W E ARE ALL minorities in India. But be does not. Or take language. Each of the native speakers of these languages is in a linguistic minority, for none enjoys majority status in India. Thanks in part to the popularity of Bombay's Hindi cinema, Hindi is understood, if not always well spoken, by nearly half the population of India, but it is in no sense the language of the majority.
Ethnicity further complicates the notion of a majority community.
Despite some inter-marriage at the elite levels in the cities, Indians still remain largely endogamous, and a Bengali is easily distinguished from a Punjabi. The difference this reflects is often more apparent than the elements of commonality. Karnataka Brahmins share their Hindu faith with Burr Quorums, but feel little identity with them in respect of appearance, dress, customs, tastes, language or political objectives. At the same time Tamil Hindus would feel that they have far more in common with Tamil Christians or Muslims than with, say, Punjabis with whom they formally share a religion. In the Calcutta neighbourhood where I lived during my high-school years, the wail of the muezzin calling the Islamic faithful to prayer blended with the chant of the mantras at the Hindu temple and the voices of the Sikh faithful at the gurudwara reciting verses from their sacred book.