India

Cultural Diversity

Historically, India has been characterized by its dynamic civic culture. The tribal groups that formed ancient India contributed to the diverse cultural contours of Indian society with the modern nation-state divided along linguistic, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. India's linguistic heterogeneity has been further accentuated by education, migration, and globalization. While language broadens the nation's collective identity, it has also constrained social network membership, with acceptance into linguistically defined communities often inaccessible to lower-income (or [Page 401]lower-caste) groups that do not posses the means to acquire language competency.

Colonialism has also largely informed the cultural configuration of modern India, and it is critical to acknowledge the legacy of imperialism to understand how networking operates in the postcolonial nation. For example, successive periods of colonization by the Portuguese (1510–1961), Dutch (1605–1825), Danish (1620–1869), French (1759–1954), and British (1613–1954) at subsequent points in history cultivated specific religious, food, linguistic, and sporting practices now firmly established as Indian. Two prominent examples are the communities forged around the chili pepper and cricket, both colonial imports acquired from the Portuguese and British, respectively.

Immigration has also had a considerable impact on networking in Indian society. This is evident in the refugee communities that comprise the country, namely Tibetan, Chinese, and Afghani, together with internally displaced peoples, mostly from Kashmir. For example, since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, numerous displaced Tibetan refugees began residing in Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government-in-exile are based, with the Tibetan diaspora informing contemporary Indian culture through increased tourism, language, ethnicity, and religion, namely Tibetan Buddhism.

Religious Networks

Religion was integral to the social structure of ancient India, with religious beliefs and practices informing social roles, and the way in which people networked with one another. Despite being established as a predominantly Hindu empire, historically, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Parsees, Jews, and Christians coexisted in what is now officially secular India.

Hinduism, nevertheless, still flourishes as a fundamental means of social networking in the country. Hindu pujas and festivals, such as Diwali and Holi, for example, are celebrated widely across India by both religious devotees and atheists. The Hindu practice of pilgrimage provides another popular means of social networking in the nation, with thousands of people assembling each year to visit tirtha (holy places) such as Varanasi and the Golden Temple. While the ancient epic Mahabharata (350 B.C.E.) lists over 300 sacred Indian sites, by the time of the Puranas (a subsequent Vedic text), the number had grown considerably, reflecting both the enduring and increased importance of the tradition of pilgrimage as a customary religious and civic practice.

While Hinduism has had a profound impact on the social structure of ancient India, the nation's constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, significantly altered the way in which people networked with one another. For in declaring the Union of India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, and establishing collective identity around justice, equality, and liberty, the caste divisions prescribed by the Vedas (ancient Hindu texts), which proposed that a well-organized society was structured around caste divisions, were abolished, at least officially. While it is arguable whether networking in the region is, in fact, impartial to religion, the process of secularization, as dictated by the constitution, has increased social mobility in the country.

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