India Abroad: The multi-cultural living – it’s a culture thing

It’s human nature; we have opinions; we carry biases in our head all the times, even when we don’t want to. The way we are raised, the way we have seen the world growing up, affects the way we think. We always look at everything and everyone through the eyes of our own culture.
.
One of the common biases in any culture is the self superiority complex – every culture considers itself superior or better than others. For someone from India who is new in America, for example, it is not an unreasonable belief that Indian culture (or subculture based on the part of India one belongs to) is far better than any of the local American cultures.

One of the key reasons for self superiority is that fact that we don’t know as much about other cultures. We try to judge and perceive everything and everybody from the viewpoints of our own culture.
Why?
Because that is the only reliable reference we have. We know our culture so intimately; we are so used to our own social standards. Everything outside our society has to measure up to our cultural norms – good or bad, true or false. That is why we are always comparing different aspects of a newly acquired foreign society to that of what we are so used to – our own India culture or sub-cultures.

For example, one the common complaint or grudge against American or European cultures is the level of hospitality. In India, if someone – friend or family – visits your house, even uninvited, you are most likely going to offer a cup of tea at least. In most Indian families, whenever someone comes to visit – planned or unannounced, – there is an automatic activity/movement in the kitchen, to make tea/coffee, or bring out some snacks. That is a part of the Indian culture. Most of the western cultures are not too keen on such a custom, unless a social visit has been planned ahead. This is how it is; it is a culture thing.

Similarly, you can think of so many other aspects where Indian culture is quite different than American society: the way we show respect to our elders, the public display of love and affection, the family dynamics, the wedding functions and so on….

By end of the day, our perceptions boils down to the culture and social traditions – the way we are raised, the way we grew up. It is very common or very natural, to measure everything by the standards or traditions of our own culture. However, those standards and those measures are biased, because we are comparing everything to our own way of life.

Many times in a new place or in a new country, when we observe something odd or something different, it may be because that’s how it is supposed to be in that culture. Most of the time, it could be just a culture thing.

The new overseas cultures, the different norms, and getting used to all this – it is a part of the journey abroad. We cannot avoid the new culture we live in, and we cannot compare everything to our own culture. If we look closely at everything at a new place – the new ways, the new oddities, the new routines – most of the stuff is a part of the new world and the new society. It is not a comparison of good vs. bad; it is just a culture thing! :)

Related Articles:


Custom Search