Diversity : India vs. USA

The whole premise of this argument is based on this article -

US can learn diversity from India (Times of India)

it presents a very predictable view of the world from India. The first thing I checked midway through the article was the author. The author being an Indian and being published in an Indian news paper it makes sense for it to be very pro-indian. But what got me thinking was more the comments on the article than the article itself. The article presented a view from India, while the comments presented a view from USA from Indians.

To sum it up.. the article was very pro-indians while majority of comments being anti-indian.

I feel the truth is somewhere between the two. The comments paint a picture of India riddled with communal tensions / violence and a system based on caste system and hence not diverse. While, the article paints a rosy picture of India in which there's a chance for everyone irrespective of race/ religion / sex to be elected to the highest position of Indian legislature.

Well frankly, the truth as I said earlier is somewhere in the between. Indians are used to seeing and living among people with very different religious beliefs/ practices, languages, customs. Americas too have plenty of diversity in this country. They share the professional life with many people coming from many different countries each in itself having an unique and rich history, heritage and customs. The difference is in the way the diversity expresses itself in the two countries.

But US inspite of the all the various languages and diverse people still has by default english as the language for all purpopses.. theres spanish in the border states but do you really see a different language for each state like we in India ? Do we see different religions in different states in US? This uniformity has what stood good for US so far, but its the increasing diversity thats causing problems for US that it hasnt been used to so far.. the bearded indians / pakistanis/ bangladeshis singled out in airport security in so-called random screenings, the violence against sikhs in US and Europe, these are facets of a country coming to terms with diversity..

The problem in India is that, Indians since childhood have seen adversity around them and have learnt to fight for everything.. even if its not necessary everything is very self centered and egoistic. This is what I feel hampers India in her progress. There is discord between the deeply ingrained sense of unity as a country but at the same time the sense of loyalty or sense of belonging to certain way of life that is different that the other. India's problems have not to do with the way we handle diversity but with the way we as Indians live. We can achieve great things when we work alone, but when we work with other indians, its always the worst that comes out, whether in India or US. So much insecurity when we have to work with our own people.. why ?? Do you think, all the diversity in US has something do with the progress of the country or is it that people came together to achieve something ?

We as Indians are incapable to think for the betterment of the group.

One could always point to the religious riots, the caste system, the prejudices in India and paint a picture thats all black and sad. When is this talk a talk of taking sides of convenience ? I would like to ask these Indians, how often have they sided with diversity when faced with new circumstances ?? Why do we still have friends circles that are marathi-speaking/ telugu-speaking / tamil-speaking ?? How many times has one as a Indian seen marraiges happen between people from different states belonging to differnet customs e.g. punajabis and tamilians, bengalis and gujarathis?? no one still sticks to what one is comfortable with and what is known.. unknowns are always scary.

Whether one comes from US of A or India that is basic human nature... We as Indians need to talk less and show more actions.. The world is watching and hoping we stumble along the way somewhere, but we need to pull up together for all we think (and I believe) India is and can be.