Would you shift out of India if you had an option ?

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kestrel5915 said:
That problem is not confined to Indians only, it's a worldwide issue.
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I find foreigners to be way more sensitive to foreign culture and behavior vs. us Indians. Yes, they might be shocked or amazed or gawk, but they do not expect us to become them, like we do for foreigners. There is a difference, and not world wide. We question alien behavior, they are curious about it. I have really not seen Indian's curious about live-in relationships (example); they look at it with disgust. Where as: I have seen foreigners ask me out of curiosity why people take dips in a river all at the same time. See the difference.
 
asingh said:
I find foreigners to be way more sensitive to foreign culture and behavior vs. us Indians. Yes, they might be shocked or amazed or gawk, but they do not expect us to become them, like we do for foreigners. There is a difference, and not world wide. We question alien behavior, they are curious about it. I have really not seen Indian's curious about live-in relationships (example); they look at it with disgust. Where as: I have seen foreigners ask me out of curiosity why people take dips in a river all at the same time. See the difference.
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But ain't these foreigners also not disgusted by this fact?

Also some foreigners will like more courtesy from us Indians than we normally show.
 
kestrel5915 said:
But ain't these foreigners also not disgusted by this fact?

Also some foreigners will like more courtesy from us Indians than we normally show.
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No, that's what he said. They are open-minded and can entertain certain thoughts without acceptance. But most of the Indians can't do that. It's either acceptable or disgusting, nothing in between.
 
blkrb0t said:
No, that's what he said. They are open-minded and can entertain certain thoughts without acceptance. But most of the Indians can't do that. It's either acceptable or disgusting, nothing in between.
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I wasn't asking a question actually because I know that most of them are disgusted by a lot of habits, thoughts prevalent in developing nations.
 
blkrb0t said:
No, that's what he said. They are open-minded and can entertain certain thoughts without acceptance. But most of the Indians can't do that. It's either acceptable or disgusting, nothing in between.
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I am not sure about that.

Be it Europe or US there is certain degree of tolerance as well as intolerance to other culture and cultural habits. It all depends upon the similarities between the host cultures and migrant culture.
Many times we are in awe of other cultures' practices only when our culture considers such activities as acceptable or better. This is applicable to both the sides - Indians as well as Westerners. If our cultural upbringing has a bit of disdain for such practices then it is manifested by Individuals in different ways - a courteous person may make a subtle sarcasm, an average street person may make a loud joke about it or a dirty person may be brutal.

Few example of intolerance I have faced from certain citizens of a developed nation:

- I had been warned to be evicted from an apartment complex because neighbors complained of smell of Indian spice emanating during cooking.
On the other hand, in the same apartment there were few westerners who used to come to my wife to learn Indian cooking and all about spices.

- Post 9/11, a 50 yr. old lady, who was standing behind me in the tube, scolded me because my after-shave was too strong (it was Brute) and she was allergic to perfumes. I am almost sure that she half-muttered 'TWA'.

- Many a times my colleagues abroad have jokingly asked me about the ritual of usage of water(they believed that it was a ritual) to wash the behind instead of tissue, after taking a dump

- A gentleman with a difficult to pronounce name expects me to pronounce his name perfectly, but when pronounces my name replaces 'ja' in my name to 'ha'. Even after pointing out the mistake, he used to justify that it is a common practice to pronounce like that. He used to poke at me saying that I have a funny name. At the same time I had a French friend who took great pain to remember my full name (surname included) and pronounce it better than many of my Indian friends.
 
asingh said:
I find foreigners to be way more sensitive to foreign culture and behavior vs. us Indians. Yes, they might be shocked or amazed or gawk, but they do not expect us to become them, like we do for foreigners. There is a difference, and not world wide. We question alien behavior, they are curious about it. I have really not seen Indian's curious about live-in relationships (example); they look at it with disgust. Where as: I have seen foreigners ask me out of curiosity why people take dips in a river all at the same time. See the difference.
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Actually the opposite of it is true. In my experience that is.

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Whether you want to go out of this country or not is simply dependent on your monetary status here. If you have a lot of cash, there is no better country than India, if not then it is better to move out asap.

Also if you have specialist interests like Geology or Paleontology for example, it is better to shift you base elsewhere.
 
I believe that older one's culture is, deeper are the beliefs ingrained into an individual's conscious and sub-conscious and more reluctant is that person to accept ideas which are contrary to his fundamental beliefs. Yes it is possible to control this reluctance through proper education - an education that teaches a person to question, evaluate and absorb ideas even if it does not generate short-term materialistic benefits. And India is pretty much behind in giving real education to its citizens.

In my experience, I have found Americans (USA) to be more open minded than Europeans mainly because American culture is still evolving where as European culture is pretty much hardened in its ways.
 
