Who is the Indian?

As an Indian, who’s stayed in India her whole life, I’ve always tried to find out the idea of India. I’ve tried to find some similarity in all the Indians I’ve met, something that unites us as a nation. But it has been a challenge.

I grew up reading that India is the largest democracy in the world. Its the fastest growing economy. Yet I could see astute poverty around me sometimes. I wasn't able to fathom the existence of both realities in the same realm. I read about riots based on religious motives, linguistic motives, cultural motives, and they made me extremely agitated. Why would they destroy government property like that? Why would they hurt innocent people like that? I never understood why cases like the Ayodhya Ram temple issue were such a huge point of focus or why was the region of Kashmir so unstable.

In my quest to find an Indian identity that I could relate to, I was recommended this book by Ramachandra Guha, “India After Gandhi”. While they do teach us in schools everything in our history books right up till the time the Britishers left India, they don't talk about what happens after that. This book does.

The author is very engaging in recounting the strife, the hardships and landmark moments that made India what it is today. I noticed that riots have always been a part of Indian history, as one of the many forms of protests used. I can grasp the fact that the Kashmir issue is not as simple as it looks now.

I see India now like an amalgamation of what could be small nations, of groups of individuals trying to protect their ethnicity and religion. I am amazed, just as much the rest of the world is, at how India, having such a diverse culture salutes the same flag and has the same national anthem.

As to my quest of trying to find a similarity that makes us all “Indian”, I ‘ve understood that its the lack of it that makes us unique.