Question: The idea of India is a modern construct, India is but a

geographical expression. Do you agree?

DOCTRINE OF INDIANISM
Those who professed a religion of non-Indian origin or, coming to India, settled down there,
became distinctively Indian in the course of a few generations, such as Christians, Jews,
Parsees, Moslems. Indian converts to some of these religions never ceased to be Indians on
account of a change of faith. They were looked upon in other countries as Indians and
foreigners, even though there might have been a community of faith between them. Today,
when the conception of nationalism has developed much more, Indians in foreign countries
inevitably form a national group and hang together for various purposes, in spite of their
internal differences. An Indian Christian is looked upon as an Indian wherever he may go. An
Indian Moslem is considered an Indian in Turkey or Arabia or Iran
- Jawahar Lal Nehru (Discovery of India)

Introduction
India is merely a geographical expression. It is no more a single country
than the equator remarked Winston Churchill during the final days of the
British Raj in India. His statement was wrong then and is wrong now and will
be wrong in the future too. Admittedly, his remark would have been wrong
even 2500 years ago when the idea of India started catching the imagination
of the world including the likes of the Alexander the Great.
In this essay, I will try to propound a new doctrine, a doctrine of an Idea
called India. Just like the worlds greatest ism philosophies Hinduism,
Socialism, Capitalism, Marxism, etc the Doctrine of Indianism is a
philosophical idea of a country which developed or rather acquired several
unique identities over the years.
In this essay, I will discuss some of the highly acclaimed identities of India,
which are:
Assimilation
Tolerance
Diversity despite Unity
Spirituality
The idea of Indianism is something similar to a religion, a unique
philosophy developed with the principles evolving from the synthesis of
several philosophies that have been born out of or atleast touched India
Hindusim, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, etc. My aim is to show that
India is not just a geographical expression, but an identity in itself. An identity
so distinct that continues to live and keeps telling its baffling tales.

The India Many names, Many claims

Known with different names over the years as Bharata varsha, Jambu
dweepa, Aaryavrata, Hindustan, Tianzhu (Ancient China), Hodu (Hebrew), etc
the term always meant a common identity: the people living to the east of the
river Indus and to the south of the great Himalayas.
India has been an idea that has fascinated many travellers, historians,
seekers across the world. Starting from the Greek historians Megasthenese
(Indika), Ptolemy (Gepgrphia), Pliny (Naturalis Historia), Arrian, Strabo,
Diodorus, etc to Chinese Fa Xian, Xuan zang, Itsing, etc to the Arabic
travellers Al Beruni (Tahkik-i-Hind), Al Masudi, etc India never failed to
disappoint anyone and is reflected in the towering praises it receives in their
works.
The Indian - Illiterate1 yet not ill learned
In modern world, literacy means presence of a skill which can earn him a
livelihood. And by that scale, the current education system in India provides
livehoods to less than 30% of the population. Yet the average Indian survives.
Functional Literacy may not have touched every village of India, but the same
average Indian has many sources of learning apart from the traditional
sources of the education system. He derives knowledge from religion and
culture
History from Epics, Puranas. They have their own chronology of time
divided into Yuga, Kalpas, etc with their own set of historical
personalities Rama, Krishna, etc
Geography Through pilgrimage across the country either himself or
by listening to his peers.
Polity The complex caste system in India
Economy His livelihood activities predominantly agriculture teaches
many things about economics which are beyond comprehension of even
wisest of the economists
Assimilation
From the beginning of Indian memory (In Archeological or Textual
form) assimilation is a character that defined India. At first the Aryan
immigrants were in conflict with the natives but slowly got assimilated into
the local system. Then came the Foreign invaders in form of Greeks, Bactrians,
Sakas, Kushans, Parthians, etc and each one of them made India their new
1

Usage of the term illiterate is only figurative and is not to be understood in its literal sense

home. India influenced them in a way, and they influenced India in another
way. The invasions of Turks, Afghans and the Persians also, ended up in a
similar fashion.
Every religion that is practiced in India is unique and they are heavily
influenced by each other. This is the result of great assimilation of different
faiths, cultures, philosophies, ideas, traditions, etc
It (Indian Culture) stands for synthesis of the different cultures that have come to stay in
India, that have influenced Indian life, and that, in their turn, have themselves been influenced
by the spirit of the soil. This synthesis will naturally be of the Swadeshi type, where each
culture is assured its legitimate place
-Mahatma Gandhi

