Download Topic (1) The Subcontinent as a Culture Region

Topic (1) The Subcontinent as a Culture Region
Sub-Topic 1: The Uniqueness of the Subcontinent
Stretching from Pakistan to the borders of Myanmar (Burma), from the Himalaya to the Indian Ocean, the
Indian cultural realm embraces seven nations and more than a fifth of humankind. It presents a number of
perplexing contrasts and problems. For example, there is on the one hand a sense of overriding unity
throughout the whole sweep of long history, and on the other there is a baffling degree of local and regional
variation. Within this area one encounters a rich and bewildering diversity of peoples, the ever changing
manifestations of four and a half millennia of civilization and interaction between indigenous and foreign
peoples. The abiding heartland of Hinduism and the cultural hearth of Buddhism, the Indian subcontinent
also includes more Muslims than the whole of the Islamic Middle East and approximately 25 million
Christians as well. Not only in religion, but also in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, art, architecture,
music, dance , literature, psychology and medicine, the contribution of the Indian cultural realm to our
common human heritage is enormous.
The Indian subcontinent’s huge emerging market represents one of the last untapped economic frontiers in
the world. India’s middle class alone has nearly 200 million people and is growing by 5 percent per year.
This rivals the total population of the United States. Strong institutional and legal framework, an Englishspeaking professional and entrepreneurial class, and impressive scientific and technical skills are additional
advantages for Americans, Europeans and Japanese doing business in the region.
Both fundamental unity and internal diversity accurately characterize the Indian subcontinent. It is unique
and distinct from other great cultural regions of the world in the same sense that Europe or China are
unique and distinct. The cultural frontiers of this region are closely defined and have remained remarkably
constant, partly because the physical frontiers are clearly marked. To the northwest, north, and northeast,
massive mountain ranges, including some of the highest peaks in the world, separate this cultural area
from the rest of Asia. To the south, southeast and southwest, it is effectively contained by the wide
expanses of ocean. The Indian subcontinent is comparable in size to western Europe.
Yet despite its size and importance the Indian subcontinent remains little understood in the Western world.
Furthermore, much of what most Americans know is incorrect, largely because classical tradition, modern
romantic authors, Hollywood films, television and the popular press have combined to portray India in
extreme terms; of stunning wealth or abject poverty, of unbridled violence or pacifism, of gross sexuality or
spiritualism, and sometimes all of the above. How many of us know that India is the world’s most populous
democracy; it has the third largest pool of scientific and technical personnel; it ranks among the ten leading
industrial powers, and it produces more feature length films than any other country? How many recognize
the intellectual debt of Emerson and Thoreau to the Upanishads, of Gandhi to Thoreau, and of Martin
Luther King to Gandhi?
For centuries there have been strong economic, political, and strategic ties between Indian subcontinent
and the West. The lure of India’s wealth provided the impetus for the Age of Discovery and the riches
extracted from India helped sustain England’s Industrial Revolution. Always renowned for its handicrafts,
India now has a highly diversified industrial base. It is expected to increase substantially its share of the
world’s manufacturing output in the coming decades and is becoming an attractive field for Western
investment as well as an expanding market for Western goods.
Politically the stability of Indian democracy provides a model for other developing nations. Over the past
half century millions of Western tourists, business people and students have visited the countries of the
Indian subcontinent. More than a million from the subcontinent have, in recent years, become citizens of
the United States, greatly enriching the social and cultural milieu of America. Their professional
attainments, creativity, and industry are epitomized by the fact that Indians currently have the highest per
capita income of any ethnic group in the United States. Astrophysicist (and Nobel laureate) Subrahmanyan
Chandrashekara, geneticist Har Gobind Kohorana (also a Nobel laureate), orchestra conductor Zubin
Mehta and writers Anita Desai, Kamala Markandaya, Gita Mehta and Bharat Mukherjee are but a few
among many Americans of Indian origin who have achieved eminence in their respective fields.