![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brieaustin.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/India-113.jpg\" "\\"India")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAs I walk the streets of Bangalore, the contradictions stare me in the face. World brands like McDonald’s and KFC stand side by side with local bakeries, open produce markets, and traditional restaurants that serve up Thali; you can also find Chinese and Italian cuisine abundant.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>It is indeed a land of many spices; extreme wealth and extreme poverty; progressive innovation and old world traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men all wear western fashions — whether its dress slacks and shirts, or jeans and polo shirts –, while the women still mostly wear a traditional saree, , or salwar kameez; loose slacks and a tunic top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Wikipedia, the Republic of India is the seventh-largest country by landmass, the second-largest by population (1.2 billion), and the 11th-largest economy by GNP (third in purchasing power). There are 28 states and 7 union territories. It is multilingual, multi-ethnic, and pluralistic; while Hindi and English are the two formal national languages, the country has some eighty languages and 200 dialects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four of the world’s major religions\u2014Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism\u2014originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region’s diverse culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With such diversity however, clashes between extremists and more progressive Indians can\u2019t be avoided: Mumbai erupted into violence when a demonstration by Muslims — to bring awareness to violence against them in Assam (northeast India) — ignited in anger; Hindu extremists enacted moral policing when they crashed a birthday party hosted by a group of students in Mangalore, and beat those students for partying; in Gokak a young couple from two different castes married against the wishes of their families, and were murdered in retaliation by a family member of the wife, leaving behind a seven month old daughter, and; a young Tibetan was recently stabbed in Mysore for — it is believed — simply being mistaken for a northeastern Indian.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>Yet in my short time here in Bangalore, I have also had good experiences: the people I\u2019ve interacted with have been friendly, inquisitive, welcoming, and humble. They are a young, educated society that has a thirst for knowledge and learning. At the local mall, I see young, playful students, and the scene could be mistaken for any Western society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a country with hundreds of political parties, they\u2019re often paralyzed by inaction and corruption that runs rampant on the local and national levels; recently, in Bangalore, the city came to a standstill when 11,000 city workers went on strike<\/a> because they claim the BMTF (task force) has initiated 135 investigations against their ranks, while garbage piled up for a week. In the north of the country, precious lakes are deteriorating because buildings violate laws put in place to protect them; bribes and sidestepping the law seem to be a sport here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the country is also home to many innovative entrepreneurial endeavors, such as Biome Environmental, a consulting agency focused on creating sustainable systems for eco-homes and offices, and Adarsh Vansey, a consultant for clean energy through hybrid wind and solar power. Some everyday homeowners even generate more solar power than they use, so they feed the overflow\u2014through the grid interactive system\u2014back into the city\u2019s power grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I said, it’s a country of extreme contradictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During Independence Day, even the opinions on independence have many voices (excerpts from The Times of India<\/a>): Ask Pandit<\/p>\n\n\n