Rhythms of Unity

Byline: Semu Bhatt Even before its independence, obituaries for India as a country had been pouring from world over. Politician and political scientists predicted that a plethora of caste, class, culture, languages and religion would be inimical to national solidarity. That various parts of India are so diverse - north of India is a total contrast to south and so is west from east - that it can be termed as countries within a country. Yet, India has managed to defy all speculations and theories, by staying united and democratic despite its massive heterogeneous population and widespread poverty. While there have been some secessionist movements, by and large over 75% of India has been peaceful at any given time; thereby being an exception to the one state, one language, one religion rule. So what is it that keeps India united?