When we enter a forest, very few of us notice how diverse every living organism is. A small area of a forest will have numerous varieties of grasses, shrubs, trees, insects, butterflies and a multitude of sounds. And only in such diversified areas can a human be tranquil and peaceful. So, then why are we so hellbent on removing diversity from every walk of our lives!!??
Let us start with something as basic as food - a few years back, you would not find the same food every 100kms in India. That was the diversity we had in our food - from our rice to our masalas - every 100kms had their own unique cuisines and palette of ingredients. Now the diversity has reduced to white rice everywhere to a branded Garam Masala for every dish. The youngsters are tuning to ordering food online that they are unaware of the special dishes of their own ancestral places. The concept of diversity slips from our head when we visit someone's place and expect the same taste in tea and coffee as our own. We forget that tea / coffee too has diversity and we need to accept that few like it watery, very sweet or very thick with milk. There is no concept of the right tea or coffee or for that matter perfect taste of any one dish! Its to our own likings.
If the world of food is on a slow deathbed, the world of clothes is no different. Everybody who works in the corporate is mandated to wear formal attire and hence, all men I came across in Bangalore from Monday to Friday during working hours, looked the same to me! Luckily, the women are still a little diverse when it comes to their wear choice! Sadly, the diversity is dying out in the village women who prefer the cotton nighties, synthetic saree and very similar gold bordered saree for their festivities.
A topic that many of us avoid to not touch a raw nerve - God! When I read historical books, I came across a plethora of goddesses and gods being worshipped in India. Each village had their own goddess and god. There was very less worship of the national trio. Due to the introduction of television, easy travel modes, social media, even the diversity in gods has reduced - we now see only the trio and Ganesha being worshipped majorly and even the Devis are losing their local identities!
The state language of Karnataka - Kannada has many dialects too. A person from north Karnataka speaks a different Kannada to a person from South Karnataka. If just Kannada has this much of diversity, how vast will the language treasure chest be if filled with the languages of India!? The language diversity is being threatened by the mandated English education that enforces English with such might that the children of the cities tend to speak in English and are giving up on their mother tongues. Yes, the script might get saved in books, but spoken languages can never be compensated by what is written. The spoken vernacular needs to be passed from generation to generation by speech, and this is what is getting lost in the cities.
Ironically, the only topic that refuses to lose its diversity is our 'caste'! Two humans - both software engineers, wearing similar formal attire, drinking same coffees, having similar haircuts - might differentiate themselves saying they are from two different castes.
Let us start with something as basic as food - a few years back, you would not find the same food every 100kms in India. That was the diversity we had in our food - from our rice to our masalas - every 100kms had their own unique cuisines and palette of ingredients. Now the diversity has reduced to white rice everywhere to a branded Garam Masala for every dish. The youngsters are tuning to ordering food online that they are unaware of the special dishes of their own ancestral places. The concept of diversity slips from our head when we visit someone's place and expect the same taste in tea and coffee as our own. We forget that tea / coffee too has diversity and we need to accept that few like it watery, very sweet or very thick with milk. There is no concept of the right tea or coffee or for that matter perfect taste of any one dish! Its to our own likings.
If the world of food is on a slow deathbed, the world of clothes is no different. Everybody who works in the corporate is mandated to wear formal attire and hence, all men I came across in Bangalore from Monday to Friday during working hours, looked the same to me! Luckily, the women are still a little diverse when it comes to their wear choice! Sadly, the diversity is dying out in the village women who prefer the cotton nighties, synthetic saree and very similar gold bordered saree for their festivities.
A topic that many of us avoid to not touch a raw nerve - God! When I read historical books, I came across a plethora of goddesses and gods being worshipped in India. Each village had their own goddess and god. There was very less worship of the national trio. Due to the introduction of television, easy travel modes, social media, even the diversity in gods has reduced - we now see only the trio and Ganesha being worshipped majorly and even the Devis are losing their local identities!
The state language of Karnataka - Kannada has many dialects too. A person from north Karnataka speaks a different Kannada to a person from South Karnataka. If just Kannada has this much of diversity, how vast will the language treasure chest be if filled with the languages of India!? The language diversity is being threatened by the mandated English education that enforces English with such might that the children of the cities tend to speak in English and are giving up on their mother tongues. Yes, the script might get saved in books, but spoken languages can never be compensated by what is written. The spoken vernacular needs to be passed from generation to generation by speech, and this is what is getting lost in the cities.
Ironically, the only topic that refuses to lose its diversity is our 'caste'! Two humans - both software engineers, wearing similar formal attire, drinking same coffees, having similar haircuts - might differentiate themselves saying they are from two different castes.
