Unity in Diversity, or ‘Many in the One’

India’s variety of languages, crafts, textiles, dances and food, and the shared things that hold all Indians together.

Key ideas

• “Unity in diversity” means people with many languages, customs and ways of life living together as one country.
• The Constitution recognises 22 languages in its Eighth Schedule.
• Every region has its own crafts and textiles, from Pashmina shawls in the north to Kanjeevaram silk in the south.
• India has many classical dance forms, each linked to a region.
• Food differs too: rice is the main food in many eastern and southern states, wheat rotis are common in the north.
• Shared history, the Constitution, national symbols and common values hold us together.
• Diversity is a strength: different ideas, skills and arts enrich everyone’s life.

Remember

Watch out

• Mixing up dances and states: Bharatanatyam is from Tamil Nadu, Kathakali from Kerala.
• Thinking unity means everyone must be the same: it means living together while keeping our differences.
• Getting the number of languages in the Eighth Schedule wrong: it is 22.

Worked example