Hey, so I’m writing a book. I would like to make the book as diverse as possible and feature people of different ethnicities. One of them being Indian. However, I know very little of Indian culture. But i wanted to include a character there for representation.

I know the Indian culture is not a story that i have the right to tell, so i decided on creating a Indian character that is a friend to the protagonist. This way i can be inclusive without over stepping my boundaries. The only thing is that i don’t know much of the Indian culture to create a realistic character.

Is there a website or anything i can read to be more informed on customs, cultures and myths relating to India? Also, i wanted to have the character dye their hair. Is that acceptable in in the culture or does it need to be a certain color? Lastly names, are there any non offensive names that i can call my character?

Sorry in advance for this. I just lived under a rock and I’m not well versed in matters like this.