While analyzing our country, one very distinctive feature that always strikes me is the history and foundation behind the merger of states forming a unified country i.e. India. I see our political state as a country that serves as an umbrella for different states based on concepts of colonial, monarchical, radical and linguistic ideals. By creating and carving out counterparts, fighting the threat of cessation and trying to balance the concept of diversity, India has several identities fused and molded into a single identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayIf you take a look at our history you can conclude that the whole concept behind our country was to form a centrifugal federation or multiple nations coming together to form a state with a common goal in mind to achieve. Britain adopted the divide and rule concept for its own material gain which eventually led to a showdown. This reckoning led to nationalism and its manifestations which led to a free and liberal country. Mind you, even though the concept of nation is different from nationalism, it was still a turning point in how different nations thought about unity and came together to form a majestic sovereign republic. In 1947, the country rejoiced in being a free nation but without political borders. The freedom struggle had made one thing clear: even though the Indian peninsula had several nations within it, it still needed to be united for its sustenance. This finally leads us to question the concept of the nation. So what is a nation? One of my favorite books in middle school was “Imagined Communities” by Benedict Anderson. He defined a nation as an imagined community since the nation is more emotional than political and therefore is only experienced and not witnessed. The nation is therefore a stable community of people who have a common culture and are united by reciprocity, for example through religion. Through these terms we can enlist a vast number of nations in our country. We have our citizens distinguished by linguistic, religious, territorial, cultural, sexual and educational aspects. This leads to the formation of several nations enclosed within a single border. “From Kerala to Kashmir, from Assam to Gujarat, we have countries that have come together to be part of one state; not seeking independence, but needing independent flourishing” – Sriram KarriAfter establishing the fact that India indeed has several nations within it, it is necessary to explain why it is a state. A state is a defined geographical territory governed by a sovereign monopoly through a centralized political organization i.e. government. Obviously India fulfills all these characteristics of a state. It is quite clear that communities form highly emotional nations or ideologies. This also makes it important that India has several nations within it. After much discussion with a fellow journalist we both came to a conclusion. That even if we were a state today, the communities within it could potentially be modern, democratic, acceptable small towns. And why not? We can call Indian states as sub-nations. These subnations have their own inherent identities. They have their own history, dances, dresses, food, festivals, culture, etc. But we also observed how we cannot compare modern united India with the European Union, as it is a merger of independent nations with space to identify with their community. despite being part of one last nation, namely India. One phenomenal thing about Indian democracy is that it is not blinded by falsehood.