<P> Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 as a state - run medium of communication, and had slow expansion for more than two decades . The state monopoly on television broadcast ended in the 1990s and, since then, satellite channels have increasingly shaped popular culture of Indian society . Today, television is the most penetrative media in India; industry estimates indicate that as of 2012 there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite and / or cable connections, compared to other forms of mass media such as press (350 million), radio (156 million) or internet (37 million). </P> <P> Indian cuisine encompasses a wide variety of regional and traditional cuisines, often depending on a particular state (such as Maharashtrian cuisine). Staple foods of Indian cuisine include pearl millet (bājra), rice, whole - wheat flour (aṭṭa), and a variety of lentils, such as masoor (most often red lentils), toor (pigeon peas), urad (black gram), and mong (mung beans). Lentils may be used whole, dehusked--for example, dhuli moong or dhuli urad--or split . Split lentils, or dal, are used extensively . The spice trade between India and Europe is often cited by historians as the primary catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery . </P> <P> Traditional Indian society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy . The Indian caste system embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in the Indian subcontinent . Social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes". India declared untouchability to be illegal in 1947 and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives . At the workplace in urban India and in international or leading Indian companies, the caste related identification has pretty much lost its importance . </P> <P> Family values are important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas . An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other elders in the family . Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low . As of 2001, just 1.6 percent of Indian women were divorced but this figure was rising due to their education and economic independence . Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas; many women wed before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age . Female infanticide and female foeticide in the country have caused a discrepancy in the sex ratio, as of 2005 it was estimated that there were 50 million more males than females in the nation . However a report from 2011 has shown improvement in the gender ratio . The payment of dowry, although illegal, remains widespread across class lines . Deaths resulting from dowry, mostly from bride burning, are on the rise, despite stringent anti-dowry laws . </P>

Give a brief description of linguistic diversity in india