Religion has historically influenced Indian society on a political, cultural and economic level. There is a sense of pride associated with the country’s rich religious history as the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism all emerged out of India. Moreover, while a majority of
India, with a population of roughly 1.1 billion, boasts a burgeoning middle class of about 350 million people. This middle-class cohort alone surpasses the entire population of the USA and comes close to matching that of the European Union. This unique characteristic provides India with
Caste systems (varna and jatis) India’s caste system is among the world’s oldest forms of surviving social stratification. This system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but here it means duty) is
