"Unity in diversity" was the slogan chosen when India celebrated fifty years of independence in 1997, a declaration replete with as much optimism as pride. Stretching from the frozen barrier of the Himalayas to the tropical greenery of Kerala, and from the sacred   Ganges to the sands of the Thar desert, the country's boundaries encompass incomparable variety. Walks the streets of any  Indian city and you'll rub shoulders with representatives of several of the world's great faiths, a multitude of castes and outcastes, fair-skinned, turbaned Punjabis and dark skinned Tamils.