Sunday, 27 February 2011
Namaste
Namaste, Namaskar or Namaskara or Namaskaram, Vanakkam (Tamil) or Asssalamu alaikum (Urdu / Persian) Sat Shri Akal (Punjabi) is a common spoken greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent. Namaskar is considered a slightly more formal version than Namaste but both express deep respect. It is commonly used in India and Nepal by Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, and many continue to use this outside the Indian subcontinent. In Indian and Nepali culture, the word is spoken at the beginning of written or verbal communication. However, the same hands folded gesture is made usually wordlessly upon departure. Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namah): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and respect, and (te): "to you". As explained by an Indian scholar, in literal terms Namaste refers to 'That which is of God in me bows to that which is of God in you'.
Marriage
For centuries, arranged marriages have been the tradition in Indian society. Even today, the vast majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family-members, with the consent of the bride and groom. They also demand dowry, which has been outlawed by the Indian government, but Indian society and culture still promotes and maintains it. They get around by not letting the authorities know the arrangements of money.[12] Arranged matches are made after taking into account factors such as age, height, personal values and tastes, the backgrounds of their families (wealth, social standing), their castes and the astrological compatibility of the couples' horoscopes.
In India, the marriage is thought to be for life,[13] and the divorce rate is extremely low — 1.1% compared with about 50% in the United States.[14] The arranged marriages generally have a much lower divorce rate. The divorce rates have risen significantly in recent years:
In India, the marriage is thought to be for life,[13] and the divorce rate is extremely low — 1.1% compared with about 50% in the United States.[14] The arranged marriages generally have a much lower divorce rate. The divorce rates have risen significantly in recent years:
- "Opinion is divided over what the phenomenon means: for traditionalists the rising numbers portend the breakdown of society while, for some modernists, they speak of a healthy new empowerment for women."[15]
Family
Religions and spirituality
Main articles: Religion in India and Indian religions
India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively known as Indian religions.[5] Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions are a major form of world religions along with Abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 2 billion followers altogether,[6][7][8] and possibly as many as 2.5 or 2.6 billion followers.[6][9] India is also the birthplace for the Lingayat and Ahmadiyya faiths.| India |
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The religion of 80% of the people is Hinduism. Islam is practiced by around 13% of all Indians.[10] Sikhism, Jainism and especially Buddhism are influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnostics also have visible influence along with a self-ascribed tolerance to other people.
According to Eugene M. Makar, an respected industry consultant, traditional Indian culture is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. He also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in society.[11] This is reinforced by the fact that many believe gods and spirits have an integral and functional role in determining their life.[11] Several differences such as religion divide the culture.[11] However, a far more powerful division is the traditional Hindu bifurcation into non-polluting and polluting occupations.[11] Strict social taboos have governed these groups for thousands of years.[11] In recent years, particularly in cities, some of these lines have blurred and sometimes even disappeared.[11] Important family relations extend as far as gotra, the mainly patrilinear lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth.[11] In rural areas & sometimes in urban areas as well, it is common that three or four generations of the family live under the same roof.[11] The patriarch often resolves family issues.[11]
Culture of India
ndia's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old.[1]
Regarded by some historians as the "oldest living civilization of Earth", the Indian tradition dates back to 8000 BC[2] and has a continuous recorded history for over 2,500 years.[3] Several elements of India's diverse culture — such as Indian religions, yóga and Indian cuisine — have had a profound impact across the world.
Regarded by some historians as the "oldest living civilization of Earth", the Indian tradition dates back to 8000 BC[2] and has a continuous recorded history for over 2,500 years.[3] Several elements of India's diverse culture — such as Indian religions, yóga and Indian cuisine — have had a profound impact across the world.
Contents
[hide]American Heritage Dictionary:
- The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.
- These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty.
- These patterns, traits, and products considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages; musical culture; oral culture.
- The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.
- Intellectual and artistic activity and the works produced by it.
- Development of the intellect through training or education.
- Enlightenment resulting from such training or education.
- A high degree of taste and refinement formed by aesthetic and intellectual training.
- Special training and development: voice culture for singers and actors.
- The cultivation of soil; tillage.
- The breeding of animals or growing of plants, especially to produce improved stock.
- Biology.
- The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
- Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.
- To cultivate.
- To grow (microorganisms or other living matter) in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
- To use (a substance) as a medium for culture: culture milk.
[Middle English, cultivation, from Old French, from Latin cultūra, from cultus, past participle of colere. See cultivate.]
USAGE NOTE The application of the term culture to the collective attitudes and behavior of corporations arose in business jargon during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unlike many locutions that emerge in business jargon, it spread to popular use in newspapers and magazines. Few Usage Panelists object to it. Over 80 percent of Panelists accept the sentence The new management style is a reversal of GE's traditional corporate culture, in which virtually everything the company does is measured in some form and filed away somewhere. • Ever since C.P. Snow wrote of the gap between "the two cultures" (the humanities and science) in the 1950s, the notion that culture can refer to smaller segments of society has seemed implicit. Its usage in the corporate world may also have been facilitated by increased awareness of the importance of genuine cultural differences in a global economy, as between Americans and the Japanese, that have a broad effect on business practices.
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