Yesterday I went to a friends house who is a Bengali. We are south Indians. We realized how different we are in terms of many customs tradition, food etc, but as we kept talking we all relate to things as Indians and ultimately there is a beautiful thread that has strung us together and with passage of time getting stronger. My cousin recently got engaged to a mahar ashtrian and as time passes we will see more of this thus hopefully giving a rich fusion of culture. Got to Love the idea of India.