Del Debbio 1

Cultural Diversity and its Effect on India Elizabeth Del Debbio GCU114 Diane Godfrey

Del Debbio 2 How can India, a country that is changing so rapidly, stand so firm in a culture dating back thousands of years? Perhaps no one has said it better than Mahatma Gandhi: I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any (Promoting). Meaning that India ought to be a country full of culture and a country accepting of culture, but its own cultures should be unwavering. This is undoubtedly different than the India that existed even ten, twenty years ago. The cultural diversity is not lessening, if anything, it is skyrocketing. The core cultures of India still remain, however, cultural diversity is changing as India opens itself up to the influence of cultures from around the world. From the beginning, Indias cultures have centered around religion. The first religion introduced to the country was Hinduism, brought by the Aryans when they invaded the Indus Valley Civilization. Within this connection between religion and culture, civilization flourished. The arts were heavily affected, with the creation of Hindustani music, and with paintings being used as a tool to demonstrate [ones] religious beliefs (Cultural). Dance is especially a part of Indian culture and is performed at festivals and weddings. Kathak is the main dance form in North India [and came] from the Islamic invasion (Cultural). From the time India was introduced to Hinduism until now, religions have remained relatively the same. Most of India is still Hindu, with the partition of India in 1947 to create Pakistan, a country for Muslims, increasing the religions dominance within the country. Since India has begun to open itself up to globalization, culture within India has not changed at its core. However, the diversity of cultures has changed, positively and negatively, with the introduction of products, jobs, and ideas from other countries. With companies like Dell opening up a plant in India, technology has boomed and laws have changed. For many years, the sales of Dell computers were skyrocketing in India

Del Debbio 3 that is, until a law was passed stating that 50% of all computers used in an Indian business must be made by Indian companies, not companies located in India. Much of India has access to the internet now, and it can be presumed that Indians are laughing at videos on YouTube and Vine, just like millions of people around the world. Glimpses into other cultures through their literature and music are at the fingertips of anyone who wants to go looking and are becoming a very real part of cultural diversity, though existing only on the internet sometimes. However, cultural diversity is also creating a negative effect on the people of India. Youths in India do not respect their elders [and] familieslive separate (CITE). Yes, India is becoming more culturally diverse, however, the lines between Western cultures and Indian cultures are becoming more and more blurred, so that they seep together. Indians are being warned, then, to accept the good from outside cultures and let there be diversity, but not to let the bad in and let diversity change from diversity to one culture. This speaks directly to the fact that India is making a strong attempt to preserve the cultures that already exist within the country. In a country filled with various religious temples and sacred sites, with modern office buildings not far from crumbling architecture, and where teens dance in festivals dating back hundreds of years, then go home and update their status on Facebook, India is an extremely culturally diverse country. Its own culture still stands firm among all of these outside forces and influences, while also taking what it likes and wants from these cultures and integrating them into daily life. Indias culture is not being lost, and it hopefully never will be.

Del Debbio 4 Works Cited Bates, C. (n.d.). The Hidden Story of Partition and its Legacies. BBC News. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml Cultural and Traditional India. (n.d.). Traditional and Cultural India, Information of Traditional India, Cultural India Information. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www.goforindia.com/traditional-cultural-india.html Promoting the diversity of cultural expressions. (n.d.). Sankalp. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.sankalp.org/promoti ngdiversity Western Culture Influence Indian Society | Palem Srikanth Reddy. (2013, April 5).Palem Srikanth Reddy. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://srikanthreddy.com/westernculture-influence-indian-society/