“Globalisation is generally said to promote cultural homogenisation but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian society.” Elucidate. (Answer in 250 words)

Globalisation spreads common markets, media, technologies and consumer symbols, creating pressures towards homogenisation. Yet interaction also gives communities resources and incentives to display, market and politically assert distinct identities. India illustrates this paradox.

How specificities are strengthened

• Indian cinema, cuisine, yoga, textiles, music and festivals reach global audiences, increasing cultural confidence and economic value.
• Digital platforms enable dispersed linguistic, religious and regional communities to archive, teach and organise around traditions.
• Global demand supports GI-tagged products, handicrafts, ethnic fashion and cultural tourism, encouraging revival of local skills.
• Global brands localise products, advertising and festivals; this hybridisation preserves preferences rather than imposing a single culture.
• Exposure to external norms can generate cultural self-consciousness and resistance, strengthening indigenous languages, food and rituals.

Limits and tensions

• Commercialisation may standardise traditions, marginalise less profitable practices and convert culture into a consumable spectacle.
• Digital visibility can also intensify identity politics, exclusion and cultural stereotyping.

Way forward

Support multilingual education, community ownership, ethical cultural industries and equitable digital access. Protect living practitioners rather than only monumental representations.

Globalisation therefore produces neither pure uniformity nor pure preservation; India negotiates it through selective appropriation, hybridisation and cultural assertion.

Keywords: cultural hybridisation; glocalisation; cultural nationalism; GI; soft power.