American And Indian Culture
There are a lot of differences between American and Indian culture and
values.
As we know today, the American culture is a mixture of different
cultures.
India, on the other hand, has its own culture and values. I
would like to
introduce the culture and value differences between these two
countries.
Americans believe that they can really control their future.
They are more
specific to plan things. Indian people, however, believe that
everything goes by
God’s will. They make short term plans. However,
Americans always like to plan
things ahead. They think they can/should
control and dominate nature and the
world around them. Americans are more
goal-oriented, where as Indian people are
more people oriented. They make
their goals around people of the family. They
even change their goals
sometimes if they do not suit the needs of their family
or family members. On
the other hand, Americans are always ready to do anything
to get the job done
or achieve their goal. One major difference between the two
cultures is
family values. American people tend to have a series of
short-term
relationships, and many do not commit with one person for a long
time. Indians,
however, believe in long term relationships. They are more
family-oriented and
respect human relationships. They care for their family
and are always ready to
do anything for them. Extended families are
traditional in India, while nuclear
families are prevalent in the U.S. Change
is a good value and indicative of
improvement and growth. Americans thinking
about change is very positive. They
like mobility, migration, movement and
change in their life style. Indian
culture, on the other hand, looks upon
change as negative. They like stability.
They work hard to maintain their
status quo. Americans place great emphasis on
time and its value. They
believe "time is money," and try to make every day
productive. They do not
like to waste time. They always like to do their work on
time. Unfortunately,
Indians are careless about the value of time. Time does not
mean much and
carries little importance for them. Indians are more formal than
American
people. Americans believe to formal is to be stuffy and arrogant
and
affected. This casual egalitarian attitude is meant to make
everybody
(foreigners) feel at home and welcome. American people are more
practical but
Indians are more efficient. Americans believe in more
action and fewer words.
Every decision is to be based on practicality,
not upon aesthetics, or on
consensus so everybody is made to feel good.
Indians are known for their hard
work, vitality and dynamism. There is an old
saying "Dab ke wah te Raj ke kha"
(work hard and eat to your satisfaction)
that is very appropriate for Indians.
Due to their hard work, Indians are
very successful in other countries; they
work as teachers, doctors,
engineers, drivers, shopkeepers and run
restaurateurs. They are less rigid.
They have learned to assimilate the new
culture pattern. Where as, the core
of western culture is individual. They may
be less hard working than Indians,
but they have more resources. As you can see,
here are many differences
between the American and Indian cultures. Americans
are independent and
relaxed, while Indians tend to be extremely family-oriented
and hard working.
Americans enjoy mobility and change, while Indians seek
stability. Even
though each culture has both negative and positive aspects, both
would
benefit greatly from learning about one another. Americans like privacy
and
are very independent. They believe the individual is paramount. Americans
do
not like to work in groups, but Indian people are collectivist people.
They
always enjoy working as members of a group. Americans tend to think
about
themselves and place their needs above all else. American teenagers,
for
example, do not always consider consequences before they act. They just
care
about having fun. Indian teens have to think of many things before they
make any
decision. They must consider the effect their action will have on
their family,
and how society will react. Family reputation is very important
to them, and
they must be careful not to do anything to put down the family
name. Family
values are much more important for them. Family comes first and
individuals own
identity is second. Americans take pride in their own
accomplishment, not in
name. They believe that a person should be
self-reliant and not be dependent on
others. On the other hand, Indians are
very dependent on others. Children are
not brought to be independent. They
are taught form very young age that there
are others who will help them and
they have to help others. They help their
young ones. Elders generally make
decisions. Very few can make decisions on
their own. Their elders always
support young ones. Competition is a good value.
Competition is what
brings out the best in people and achieves the best results.
The spirit
of competition is more in Indians people as compared to Americans. In
school,
for instance, Indian children are encouraged to excel. The expectations
of
families towards their children are very high. Parents always motivate
their
children to compete with others and live up to their full potential.
From the
beginning, American children are taught to be direct, open and
honest. They are
raised to look others straight in the eye and "tell it like
it is." They do
not hesitate to express their opinions. Indian children
however, are taught
respect above all else. Unlike American culture, starting
straight into the eyes
of elders is considered disrespectful. A child is
expected to be soft-spoken,
respectful and obedient at all times. Many of the
differences between eastern
and western cultures stem from the fact that
eastern cultures and values are
based around their religions. Religion and
family has a tremendous effect on the
values and daily lives of Indians.
Americans, being more individualistic,
respect their religion but live life
according to their own will.