CLMN | India in 300 words
Have you wondered why many Indians talk to each other in English instead of the Indian language? What is India? India the country is comparable to Europe the continent. The largest democracy, of 1.27 billion Indians, is an amalgamation of diverse cultures and more than 2.000 ethnic groups. According to ‘SIL International’, there are 461 distinct languages (1.000+ dialects). 70 different scripts (some scriptless - like Kodava) are in existence with no national language (that’s right: we do not have a national language). There is a very high chance two Indians don’t speak the same language hence converse in English.
Have you visited Metaforum to taste Indian dishes during the ‘Love my Curry’ phase? So is that the Indian curry? (I can vouch that the offerings are as authentic as they can get).
There is so much diversity that if you happen to travel approximately 100km in any direction, you’ll most likely be eating different food (there is no such thing as THE Indian curry) with widely varying spice levels, experiencing completely different music, art and fashion. We are home to the largest vegan population but that’s still 29 percent, so the remaining 71 percent eat meat. It is not uncommon to hear someone say rice is not staple to them.
We still have many clichés. Following are a few amusing ones:
We have a unique head bobble (shaking the head) to say yes/good/OK/understood.
Apart from the eight religions, we have one common religion and that’s Cricket.
We fiercely bargain for that 20 cent discount on that 50 euro bill.
It is nationally accepted to leave at 8pm for the 7pm party.
Applying oil on the hair is so natural (literally) to us that we don’t understand the astonished look on the faces of others when they hear it for the first time.
The list is bound only by the length of this article.
Cheers!
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