We're all lost in this concept of 'culture'. Something that isn't all that precisely definable. I think science and history have a lot more to say about culture than a lot of us think. A lot of us never ask ourselves why we have certain rules, values and traditions specific to the region(s) we live in. Culture is influenced by a lot of factors and is something that is ever evolving. I think in some sense, patriotism is a disease (though not always). Boundaries have always been transcended in the world. White, black, brown, we've all evolved from 'lower' animals. We spread out into the world developing ideas and values based on our interpretations of the environment around us, to sustain our species and have harmony amongst ourselves. And now, as our environment grows wider and the world becomes a smaller place, there's this little battle going on inside all of us about who we really are and what we really believe in.

One can argue against/add to some of these points obviously.
 
OinkBoink said:
We're all lost in this concept of 'culture'. Something that isn't all that precisely definable. I think science and history have a lot more to say about culture than a lot of us think. A lot of us never ask ourselves why we have certain rules, values and traditions specific to the region(s) we live in. Culture is influenced by a lot of factors and is something that is ever evolving. I think in some sense, patriotism is a disease (though not always). Boundaries have always been transcended in the world. White, black, brown, we've all evolved from 'lower' animals. We spread out into the world developing ideas and values based on our interpretations of the environment around us, to sustain our species and have harmony amongst ourselves. And now, as our environment grows wider and the world becomes a smaller place, there's this little battle going on inside all of us about who we really are and what we really believe in.
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Culture is a binding gel which unifies a group living in proximity or hailing from a common point-of-origination. Culture can be precisely defined, and if divulged back, a reason can be found for most practices, be they normal or unusual.

kippu said:
america has a culture?
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Of course it does, but it is quite new and not old-world. :)
 
asingh said:
Culture is a binding gel which unifies a group living in proximity or hailing from a common point-of-origination. Culture can be precisely defined, and if divulged back, a reason can be found for most practices, be they normal or unusual.
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Yes, in a rough sense, it's the commonalities between arts, traditions, lifestyles etc. among a given group of people. I was trying to point out that there can be variations in cultural values/practices between individuals in a group too (people add their own little flavour to it as individuals) and that these values/practices constantly evolve. And, yes, I was in fact saying that it can be traced back.

BTW, how would you precisely define Indian culture or western culture ?
 
OinkBoink said:
Yes, in a rough sense, it's the commonalities between arts, traditions, lifestyles etc. among a given group of people. I was trying to point out that there can be variations in cultural values/practices between individuals in a group too (people add their own little flavour to it as individuals) and that these values/practices constantly evolve. And, yes, I was in fact saying that it can be traced back.

BTW, how would you precisely define Indian culture or western culture ?
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Why in a rough sense. It is precise and finite. Just that it is so much, and can be from "many where"; that we as an entity cannot quantify it, or qualify it to one single quantum. It is like trying to count stars, but number theory can do that too...! You get the analogy....? Though since you used the jargon, roughly speaking, it would be a mix of: language, religion, ideology, ADL practices, interactions and protocols for the same. Though these metrics are hardly exhaustive in the exercise we are trying to ascertain. A course in sociology or anthropology coupled with history would suffice much much better. ;)

Western culture is a misnomer, just to be used by politicians and the misguided. I feel that. The "west" is ideally anything to our left. Even Iran would fall under that...! Or say Turkey. But so would Europe, which is such a huge expanse. Hard to define.
 
asingh said:
True, experiences matter. I generally find Indian's to be less open-minded and more constricting towards others.
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To some degree, I agree. Westerners are open minded, some times a little too open minded. But it would be wrong to generalise it.

The fear of the unknown is a primeval feeling. So no one can truly embrace people from different habits and cultures. Of course a lot depends on your upbringing rather than your area of origin (birth). Being Indians we have set rules and principles and given our hospitable nature we are pretty open minded as it is.

One of the things westerners are more open minded is regarding sexuality, a little too much I must say. But then it has positive effects too like Children being made aware of sexual abuse and ways to prevent/report it, teenagers educated in proper practices -by PARENTS! (Oh God, how is that possible - in India) and safe sex - prevention of diseases etc.

Apart from that they have respect for work and labour. No one looks down on you just coz you do some (by Indian standards) menial or lowly work. You don't become a lesser human being just 'coz you are a driver or cleaner etc.

Also being interested in Physics, Chiropractics, Hair dressing, Modelling, space exploration etc are not stupid career choices there.

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I am in Abu Dhabi right now so I have some International exposure to back my words :P
 
Has anyone factored in "Upbringing of Children" in this equation ?

Frankly, this is the only one thing that scares me the most. :unsure:
 
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