Fullness of India: Word, World and People

Abstract

There are many stories about India. But the key question is how to know and see India? Most importantly, which of the stories represents authentic India? Which system of thought represents India in its pristine form? What does the term ‘our culture’ mean? In the 80’s a friend asked me to tell him, in one word, what is India? I instantly uttered- ‘Sharat Chandra’ the renowned writer from Bengal. The answer was spontaneous, but why I said it became clearer to me over the years. My peers and I grew up in the 60s, speaking Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi etc. in our respective homes, very comfortable, and organically rooted in our lineage, and with an unassuming, unconscious, non-declarative pride of being Indians. Speaking for myself, (this is possibly true for the generations of this time), we lived in a joint family.