India and Indian CultureBy: Candice Clark

Integration of Information and Computer

Technology in Instruction – Part I

EDUC9F61

Brock University

Introduction

• Indian culture has a lot of aspects to it. For this

presentation, I will focus primarily on the Hindu

religion and its impact on Indian culture.

• There is a large Indian population in the GTA, which

is why I chose to study this culture. This culture is

personally relevant to my life as I work in Peel, which

has a high population of Indian immigrants.

Before we begin…

• Let’s see what you might already know about Indian

culture:

• Complete this quick form:

• http://goo.gl/forms/NqzEVWRnmc

CUSTOMS & BELIEFS

Relationships

• Family

• Patriarchal – Father

is the leader

• Elders are valued

above all others

• Family is valued –

extended family

(households often

contain several

generations)

• Other

• Teachers are called

Gurus and are highly

respected

• In business, boss is

source of ultimate

responsibility

Greetings

• Greetings depend upon social, religion and social

class

• Eldest should be greeted first, followed by men,

women, children

• When leaving a group, each should be bid farewell

individually

• shaking hands is common, especially if the person is

from one of the larger cities and used to dealing with

westerners

• Men shake hands with men, women with women, but

there are seldom handshakes between men and

women because of religious beliefs

EVERYDAY THINGS

Clothing

Women Men

• Indians dress modestly and conservatively

• Shoes are removed upon entering the home

• Bright colours and jewels

• Known for their use of beautiful silks and fabrics

• Women wear colourful “Saris” which are long pieces of fabric tied around the body

• Traditional clothing for men is the “dhoti”, an unstitched piece of cloth that is tied around the waist and legs

• Men also wear a “kurta”, a loose shirt that is worn about knee-length

• For special occasions, men wear a “sherwani”, which is a long coat that is buttoned up to the collar and down to the knees

Food

• Hindus do not eat beef and many are vegetarians

• Muslims do not eat pork or drink alcohol

• Sikhs do not eat beef

• Lamb, chicken, and fish are the most commonly served main courses for non-vegetarian meals

• wash hands before and after a meal

• eat with the right hand only, either using fingers or utensils

• Wheat, Basmati rice and pulses with chana (Bengal gram) are important staples of the Indian diet

• Food is rich with curries and spices, including ginger, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, dried hot peppers, and cinnamon, among others

• Chutneys — thick condiments and spreads made from assorted fruits and vegetables such as tamarind and tomatoes and mint, cilantro and other herbs — are used generously

Entertainment

• Bollywood movies & music are incredibly popular,

even in the western world

• Apps like “Spotify” and YouTube are loaded with

popular Bollywood music

SPECIAL EVENTS &

CELEBRATIONS

Diwali

• Diwali is the largest and most important holiday to

India

• Five-day festival known as the festival of lights

because of the lights lit during the celebration to

symbolize the inner light that protects them from

spiritual darkness

• Diwali in 2015 will start on Wednesday, the 11th of

November and will continue for 5 days until Sunday,

the 15th of November

• In Canada, people will decorate their houses with

colourful Christmas lights, just as Christians would

for Christmas

Diwali

Dance

• Number of classical

and folk dances

• Most popular is

Bhangra or

Bollywood style

dancing

Let’s learn a few simple moves!

Weddings

• Traditional weddings typically last one week with many ceremonial activities

• Arranged marriages are a traditional feature of virtually every community

• Marriages that are not arranged by the couple's parents (“love marriages”) are looked down on as impulsive acts of passion (however, the practice of love marriages is becoming more prominent, especially in the western world)

• Two main types of marriage: a north Indian one in which the man must not marry a closely related cousin and a south Indian one in which a cross-cousin, is the ideal spouse. Many south Indian castes also permit uncle-niece marriage.

Example of a Hindu Wedding (in the U.K.)

Religion

• Following religions apply: • Primarily Hindu (over

80%)

• Sikh

• Muslim

• Christian

• One of the largest Islamic regions but Muslims only account for about 14% of the total population depending on what study you look at.

Hindus

• Hindu religious theory justifies the division of society

into castes, with the unavoidable differences in

status and the differential access to power each one

has

• Hindus usually believe that a soul can have multiple

reincarnations and that after the death of the body a

soul will be reassigned to another newborn human

body or even to an animal one

• This reassignment could be to one of a higher caste

if the person did good deeds in the previous life or to

a lower-status body if the person did bad deeds

Impact on Ontario Teachers

• Knowing more about the Indian culture and

Hinduism, is very important in Ontario, especially the

GTA.

• There is a large Indian population and as such, we

can expect to see a number of students in our class

from India.

• Knowing more about the culture enables teachers to

incorporate that knowledge into lessons and to teach

other students about cultures of the world. Students

can help achieve this goal by researching and

presenting their personal culture or a culture of their

choosing.

Works Cited: Images

• Slide 7 (left): Retrieved from: https://susitnacafe.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/sarees.jpg

• Slide 7 (right): Retrieved from:http://fashion-eye.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/traditional-indian-clothing.jpg

• Slide 9 (left): Retrieved from:https://www.syne.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/indian-food.jpg

• Slide 9 (right): Retrieved from: http://www.starofindiamn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/India-Street-Food.jpg

• Slide 15: Retrieved from: http://cdn.funcheap.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/india-bollywood-dance.jpg

• Slide 19: Retrieved from: http://tldevelopment.net/sites/default/files/inquireHS_images/Chapter30/hs491_1.png

Works Cited: Videos

• Slide 11: Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH55ebkdOHk

• Slide 14: Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrrW3rO51ak

• Slide 16: Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVhfaPpxDkw

• Slide 18: Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDIN6KNilkU

Works Consulted - Data

• http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-

etiquette/india-country-profile.html

• http://www.livescience.com/28634-indian-

culture.html

• http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/India.html

• http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-dance/