Diversity is ‘the wide variety of something’.

What we call विविधता in Hindi.

India is a diverse country. India’s diversity is reflected in its religions, ethnicities, customs, and social structures across a population of 1.3 billion people. India is a perfect example of unity in diversity. Take geography for example – from the snow-capped Himalayan Mountain peaks in the north to the arid deserts of Rajasthan in the west. Then there is a multitude of religions – Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism – and even religions within religions called sects. And then comes the linguistic diversity of our country – to be precise, India has 22 major languages, written in 13 different scripts, with over 720 distinct dialects. This was aptly surmised by the eminent sociologist A R Desai when he said: ‘India presents a spectacle of the museum of tongues.’

Do you remember the Doordarshan song: Ek Sur or Mile Sur Mera Tumhara?

The song was telecast for the first time on Independence Day in 1988, after the telecast of the Prime Minister's speech from the Red Fort. The song featured achievers from all walks of life--from Shabana Azmi to Prakash Padukone, and Lata Mangeshkar to Amitabh Bachchan. It featured an array of Indian languages--Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Marwari, Odia, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

What a beautiful way to celebrate India’s diversity isn’t it!

Why should we celebrate diversity?

• Celebrating diversity is celebrating diverse perspectives, cultures, and values being accepted, appreciated, and celebrated.
• Celebrating our differences, as well as our common interests, helps unite and educate us.
• It builds tolerance in us to ideas, lifestyles that are not like us
• Broadens our minds and educates us
• Develops awareness for other cultures, other socio-economic and educational backgrounds
• Develops a sense of brotherhood

It is always a good idea to go out of our horizon and explore the world outside. Beauty lies in diversity. Beauty lies in togetherness. Beauty lies in empathy. Beauty lies in oneness.

Unity is Strength!

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