To what extent globalization has influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain.
Approach · directive: “to what extent / explain”
What it asks · Assess how far globalisation has changed India's core cultural diversity (languages, customs, crafts, food, family), showing both erosion and adaptation.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- Explain how globalisation has influenced India's cultural diversity: homogenisation and erosion
- Explain adaptation, revival and reassertion: where the core has held or gained
- To what extent: a reasoned position on how far the core has changed
Open with · Globalisation has changed the surface of Indian culture quickly, but the deeper plural core has shown resilience and adaptation.
Cover
- Homogenising pressures: English, global brands, fast food, Western dress and popular media spread a common urban consumer culture.
- Local casualties: smaller languages, dialects, folk arts and traditional crafts lose ground to mass-produced goods, mass media and migration.
- Adaptation, not replacement: glocalisation blends global and local, as in regional-language cinema and music, vegetarian menus of global chains, and fusion cuisines.
- Revival and reach: Yoga, Ayurveda, festivals and handicrafts gain wider markets, and the diaspora and digital platforms preserve regional identities.
- Social change: changing family patterns, consumerism and the rise of individual choice altered customs without removing communal and religious diversity.
- Assertion of identity: some groups react to globalisation by asserting language, region or religion more strongly, which can sharpen cultural boundaries.
Close with · Globalisation has reshaped the visible layer of India's culture more than its core; sustained support for languages, crafts and local institutions will decide whether diversity thrives.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 276 words (UPSC limit 200) · Minimalist IAS
Globalisation, the free flow of goods, media, capital and people since 1991, has touched the surface of Indian culture everywhere; the plural core, however, rests on language, religion, caste, region and family, layers that change slowly.
Homogenising pressures
- Consumer culture: global brands, malls, fast food and Western dress create a similar urban lifestyle from Gurgaon to Bengaluru.
- Language: English has become the language of aspiration; smaller languages and dialects lose speakers as schooling and jobs shift, and folk arts lose patrons to television.
- Crafts and livelihoods: handloom and artisan products compete with cheap mass-produced imports, breaking the link between community, craft and identity.
- Family and values: nuclear households, individual choice in careers and marriage, and consumerism alter customs once regulated by community.
Adaptation and revival
- Glocalisation: global chains serve vegetarian and regional menus, satellite television runs in every major language, and regional cinema and music have grown with the market rather than against it.
- Reverse flow: yoga (the UN's International Day of Yoga since 2015), Ayurveda, Indian cuisine and festivals have gone global, and the diaspora sustains regional identities abroad.
- Protection: Geographical Indications under the 1999 Act cover Darjeeling tea and Kanchipuram silk; UNESCO has inscribed Kutiyattam, Ramlila, Chhau and Manipuri Sankirtana as intangible heritage.
- Reassertion: migration and market anxiety have sharpened regional and religious identity, which preserves diversity but can make it defensive.
To what extent
- The visible layer of dress, food, entertainment and aspiration has changed substantially; the deep structures of language, faith, kinship and caste practice persist and adapt.
Globalisation has reshaped India's culture more than it has homogenised it; whether diversity thrives now depends on support for languages, crafts and local institutions.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.