Ethnic culture among Indians
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Institution:
Indian Culture
Ethnic culture refers to the intellectual development evolved out of the mental and physical training in the course of ages in a given group of racially similar people drawn from the same origin. It is the way the people of India live and perform their day to day chores. This paper explores the ethnicity culture of Indians, or the Indian culture. The Indian culture can be said to be the oldest amongst many other global cultures. This is because it dates back to 5,000 years (Elashmawi, 2001). The uniqueness of their culture lies on its basic family values and social system which are very strong. Additionally, guests are considered as gods and they are always treated with love and respect, even if this means foregoing personal pleasures.
There are common important values in the Indian culture that exists up to date. For instance, respect is a valued component of the Indian people. Children are usually taught to respect elders from a very young age. The other value is the family. Families are valued highly and are regarded to be part of an individual’s life until the time of their death. When people get married, they usually take in some of their relatives and support them in many ways. Beliefs are one component of the Indian culture. The Indian culture’s most prominent religion is Hindu. They believe in reincarnation and also believe that bad Karma can result in one being reborn into a lower caste of humanity, or even as an animal (Stafford , 2006). Their ultimate goal is to reach nirvana, which is the releasing of the human soul from a given cycle of reincarnations or rebirths.
In patterns of behavior, behaviors are regarded as either appropriate or inappropriate. For instance, giving a gift with both hands is regarded as an appropriate behavior. Many Indians never wear shoes inside homes. They also apologize immediately whenever they wrong another person, as a sign of good will and politeness. The acceptable public conduct involves greeting elders with palms together. Shaking hands with women is not accepted in the Indian culture. This is because it involves physical contact, which is not allowed (Elashmawi, 2001). A wife in the Indian culture usually live with the husband’s relatives, but is allowed to retain bonds with her family. In this case, family loyalty is an ideal that is held deeply as well as the emphasis on family unity.
On the other hand, inappropriate behavior includes disrespect for elders, dishonesty and theft. In many cases, people who practice theft are punished by a group of elders chosen from amongst respectable men. Women are not allowed to make major decisions when it comes to such cases. If an individual misbehaves for long, he might be excommunicated from a specific region or regarded as an outcast for life.
There are various popular celebrations in the Indian culture. The most famous celebrations include Diwali, Holi and Pongal. Additionally, there is also another celebration called Dusshera which together with the afore-mentioned are considered public holidays (Keay, 2011).
In the case of marriages, parents or elderly family members search for a suitable match for their children. If a girl fails to get married at a certain age, this is considered a shame to her whole family. The groom’s father takes the marriage proposal to the groom’s father and if it is accepted, they go ahead and get married. Music and dance is another component that has for a long time occupied a central place in the Indian’s imagination. Their music incorporates more than 60 instruments and 15 vocal forms (Elashmawi, 2001). The most popular forms of music are Hindustani music and folk music.
References
Elashmawi, F. (2001).Competing globally: Mastering multicultural management and negotiations. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann. Print
Keay, J. (2011). India: A History, 2nd. Grove Press / HarperCollins
Stafford, N. (2006). Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide. ECW Press. p. 174.