Summary
Mahapatra discusses several issues and concerns in India as a developing democracy, highlighting its cultural diversity, social classes, and religious practices. Most of the Indian people are Hindus, with other religious groups, termed as minorities, such as Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs, complementing their numbers. Among other things, India is strongly ritualistic even in the face of growing technologies and the increasing dependence on modern technology. However, India has, at times witnessed sporadic bursts of religious intolerance, while poverty, illiteracy, and caste disparity remain as substantial problems.
See the full content of this document
Extract
Comment: Letter From India
Dear H,
The mind of India is iconic. It is justifiable on our part to say this because our people have demonstrated over and over again that any person who wields power (could be political, or financial, or even an actor or a shrewd businessman) is a potential icon. I am tempted to give examples of this, but I would rather not. I do know of a specific instance at a temple in Tamil Nadu, a Tamil-speaking state in the south of India, where the worshipped deity is a former Chief Minister of State who is alive and very much in the public eye.So it is not hard to foresee that India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh which held regular elections last month and voted a woman to power could not help but build up her iconic status. Mayawati Devi, who belongs to the Dalit community ("dalit" literally meaning "downtrodden") and heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, stepped into the post of Chief Minister of State. The huge po...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
