Two Spheres, One Soul: How Latin America and India Mirror Each Other

Introduction

As a student deeply invested in Latin American studies, I have come to see the evident trends of similarity between Latin America and India. The culture of these countries, whether it be the festivals or the food, is so similar. Political situations and revolutionaries have followed similar patterns of liberation and nation building. This is not a vague resemblance - there are patterned connections between the two. They may be different in landscape, but they have a deeply aligned soul. 

Colonialism and Freedom Struggles

As discussed in one of my previous blogs, both Latin America and India have persevered through the authoritarian regimes of colonizers. India was mainly colonized by the British, popularly termed as the ‘British Raj’. Other colonizers include Dutch, Portuguese and French. On the other hand, Latin America was primarily colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese. Ever wondered why Brazil speaks Spanish or why some communities in Goa, India know Portuguese? Colonizers always bring their language, culture and heritage with them. The Portuguese colonizers were largely settled in Brazil and Goa, hence, the use of the language is still popular today. The Spanish set up colonies in  Mexico, most of Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands.

With colonialism comes its own cultures and values. In Latin America, colonizers brought Roman Catholicism. While the colonies in Latin America already had their own religion, forced conversion was a general norm. Similarly, in India, The British Raj promoted conversion to Christianity. Much like Latin America’s colonizers, they believed conversion would make their impure souls better in the view of god. 

Both went through social and political unrest, human rights violation, cultural degradation and economic problems. 

In India, colonists brought with them the knowledge of science and literature. India had its own education system, it is believed India was the most mathematically advanced country in the world, even before the Greeks. Nevertheless, Indian society was modernised in the field of technology, law, science and literature due to various institutions set up under the British Raj. In Latin America as well, the spread of knowledge, institutions and agricultural techniques brought great modernization. 

Did they have similar trends of nationalism? Yes! 

There were anti-imperialist sentiments in both. After constant authoritative and fascist regimes, both demanded for sovereign self rule. Writers, poets, diplomats and activists emerged in Latin America and India. Poets like José Martí (Cuba) and Rabindranath

Tagore (India), created national identities through their patriotic writings. Revolutionary youth symbols like Che Guevara (Argentina) and Bhagat Singh (India), heightened the feeling of nationalism. Overall, both Latin America and India emerged from multilingual populations, with authoritarian-regimes, and the same fire of self rule. More detailed information on particular freedom fighters can be found in my blog on Bolivar and Ambedkar. 

Culture: Music, Cinema and Festivals

(1) Music

Ever heard the saying, ‘Music is the universal language of mankind?’. Well, music irrespective of its language always communicates emotions and messages to its listener. Similar is the case for India and Latin America. Music over a period of time, has become syncretic. Bhangraton is a mix of Bhangra music (India), with reggaeton (Latin America). Reggaeton is a fusion of hip hop, reggae, and traditional latin american music. 

Increasingly, Latin American and Indian singers are working together to create rich amalgamations of both music types. 

(2) Cinema

Telenovelas, which are soap operas, are very similar to Bollywood shows and movies in India. They both unite cultures, India, a nation diverse in culture, language and population is joined by Bollywood in many ways. The same is the case for telenovelas, it joins Latin American countries together. They are like two branches of one tree. Both are increasingly giving greater voices to marginalized communities and spreading awareness. 

(3) Festivals

Carnaval is a festival celebrated with colors, parades, music, drums, and masks. Similarly, Holi in India, is the festival of colors, celebrated with music, colors and water. 

Durga Puja in India and Dia de la Virgen del Carmen (Peru, Chile) are festivals to worship the divine in both. 

Thanking the sun and celebrating the harvest are also common celebrations in both cultures as symbolised by Pongal (India) and Inti Raymi (Peru).

Languages

Indian and Latin American languages are both similar in terms of their roots. They originate from the Indo-European language family. Indo-European languages have over 400 languages, which include Hindi and Spanish. These languages are primarily spoken in Europe, Asia and America. 

Hindi and Spanish share certain vocabulary as well. While studying Spanish, I learnt that ‘tu’ means you in both Spanish and Hindi. ‘Mesa’ means table in Spanish, and ‘Mez’ means table in Hindi. ‘Pista’ means pistachio in Hindi and clue in Spanish. 

Both the languages follow a syllable structure which is constant-vowel-constant or vowel-constant. Pronunciation is quite similar in both languages. 

Conclusion

I believe both Latin America and India, despite different geographies, are very similar. I notice new things about the languages and culture every day, and that is absolutely fascinating. Latin America and India are like two branches of the same tree.