(adapted from information given at the beginning of the Antioch Studies Abroad Program)
~ Regions are more varied than the countries of Europe, with different peoples, customs, dress, food, language, and even script.
~ Religion and culture are intertwined, with a Hindu majority, but also sizeable minorities from Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist and other traditions.
~ The Hindu caste system still affects many social
interactions, and brings the many rules about cleanliness and
food. Many Hindus won’t even drink a glass of water in the
morning before doing their extensive mouth-cleaning routine, and
won’t make a chai or do their daily rituals before they’ve
done their long bathing and laundry routine.
You’ll see elaborate bathing rituals but also men urinating
and spitting red paan juice everywhere and only the lowest caste
groups engaged in cleaning common areas such as streets. There
are few public toilets, so women especially will want to make
use of toilets when available in nicer restaurants or hotels.
You’ll see people:
1) drinking from glasses and bottles without
touching their mouths to the rim so that the glass/bottle can
be shared with others.
2) eating with the right hand—sit on your
left hand at meals if necessary, as it is the hand meant for washing
after the toilet. (The use of toilet paper is accepted, but considered
a bit gross.)
3) while eating, NOT putting fingers or utensils
into contact with any other person’s food/plate/cup nor
with the common serving dishes.
~ Staring and very direct questioning are common:
Is that a pimple on your chin? How much money do you make? Have
you gotten fatter?
We are the best entertainment that many Indians will have all
week/month/year depending on where we are. You can turn the situation
around by asking the questions you’d like to have answered.
(But if you need directions, ask several different people, and
phrase the question so that the person DOESN’T have to answer
just a yes or no, or “I don’t know.”
There is a very different sense of personal space—for us,
it can feel in India that there is no sense of personal space.
For many in India, life is lived in public.
Along the same lines, people are often not introduced individually,
and are usually known in the homes by a relational title such
as elder sister or father’s brother.
~ Money
Bargaining is expected in many places, though “fixed price
shops” are usual in more expensive hotels. Prices will seem
cheap on arrival, but find out and pay the actual prices whenever
possible. Trust your intuition, act confident, and don’t
be pressured into buying anything or making any financial transaction
before you are ready.
If you want to practice generosity, consider giving food or clothing
rather than money.
Always keep money, tickets, credit cards, etc., securely in your
money belt on you—never out of physical contact, and as
much as possible out of sight.
Bring all the money you’ll need with you. Most people use
traveler’s checks, but bring enough Rupees cash to places
where there may not be a bank, or in case of the frequent bank
holidays.
~ Time
The Hindi words for yesterday and tomorrow are the same. “Ready
in just five minutes” may mean “one hour.” Slow
down. Pester in a friendly way.
~ Gender
Most marriages are still arranged by the families, sometimes through
matrimonial ads in the paper, and in traditional weddings the
bride and groom do not see each other’s faces till after
the ceremony is over.
Young men often hang around holding hands, whereas even married male-female couples don’t usually touch in public. Men often have their first sexual experience with other men, but it is not considered to be homosexuality. Homosexual men often do get married to women, have children, and continue their male relationships simultaneously.
Many women live inside the home, and only come
out of the house occasionally and then accompanied by a male relative.
Inside the home, there is a huge spectrum of experience—matriarch
to slave.
Some upper class, urban women live much more like women in the
West, and some women from the lowest classes are mobile in public
as they work to feed their families.
Still, you’ll come into contact with many more men than
women in public, especially in North India. Sometimes it seems
that Indian men are adolescent till the age of 55, with very “healthy”
egos—not surprising in a culture where phallic symbols called
lingum are worshipped in many Hindu temples, and male children
are prayed for and then waited on by all the females of the household.
Dowry, though illegal, is spreading as a custom, and is a big
part of why many families abort female fetuses: they cannot afford
to pay the dowry expected in order to marry off their daughters.
Depictions of women in the western and Indian media contribute
to the sense that women alone outside the home are interested
in sex. Think MTV in a culture where women don’t publicly
show their ankles.
Women travelers need to be alert to guard themselves
from “Eve teasing”—sexual harassment—and
men traveling with women can do a lot to help prevent unnecessary
hassles. If you’re female, don’t be shy to put your
elbows out to prevent a man from “bumping” into you,
or to make a scene if someone tries to touch you.
Better for women to avoid being out alone in deserted places or
after dark. If you’re male, accompany women and be alert
to unwanted attention towards female traveling companions.
~ Health
A healthy sense of humor an important asset, as life can be exhilarating
and exasperating within minutes. If you get Delhi belly, try drinking
lots of lemon water with a pinch of sugar and salt, or lemon soda.
Eat simple rice, bananas, and/or yogurt with a local product called
Isabgol, the husk of psyllium seed, surprisingly effective against
both diarrhea and constipation. Homeopathic and herbal medicines,
as well as allopathic prescription drugs, are all easily available
without prescription.
Avoid eating raw food unless you have disinfected it yourself:
no fruit or juice on the streets.
Travel with a bit of food for emergencies when you miss the serving
hours or don’t find something you’d like to eat.
