This week we will be taking a look at Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri which covers stories about Indians in America and India. In order to better understand their stories, perhaps it would be helpful to talk about some of the belief systems to gain a perspective of Indian culture.
India is home to many religions; its current makeup includes a majority of Hindu’s with a much smaller number of Muslims. Beyond that India is also home to an even smaller number of Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains (Kramer). Therefore, India is a very diverse nation of different beliefs.
Not too long ago the geographic area in and around current India was partitioned into different nations in 1947. Originally it was partitioned into India and Pakistan, but Pakistan has since been divided into two separate nations: Pakistan and Bangladesh (“The Partition”). These divisions of nations did not happen easily or peacefully. The initial partition of India and Pakistan was not done by the people who lived in those respective regions but rather by the previously ruling British. Therefore, the partitions caused serious problems in the area. Many of these problems related to the religious and cultural differences between people. As a result relations between India and Pakistan are still very tense. India is mostly Hindu while Pakistan is mostly Muslim (“The Partition”). This has caused problems due to members of both religions living in both nations. Although, it is incredibly important to understand that these tensions are not because people of different religions cannot get along, it is that the partitioning of India and Pakistan was not carried out by natural citizens. Perhaps if the partitioning was done more considerably to the cultures of the people of the region, then these problems would not be problems today. Or at the very least, much less severe.
References
Kramer, Stephanie. “Key findings about the religious composition of India.” Pew Research Center, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/21/key-findings-about-the-religious-composition-of-india/. Accessed 4 November 2021.
“The Partition of India: What Happened?” British Broadcasting Corporation, https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46428985. Accessed 4 November 2021.