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The fundamental diversity in India is gleaned from the following:
1. Geographical Diversity:
Geography has played a vital role in sharing the character of this country. It has a chain of lofty mountains. Many rivers including the Ganges and Indus provide water throughout the year creating many fertile plains which produce ample grains. Similarly, there are places in India like the Thar Desert of Rajasthan where not a single grass grows.
Similar is the case with climate of our country. All the three types of climate i.e. polar, temperate and tropical are felt in India. Places of Kashmir like Gulmarg, Khilanmarg and Pahalgam are very cold during winter. Hot wind and heat waves is common feature in Rajasthan. Towns like Mumbai and Chennai on the sea- coast enjoy moderate climate. There are places in India like Cherapunj which records 480 inches of rainfall where as less than 3 inches of it is found in north-western Rajasthan per annum. Thus, geographical diversity is well discernible in India.
2. Diversity in Flora and Fauna:
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There exists diversity so far as flora and fauna in India are concerned. The great teak, sal, pine and other big trees are found in the vast forest tracts in India. In Indian deserts small cactus and thorny bushes are found. In forests live wild lives like tigers, lions, elephants, deer’s etc. Many other animals like monkey, cow, goat, camel, buffalo are generally found everywhere in the country. The ponies in the hilly area and camels in the deserts facilitate transportation. Definitely variety in flora and fauna is found in India
3. Racial Diversity:
India is a place of diverse races. It contains different races like Negrito, Proto-Austroloid, Mongoloid, Mediterranean, Nordic and Brachycephels. That is why Prof V. A. Smith rightly called it as “an ethnological museum”. From ancient times India has become the land of Dravidians, Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Sakas, Mushanas, Hunas. In medieval period, the Arabs, Turks, Tartars, Mughals and Afghans had lived in this country. With the British conquest, the Europeans began to live in this land. Thus India has given shelter to many races and such diverse races have shaped the course of Indian history.
4. Diversity in Religion:
Several religions have left their imprint on the cultural canvass of India. The principal religions of the world like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, and Christianity have blossomed on the lap of this country. The Hindu religion with its sub-sects like Vaishnavism, Saivism, Shaktism etc. have been followed by a vast majority of people in India Several Gods and Goddesses have been worshipped by the people. Spells, charms, dogmas, rites, rituals etc. are found abundantly in this land. Monotheism, Polytheism, aboriginal deities, peculiar cults and soon have made Indian religion a curious mixture of several ideas. This is a great peculiarity which Indian religion exhibits.
5. Diversity in Language and Literature:
Many languages have sprang up on Indian soil. Now, there are more than fourteen main languages in India such as, Sanskrit, Hindi, Oriya, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Guajarati, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Kannada etc. English has become the connecting link among all the languages. Besides these languages, there are more than two hundreds of languages spoken by the people of this land.
The aboriginal tribes speak their dialect. In this way people of India speak several languages which is perhaps not found anywhere in the world. Every language has its own literature. The style and theme of Oriya literature is different from Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and so on.
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6. Diversity in Social Life:
Indian society is not homogeneous. The customs, manners, food, cloth etc. of a society is different from other. Through their dress the people of Northern Indian can be distinguished from their counterparts of Southern India. The people of Northern India prefer roti, dal and subji where as the people of Southern India prefer rice, sambar, rasam, pappad etc. In a similar vein, the fairs and festivals observed by different societies in India are varied in nature. Thus diversity is quite discernible in the social life of the Indians.
7. Political Diversity:
From the hoary past diversity is seen in Indian political system. In sixth century B.C. monarchical states flourished vis-a-vis republican states. The Mauryan polity was definitely different from the Guptas. Great rulers like Asoka, Chandragupta II, Harsavardhan, Balban, Akbar, Shivaji etc. had their own way for governing the country.
Though the British authorities wanted to implement uniform law procedure in the country and after independence the whole Indian Republic is governed by the law formed by the constitution, still then certain political decisions are not same in all the states inside the country. Diversity is definitely reflected in political life too in India.
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In this was diversity pervades on the whole of Indian subcontinent. This diversity is so much so that a foreigner will simply stare at this. Anyway, such diversities are not the hallmarks of Indian culture. The main theme of this culture is unity which absorbs all the diversities.