How Culture, Women and Institutions Keep India Together
Syeda AB Jan
(Artists from Manipur’s Lai Haraoba dance troupe join Tamil Nadu’s Bharatanatyam performers at a National Unity Day event in Delhi, celebrating India’s shared heritage)
The many Indias within India
Every lane in India tells a different story, of language, faith, cuisine, rhythm and colour. Yet these stories intertwine into a single, evolving national identity. On Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, as we celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, it’s worth asking: what keeps this enormous cultural mosaic from falling apart?
Patel’s vision of unity was not just territorial; it was deeply social. His belief that “India’s strength lies in her diversity” still resonates. Unity, as Patel understood, meant harmony without homogeny.
Culture as glue, not decoration
India’s festivals are perhaps the most vivid display of togetherness. In Varanasi, Muslim weavers craft silk sarees worn by Hindu brides during Durga Puja; in Mumbai’s Mohammed Ali Road, Hindu halwais roll out jalebis for Eid shoppers; in Kerala’s Thrissur, the Pooram festival sees Christian-owned elephants carry Hindu deities in procession. Each celebration blurs the boundaries of faith and geography.
Art, cinema, and music continue to perform the same unifying role. A.R. Rahman’s “Vande Mataram” fuses Sufi qawwali with Carnatic violin; Bollywood’s “Chak De! India” anthem is sung in school assemblies from Kohima to Kanyakumari. From Bhangra beats in Punjab to the Baul minstrels of Bengal, India’s sonic landscape reminds us that while our notes differ, the melody is one.
The invisible architects: women and community
Beyond headlines and parades, much of India’s unity is maintained at the grassroots—by women. In Bihar’s Jehanabad district, the women-led Jeevika cooperatives have turned rival caste groups into joint micro-enterprise partners; in Gujarat’s Kutch, embroiderers from the Rabari, Sodha and Jat communities sell under a single “Kutch Craft” brand.
“Women are the moral fibre of our civic life,” says Medha Tai of the Deccan Development Society in Telangana. “They keep families, and therefore society, from fracturing.” In Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal, sarpanch Lakshmi Priya resolved a 20-year temple-mosque land dispute over tea and filter coffee. Their work forms the living infrastructure of unity, the social counterpart to the political integration Patel achieved.
The role of peacekeepers
While cultural unity thrives in diversity, it needs a stable environment. Here, India’s Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) play a crucial role. The Assam Rifles runs “Operation Sadbhavana” schools for Naga, Kuki and Meitei children in Manipur; the BSF’s camel contingents patrol Rajasthan’s Thar while organising medical camps for Pakistani villagers across the fence.
Ekta Diwas parades featuring CAPF contingents are more than ceremonial—they are a national salute to those who ensure that India’s unity isn’t disrupted by disorder.
(Kevadia: BSF women commandos demonstrate anti-hijack drills during the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas parade)
The civic meaning of unity
Unity, in the end, is not an abstract ideal. It is what allows a Kashmiri Pandit to reopen his shawl shop in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, a Malayali nurse to treat patients in a Delhi ICU, and a Bihari labourer to send Diwali money home from a Surat loom. As India continues to grow economically and politically, social cohesion will be its most valuable asset.
Patel’s message, and the spirit of Ekta Diwas, remind us that the task of unifying India did not end in 1949—it continues in every village, every neighbourhood, every shared meal.