Tolerance
A major reason for any country to maintain a single identity with limited
diversity is their intolerance towards foreign or alien ideas/cultures.
Foreigners are always treated with suspicion and hostility. In India it is the
opposite. We welcome the ideas and cultures of foreigners, try to find a
balance and in turn create something new, something which is distinctly
Indian.
Tolerance is another aspect of Indianism which has contributed
immensely in the development of Indian identity. Tolerance is reflected in
its religious philosophies Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc
its people - their interactions, their day to day behavior
its festivals - participation of different faiths in each others festivities
its places of worship A same locality having Temple, Mosque and
Church
Its villages, towns, cities Every place is a mixture of different faiths,
castes, classes yet they all stay together under a single identity of
Indianism
Some western thinkers sometimes misunderstood our tolerance as our
weakness as an author says:
In what has been diagnosed as a mini state syndrome, those states that do not have the
material capabilities to make a difference to the outcomes at the international level often
denounce the concept of power.India had long been one such state. As a consequence, the
Indian political and strategic elite developed a suspicion of power politics, with the
word power itself acquiring a pejorative connotation..

But this isnt any inherent weakness of India but a deliberate strategy of
"Ahimsa"(Non-Violence/Tolerance) which has been our identity not just in
foreign policy but also in several matters.
Diversity despite Unity
Unity in diversity is an old maxim. In a globalized world, there is a
growing interdependence of communities. In the age of information, cultural
isolation is a thing of the past. The doctrine of survival of the fittest is valid for
cultures too, and only the fittest cultures are only surviving and the irrelevant
ones are getting extinct. In this increasingly interwoven and complex world,
Indianism is an example where despite an incredible unity its still a land of
bewildering diversity.
For a country like India, it is impossible to create an authoritative
uniformity; and too much diversity has its own perils. These contemptuous
issues have been challenging India since centuries. And every time Indias
survival is threatened we witness the rise of extraordinary men.
Buddha has grasped the simple fact that it is not correct to live in
extremities and propounded the Middle path theory. This Middle path theory
has a doctrinal significance in Indian life. Every time someone tends to move
towards an extreme, we tend to find an automatic middle path and the conflict
is resolved. The middle path theory is extremely suitable for diverse Indian
culture and it often used time and again even today, by the shrewd business
man, the pretentious politician, the uncanny media, etc
Even Gandhi never hesitated to welcome foreign culture, but he
maintained his cautiousness.
I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I
want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to
be blown off my feet by any

Spirituality
Spirituality lives in the heart and soul of every citizen. It is the only
common factor which touches the lives of rich-poor, rural-urban, male-female,
tribal-nontribal, etc alike. It is the spiritual places and not movie theatres or
cricket stadiums that one can see all kinds of Indians participating without
any prejudice.
For centuries India produced men of great spiritual zeal - Buddha,
Mahavira, Vasudev Krishna, Shankaracharya, Moinuddin Chisti, Nizamuddin
Auliya, Guru Nanak, Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan, etc is just a beginning of an gigantic list. It is due to these

spiritual seers and their works that world believes India to be a land chosen
by the God - a land of divinity.
Conclusion
Most of the countries in the modern world have very limited historical
significance and even fewer countries have their ancient traditions continuing
till date. India is perhaps the only country (apart from China) in the modern
world who still acknowledge their belongingness to an ancient civilization.
The land where all human pasts are still alive is what the west perceives of
India. This exceptional quality differentiates India from rest of the world.
Before partition of India, the term India referred to the entire geographical
region extending from the Hindukush to the Arakanyoma and the Himalayas
to Srilankan islands. The usage of the word in modern context may be limited
to a geography made much smaller after the partition, but for more than 2500
years, this term India-Bharat meant much more.
Through the doctrine of Indianism, I have tried to create an identity for
India, an identity which goes much beyond a myopic geographic realm.

ANNEXURE
Elements of continuity and change
The purpose of this annexure is to depict the elements of continuity and
change in Indian lifestyle. Below table shows the ability of India to adapt to
the modern ideas yet have an umbilical connection with its roots:
Political

Economic

Social

Spiritual

Continuity

Change

Traditional
village
assemblies,
gatherings,
Leaders, administrative and
legal systems
Dependence on Agriculture,
Respect for the farmerAnnadata, earning for the
family
Varna,
Jaati
and
the
enigmatic social mobility,
Aashrama dharma

Acceptance of Modern world

ideas
of
Constitution,
Parliaments and other formal
institutions
Emergence
of
new
technologies, new professions,
new livelihoods

Class distinctions - breaking

the utility of caste distinctions;
Aashrama Dharma replaced by
Aacharana Dharma the
doctrine of action
Pursuit of Moksha following A general moral degradation
the Social Ethics of Dharma, crept in resulting in in
with support of Artha and corruption of both body and
satisfaction of Kaama
mind

Economic and Material life may be different for different individuals but
the social, political, philosophical and religious aspects of Indian life more or
less remain the same among everyone.