‘The Golden Bird’ is also famous for its remarkable culture and unity of all religions and tradition. India has a composite culture which every Indian is aware and proud of and every single religion practiced in India has contributed to this factor. From the ancient times ,India has been collecting the gold coins of different cultures in its treasure chest. Being an Indian, I can proudly say that no other country has so much diversity, unity, traditions, cultures and linguistics as India possesses. Some of it’s most famous traditions and cultures are:
Paying respect to elders:
In India , paying respect to elders by touching their feet is common. People do this in order to show their respect towards the elders and take their blessings. This act shows that for Indians, the elders are the torch bearers that show and enlighten us of the path of life up head and guide us through difficult situations.
Eating with hands:
Eating the meal with their hands is an old tradition among the Indians. It may seem weird or unhygienic to the foreigners, but it has a scientific reason behind it. Eating with hands provides the eater enough time after every scope of a mouthful eat, that aids in digestion that is, eating with hands makes the eating process slower and favourable for digestion.
Also, people eat with the right hand as the left hand is considered to be dirty. (It also seems connects us with our ancestors mentally, who also ate in the same way.)
Joint Families:
Since the vedic age, Indians have cultivated the idea of living in a joint family. Living in a joint family has many benefits like the cost of living can be easily maintained, stress and work load is reduced, children can enjoy themselves living with their grandparents,uncles,cousins etc. In the modern world, where people prefer single families over joint families due to high cost of living, India has successfully preserved its tradition to an extent.
The Namaste:
It sounds more fancy to greet saying ‘Namaste’ in place of the common ‘Hi’, right? But greeting someone by saying ‘Namaste’ is more proper and correct because ‘Namaste’ literally means ‘I bow to you’. We Indians have the ‘habit’ of respecting our elders and fellow human beings and ‘Namaste’ has originated from this only ‘habit’. Many people all over the world including Barak Obama practises the habit of greeting by saying ‘Namaste’.Namste, Namaskar,Namaskara are some other forms of greeting.It is one of the most popular Indian custom.The word namaha can also be translated as ‘na ma’ (not mine), to signify the reductions of one’s ego in the presence of the other.
Martial Arts:
Indian cultures cover almost all colors of the rainbow of life. Different religions flourishing in the subcontinent have added to this topic. Gatka from sikhism, pehlwani from Hinduism, karate from Buddhism and other fighting techniques from other religions and tribes. There are variety of martial arts one can get to learn about in India and all add their flavors in making the curry of culture delicious.
Arranged Marrige:
This is perhaps the oldest tradition and the most hated by the youths. Indian families still observe arranged marriage as a culture. Needless to say, this culture ‘ensures’ that the marriage of bride and the bridegroom is arranged by the families of the two. There has been some liberty for bride and the bridegroom to know each other before marrige in this tradition otherwise they would only get to know each other after the marriage , in older times.
Indian cuisine:
Indian subcontinent can be divided into different parts based on the diet or cuisine of the particular area. There is a variety of dishes one gets to eat all over the country try and every dish is inspired by their culture for example: one can eat the delicious and tasty rasgullas in Bengals, the mouth watering dosai in South India, the tasty litti choka of Bihar, the yummy makai ki roti with sarso da saag of Punjab and lot more.
Languages:
Do you know that the divison of the states of India is based on the linguistic characteristics of the area? India is the homeland of more than 22 languages. All these languages age as old as their origin religion itself. Hindi, the national language of India also contains mixture of different languages and accents like Urdu, English, Persian etc.However, more than 400 languages and accents are still not officially recognized. One can never get bored touring in India as there is new language with different accent throughout the country.
Athithi Devo Bhava rule:
Every Indian is awar of the Athithi Devo Bhava rule ,meaning guest is equivalent to God. That level of respect and honor is given to a guest in India. Respecting and taking care of our guest is a part of Indian culture. The best quality of food is served to the guests and their every need is taken care of. Many world famous personalities like Barack Obama,the president of America, iron man famed American actor, Robert Downy Jr.etc were impressed of and have praised this culture during their visit to India.
Indian Dances:
Indians know how to enjoy their lives, don’t they? Differnt form of Indian dances are proff of this statement. Be it the bhangara of the punjabis,the dandiya of the gujaratis or the
Kathakali of the Tamilians; we Indians dance and enjoy our lives on every occasion. Every state has it’s own traditional dance which flows, along with the blood in the nerves of the people, just the respective music is required as a spark to light that energy. Some famous cultural dances are:-
Bharatnatyam,Kathakali,Kathak,
Indian Cultural dresses:
No matter in which part of the Earth you are, if are an Indian and enthusiastic and proud of you
cultures, you would probably wear kurta pyjama or sherwani if you are a Male or sari or salwar suit if you are a female. Sari, kurta pyjama, salwar kameez, salwar suit, dhoti, lungi etc are world famous.
These are some of the long list of cultures and traditions that India possesses. These cultures have dictated the way of living life for thousands of years. Indian culture are now renowned all across the world.
They are an integral part of India’s prestige and reputation in the whole world. They make India standout from the crowd of other countries and give her the right to declare on top of her voice, standing on the mountain summit that “I am the Best.”
Writer Bio: Yuvraj Singh, 15 years old from, Tatanagar, participated in the International Essay Contest, December-2019
