India Culture
-- Social Etiquette in India

Modern India is a home to over a billion people, and it's one of the world's largest ethnic melting pots. The culture of India is a result of influences from immigrants fleeing to the country for the last centuries.

Apart from alien smells and the delicious Indian food, there's a lot more to this country. Many various ethnic groups mean different Indian cultures, and also different appearances. When you travel around India from north to south, you'll notice the vast contrasts!

Like, the Sikhs are taller than the Indians, the gypsy-like Aryan people in the northern part of the country have blue eyes, compared to the brown-eyed South Indians and so on.

All of this together emphasizes one thing: India has a colorful diversity.

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Meeting the locals

India Culture

• Indians greet each other by joining their palms together (like if you're praying), and then saying: Namaste

  If you're a male traveler and meet an Indian woman, be careful with how you meet her. It's not socially accepted for an Indian woman to touch other men (besides their husband and sons). So what you have to do is to wait for her to take the initiative to do the handshake.

• The lack of privacy is what characterizes the Indian social culture

  There's no such thing as: Can I have my privacy?

• Other things that you'll notice when meeting the locals is 1) the staring and 2) the personal questions

  They stare at you like if you were an alien, but they usually do this because they're curious.

  How to handle the staring?

  I tried to stare back once, but it didn't work. It felt awkward to look into a stranger's eyes for too long, so I dropped out of the staring contest. What you got to do is to ignore it, and do something else until you can't sense their staring anymore.

  How about handling the personal questions?

  Adjust! Play along, and smile! ;-)

• Don't step over people

  The older and more respected they are, the more important this is

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Indian Men vs. Foreign Women?

As a ground rule in the culture of India, Indian men are brought up to keep their distance with women, hence respect them. But how come there are stories about Indian men harassing foreign women?

Well, the ground rule has apparently exceptions. Why they do it, can be a lot of things, like if you're improperly dressed. But even women travelers wearing respectable clothing can be victims of sexual harassment. The question is:

How do you handle it?

If it's possible, move away as far as possible. If that's not possible, make a fuss. Some Indian men don't (or don't want to) understand the word "no," so make a scene if there's no other option.

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Eating with the locals

• Don't eat with your left hand

  It's considered dirty because that's the hand they're using when washing themselves after toilet business.

• Eating beef is considered as taboo

• Eat all the food you have on your plate

  This is considered as respect for the food that has been served.

• India is the largest producer of tea...

  ...and tea drinking is an essential in an Indian's everyday life. You will find chai (tea) all over India, wherever you are.

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Visiting a local's home

When invited to a local's home, you'll feel like an honored guest. The Indians are known to be warm and give great hospitality.

• Take off your shoes/sandals before entering the home

• It's not mandatory to bring a gift when visiting a local's home

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Visiting Sights & Attractions

• Dress appropriately

  Make sure that the shorts or skirt is below the knee, and avoid showing off too much flesh.

• Behave

  It might sound obvious to you, but it's easy to forget. Avoid laughter and conversation. And most importantly, don't criticize the religion. If you have to, do it in your head or after the visit.

• Follow the rules assigned for the visitors for that particular temple

• When visiting Hindu temples, don't point your feet at a holy object, like a sculpture of a God

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Public Affection

Physical contact between the sexes is considered as provocative behavior, and will usually cause a negative effect in large parts of India.

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Animals

Why are there cows almost everywhere you go in India?

In Hinduism, cows are a symbol of life and considered as a source of food. So it can't be killed, and hence they're just left alone.

Indian Peacock

The Indian Peacock is the national bird of India, and is a symbol of pride, beauty and royalty. It's considered as sacred in India. You'll notice them when visiting great palace sites, either engraved in the wall or alive in a beautiful garden.

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You're done with India Culture, where do you want to go next?

Back to Facts about India

Visiting Mumbai?

How about Jaipur?

Heard about the beautiful Palolem in Goa?

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