the variety of languages and dialects that exist in the country today. There are 17 major languages and 900 dialects and subsidiary languages in the Indian society. The Dravidian family alone consists of 23 different languages and dialects, Tamil is spoken in Tamil Nadu, Telugu is spoken in Andhra Pradesh, Kannada is spoken in Karnataka and Malayalam is spoken in Kerala.  India is a land of varied religions too. Many of them like Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism originated here, but a few though of foreign origin have become an integral part of the rich cultural diversity of India like Christianity, Islam and Zorastrainism. Different religions in India have a different set of festivals, which are significant and pertinent to the people living here. One of the important festivals of North India is Holi It is the festival of colours and is celebrated with immense gaiety and exuberance. Holi marks the end of winter and greets the advent of Spring. Holi is also considered to be d day to forgive and forget and to repair the ruptured relationships. It is largely associated with the romantic frolicking of the cowherd God Krishna with his Gopiyans. Deepawali is another prominent festival of India. In literal sense, Deepawali means a garland of lamps. It is an apt description of this festival, which is characterized by lights. Deepawali is celebrated by the lighting of lamps in order to keep alive the memory of Prince Rama's return to Ayodhya after he had managed to conquer the tyrant Ravana. Undoubtedly, Dusshera is another much-awaited festival of India as it marks celebration in many parts of the country. This festival is celebrated with great fanfare in Kullu, Varanasi and Mysore. It is celebrated as Durga Puja in West Bengal. Dusshera marks the end of nine day long Navaratri festivities- Baisakhi festival marks the first day of the Hindu New Year. This is primarily a harvest festival of India and is celebrated with great gusto in Punjab. The Bhangara dancers dance in an energetic and vigorous manner to express their joy and happiness, Pongal is a festival during which rice is cooked as a ritual, which symbolizes the ushering in of abundance. The day after Pongal, the cattle are bathed, fed and decorated, and are then paraded down the village streets. Onam is one of the most prominent festivals in the southern India, primarily Kerala. This festival is linked with the legend of the mythological king Mahabali. This festival also marks the time for the fantastic boat races at Alapuzha. The most special festival for Muslims is the Eid. It is celebrated to commemorate the conclusion of the whole month of fasting, Eid is celebrated with a ritual Namaz, a prayer that is offered in a mosque. Festive eating, exchange of gifts, donning of new clothes and dabbing of attar - rose essence, marks the jubilation of this festival. Similarly, Christians take immense delight in celebrating Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection are celebrated as Good Friday and Easter.

Indian philosophy, throughout the ages, has had a tremendous impact on the world thought, especially in the East. Various theistic schools of philosophy, such as schools of Buddhism and Hinduism, have had huge influences on Indian culture. Moreover, India also gave some of the longest and most influential secular traditions of logic, rationalism, science, mathematics, materialism, atheism, agnosticism, etc, which are often overlooked due to the popular conception that India is a 'mystical* country. Many of the complex scientific and mathematical concepts such as the idea of zero, found their way to Europe via Arab intermediaries. The most famous school of Indian atheism is Carvaka, considered by some to be the oldest Materialistic school of thought in the world, composed around the same time as the Hindu Upanishads, the philosophy of Buddhism and Jainism. This period around 600-400 BC marked a huge leap in both Indian philosophy and the World philosophy in general, with the simultaneous emergence of contemporary Greek schools. Some philosophical concepts from India were introduced to the Greeks, especially during the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and vis a vis, some leading schools of classical Greek philosophy are almost identical to prior Indian schools.

In addition to the high emphasis placed on philosophy in India, which has existed since ancient times, all India has produced some of the world's most influential philosophers of all times, who have written both in their native languages, and English. During the British occupation of India, various thinkers, both secular and religious, achieved a new level of recognition across the world as both ancient Indian texts, and the work of contemporary Indian philosophers was translated into English, German and other languages. Swami Vivekananda travelled to America and participated in the 1893 World Parliament of Religions, Chicago. He impressed delegates with his groundbreaking speech that for the first time gave access to eastern, Indian, Hindu and dharmic philosophy to western intellectuals. Various religious thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and other member; of the Indian Freedom Movement, generated political philosophy, and formed the basis of modern Indian democracy, secularism and liberalism. Even now, scholars such as Amartya Sen, who won Asia's first Nobel Prize in Economics, continue to give India a reputation as an important contributor to the world thought.

India is an immensely diverse country that accomodates distinct religious societies and divergent cultures- Religion plays a central and definitive role in the life of the country and most of its people. The religion of more than 80,4% of the people is Hinduism, considered as the world's oldest religious and philosophical system, Islam is practised by around 13.4°D of Indians, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are other religions that are strong and influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zuroastridnism, Judaism and the Baha'i Faith is also practised by the people of the country, though they are small in number. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnosticism are also visible influences, as India is a secular country.

The culture of India is not a product of a few years of radical enlightenment but has evolved after age-old long process of gradual development, assimilation and diversification. The richness of Indian culture and tradition cannot be put in totality on paper but can only be felt, which is evident as the mesmerized West longingly looks at India of the Orient, as a refuge from its hollow materialistic culture.