When we talk about South Asia we must have clear that we are talking by the region conformed by: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. This region has a population of more than 1.5 billion people what makes it one of the most populated regions in the world. This region also has the biggest production of rice grains and exotic spices in the world. The region is composed by a rich mixture of several different cultures and religions. We can find religions such as Buddhism, Islamism, Hinduism, between some others. In this blog we will focus in one specific country of the region: India.
India is one of the most populated countries of the world (after China) with alm
ost 1.2 billion of inhabitants. The main languages spoken in India are the Hindi and the English, even though there are more than 400 different languages and dialects (most of them derived from the Hindi).Indian culture is strongly influenced by the Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma which main concepts can be summarized as: Maya (visible world), Samsara (spiritual reincarnation), Karma (goodness and badness earned), and Dharma (the must be, must act law under a specific birth situation).
India can find one of its main strengths in its diverse nature, which help to complement the abilities of the society in a harmonized way. Indian middle class is the largest one impulsing the economy towards the development.
A critical issue to be understood in the Indian culture is their cast system. The caste system is a type of social structure that divides people due to their inherited social status.
In this system people is expected to interact and be married only with people of the same class. The system goes from the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya (middle class), Sudra, until the Dalits (the “untouchable”).The implementation of the castes system normally leads to discrimination in all aspects. Nevertheless it is forbidden by law to make such discriminations such as “untouchability”. Despite of this legal support, the discrimination and oppression of the highest classes to the lowest is still remarkable.
One of the main problems with the fight between castes and the interventions done to fight against it is the higher levels of mediocrity seen in the companies due to the selection of unqualified workers just because they are from one caste, or in the other hand just because they have to fill a quota of castes imposed by the government (which finally lead to more discrimination).
Thanks to India’s economic expansion, industries are paying less attention to castes, and are looking beyond their traditional sources of employees which have led to a better inclusion of different sectors in the society and to a certain level of less discrimination. Multinationals don’t care about the caste system, but to find competitive and qualified workers in order to compete in the international market.
References:
Class presentation
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