Channel's 'Unity in Diversity'

Though everyone talks

about the 'unity in diversity' in the Indian society, very few seem

to understand the basis of this 'unity' of 'diversity' contained in

this slogan-coined by British historian Vincent Smith and later

popularized by Jawaharlal Nehru. The basis of this unity is unique

because it did not emerge out of similarity. Unity in this slogan

does not mean uniformity but is organic in nature, because it emerges

from differences. In other words, it highlights the cultural

heterogeneity of India and salutes the way our society has imbibed

'homogeneity' out of it.

Cricket has been without a

doubt the best proponent of this 'unity in diversity' theory.

Especially in the aftermath of the World Cup triumph, this idea has

once more been reinforced. After all, it was a triumph orchestrated

by a Jharkhandi captain helped by a Mumbai 'demi-god', a Najafgarh

Jat, a brash Punju playboy, a hot-headed Sardar, a simpleton from a

remote Gujarat village and even an eccentric Malayalaee. The IPL

further reinforces the spirit-one witnessed a board put during the

Mumbai vs Pune Warriors match stating 'Sachin is the God for every

Warriors too'. A close second to cricket would be Bollywood; though

things here are interestingly a little different. Unlike cricketers

who now represent every state and culture, Bollywood is essentially

Hindi movies only and that too primarily glorifying the Punjabi way

of life and culture. How would a sociologist explain the whole of

India (except maybe parts of Tamil Nadu) lapping it up and creating

national icons out of the likes of Shahrukh, Deepika and Priyanka?

While cricket and

Bollywood are well-known, I believe the IT channel community is

another strong proponent of this 'unity in diversity' theory. And it

follows more of the Bollywood school of thought than cricket-if

it's Punjabi culture gaining pan-India acceptance, it's how the

Marwaris/Gujaratis are dominating the Indian IT channel, be it in

Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Assam, Shillong, Coimbatore or

Jammu. So if you have already started wondering why this discourse

got published in DQ Week, the answer lies in the reason that I

believe that there is a need for more popular awareness about how the

Marwari/Gujarati IT channel fraternity is playing an important role

in our nation building.

These things are however

not achieved by mere application of a magic wand-there are factors

that have helped. Like Hindi movies (with their inherent Punjabiyat)

still try to cater to local tastes, the Marwaris also mix seamlessly

into the local culture. During my travels across the country, I am

happily surprised to see Marwari channel partners from Bengaluru

speaking fluently in Kannada or those in Chennai speaking in Tamil.

The moment they do this, it increases their local acceptance quotient

manifold; and their integration into the local diaspora is much

smoother. Two, our narrow-minded politicians might wield the regional

chauvinism card for their benefit, but the flourishing businesses of

Marwari partners in different markets indicate they will thankfully

never succeed in their machinations.

Vincent Smith definitely

never even dreamed of channel partners while coining his slogan; but

today if he had taken a round of Nehru Place, Lamington Road, GC

Avenue, Ritchie Street and SP Road, he might like to rephrase it as

'IT in diversity'. Hail IT, hail the channel partners.