Indian Culture and India Essay

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Indian Culture

One of the oldest cultures in the world is the Indian culture as the society started experiencing civilization some 4500 years ago. As at today, India is an extremely diverse nation, boasting a population of over 1.2 billion, a number which makes it the second most populous country after China. Several dynasties, conquerors and religions have contributed to Indian history bringing about a fascinating culture blend as well as a wide variety of ethnicities present within the country. The British take-over and subsequent governance of India which came to an end in 1947 when the Indian Independence Act was signed into law equally added to the already rich culture. This Act separated Pakistan and India into separate countries with the Hindus settling in India while the Muslims settled in Pakistan (eCald, 2016).

Language

India is South Asia's largest country. Indians speak over 17 major languages and about 200 dialects: Marathi, Bengali, Urdu, Tamil and Telugu are just a few of the languages spoken in the country. India's official language is English while its national language is Hindi as it the language of choice for an estimated 40% of the Indian people. Pakistan is situated due west of the Indian country. Its national language is Urdu though English is its official language also. It also has five major languages. A large percentage of Pakistani residents are Muslims (eCald, 2016).

Religion

According to Zimmermann (2015), India is the origin of Hinduism and Buddhism, which are the third and fourth biggest religions respectively. Over 84% of the Indian people are Hindus. Hinduism has several variations and four major divisions: Shakteya, Shaiva, Smarta and Vaishnava. Pakistan is majorly an Islamic country. An estimated 13% of Indians follow Islam and this means India contains one of the largest Islamic populations of the world. The Sikhs and Christians only form a small part of the population with Buddhist and Jains even smaller in number.

Traditional Family Values

Typically, extended families are the order of the day and this trend is still very much in force among the Indians living in the West. Nonetheless, this trend is slowly but surely changing as there has been an increase in the number of nuclear families living in resettled regions as well as the urban regions in India. Even though everyone is involved in taking care of the children, the function of the grandparents in the child development process is much appreciated and regular as they are seen as the connection to heritage, culture and religion.

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Children are often very close to each other and it is customary for brothers to live together. Indians value privacy and self-dependence and people will commonly seek assistance and remedies from within the family before going outside. Normally, the women are in charge of the home, financial and social matters. In a number of families, an elder or even the husband could take up this role. The men are typically the wage earners and they are the face of their families in the society making the women sort of isolated. Humility is a much-applauded virtue. The kids are taught to respect their elders and the belief is that discipline is self-generated when the child is introduced to the right rules and ethics (eCald, 2016).

Diet and Nutrition (Food)

Indian cuisine was largely influenced by the Moghul Empire as well as several other countries. It is popular for its wide variety of dishes, its ready use of herbs and seasonings as well as its diversity of cooking methods. (Zimmermann, 2015).

Basmati rice, wheat and pulses with chana, aka Bengal gram, are some major fundamental of Indian cuisine. Their food contains several spices and curries such as ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander and dried hot peppers among others. Another common seasoning used is called Chutney and it is a thick spread and sauce produced from a variety of fruits and veggies like tamarind and tomatoes. Cilantro, mint and several other herbs are equally popularly used in Indian cuisine. Several Hindus are vegans however chicken and lamb are very popular in the meals of the non-vegans. About 20 to 40 % of the entire Indian population are vegetarians (Zimmermann, 2015).

A large percentage of Indian foods are consumed with the bare hands or with bread in some cases. There are a several types of breads which are taken with meals. Some of them include Naan, an oven-baked type which is leavened and bhatoora, which is a fluffy and fried flatbread popular in Northern India and normally accompanied with chickpea curry (Zimmermann, 2015).

Clothing

According to Zimmermann (2015), the popular trademark of Indian fashion is the colourful sari normally made from silk and worn by several Indian women. The normal male fashion item is called the dhoti, which is a seamless clothing attire which is tied round the loins and legs. Kurtas are also common and they are knee-length and loose shirts. During special events, men would don a sherwani, which refers to a long jacket which is normally.....

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