India - A Resilient Society

Last month we vacationed in Cancun, Mexico. Like most vacationers in Cancun, we went on a pilgrimage to Chichen Itza, a complex of ruins from Mayan civilization. While appreciating the architecture and the grandiosity of the step pyramid, the Temple of the warriors and other structures there, and the fact that this complex was built some 800-1000 years ago, I realized that this complex was uncovered only in the 20th century. Much of the Mayan civilization and its creations were destroyed by the Spanish as part of their aggression in the 16th century. Felt bad about the destruction of such a highly sophisticated society at the hands of Europeans.

On the tour, the tour guide, a man of Spanish descent, introduced us to a native Mayan who was also on the same bus. Apparently, only about 5% of Mexican population is native Mayan, rest of the population is of Spanish descent. The types of jobs done by native Mayan population are mundane, definitely not customer facing and naturally those are low wage jobs. They speak their native language, but since their population is so low, the language itself is almost extinct. Same goes with their culture.

The pains of such aggression can be shared and sympathized better by none other than Indians. We have seen aggressions for the last 4000+ years, if you count the Aryan invasion. Since the 13th century, India has seen many more aggressions from Muslims and the British. The aggressors massacred people and destroyed temples and other artifacts of the culture, just like the Spanish did in Mexico. The difference is that India still has a huge population of the native people, including Dravidians. A lot of temples and artifacts are still standing and visited, including the Sun Temple in Konark, Ellora Caves in Maharashtra and the Somnath Temple in Gujarat, which was attacked and mutilated 17 times in the past.

Wherever the Europeans built their colonies, the native culture and the spoken languages in that land were destroyed. South American continent either speaks Spanish or Portuguese, not the native language spoken earlier. Take Australia, New Zealand or USA for that matter. The official languages of USA are English and Spanish, not the languages spoken by Native Americans. Contrast that to India, where people still speak regional languages; in fact, there are 22 official languages still spoken in India, which are not in any way derived from European languages.

Same goes for the religion. Before the Mughal aggression, the only religions in India were Hinduism and Buddhism. In 500 years of aggressions and occupation, the Mughals did manage to convert a lot of folks into Islam; however, even now Hinduism is the largest religion in India. This is in spite of the fact that countries on the East (Indonesia and Malaysia) and the West transformed into majority Muslim countries. Colonization by the British and Portuguese did add Christianity as a religion in the Indian landscape, but their population never became a majority. Virtually all other colonies in the World now follow Christianity, without regard to their original religion, if any.

Huge credit goes to the trio – Shivaji Maharaj, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind Singh, who fought against the Muslim aggressions and coercion and helped the society keep its dignity and identity. Regional saints like Tukaram and Ramadas also shared the burden. Without these folks, the current landscape of Indian society could have been very different.

A big chunk of the credit goes to the society itself. The resilience of Indian society ironically comes from the basic tenets of the society, namely inclusiveness and tolerance. Among all the casteism that the society embraced for centuries, there was an integral thread of tolerance and inclusiveness. Hindus believe in multiple gods (polytheism); so when you, as a Muslim, believe in Allah, Hindus did not have any reservations against one more god. Some Hindus even believe that Jesus Christ is a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu!

Indian society has been very receptive to other cultures, be it food or music or other values and traditions. The Mughals and Muslims overall had a big influence on Hindustani Classical Music. Biryani is equally savored by Hindus as by Muslims. We celebrate Id and Christmas, in fact, Good Friday is a public Holiday in India, whereas a predominantly Christian USA does not have such a holiday.

People are worried about the Western culture dominating the Indian youth today and think that it will destroy their very own culture. However, if you look at the history, this form of inclusiveness will soon sew an additional thread into the fabric of the society; the Indian culture will not die. The capacity of the society to withstand and assimilate the onslaught of different traditions and cultures is proven well in the history.

India was divided into multiple kingdoms and while the kings fought amongst themselves, seldom did anyone attack and colonize a different land altogether. While India faced a lot of aggressions, it never attacked other countries.

Traditional culture is still followed in parts of the World, most notably China. But apart from the Mongolians, China was not attacked or colonized by Europeans or other folks, thanks to its geography and the Himalayas.  Egypt’s vibrant culture dates back to almost 4000 BC. However, with the Arab conquest in the 7th century, most of those traditions and culture died and were replaced by Islam.  The native Egyptian language, Coptic was replaced by Arabic.

Inclusiveness definitely does come with a cost though. In the past, it was manifested by attacks from the kings; now it poses a danger from the terrorists. While these attacks are painful and shake the very premise of the society, in the end, none of those attacks will destroy the society.

Resilience also stems from the fact that the society has been following the culture and traditions over the ages, in spite of the aggressions and coercions. While on the one hand, it opened its doors for outsiders, it also kept on practicing the preaching and tenets of the culture over generations. Regional saints played a handsome role in keeping the society on track. As we have gotten rid of the darks spots on the society like casteism, we must keep embracing the stellar spots like Yoga and Ayurveda amongst other gems of our culture. 

With inclusiveness of other cultures and the practice of our own values, the Indian society will be resilient for the foreseeable future.