Someone asked what 'culture shock' meant, and I illustrated with the example of the governor of a certain northeast Indian state, himself hailing from the northwest, a passionate dog lover, who presented the chief minister with a little poodle. Sometime later he asked the CM whether he was happy with the present, and that dignitary replied, 'Oh yes, certainly. It was delicious'. This, with a smacking of the lips...
When people are very different in their tastes and manners, such experiences of culture shock are bound to happen every now and then. In one country giving a girl a red rose is a compliment; elsewhere it's a deadly insult. But, I was wondering, isn't that better than creating a world which is so homogeneous that you won't know whether you are in Sao Paolo, New York, Mumbai or Shanghai? Twenty-odd years ago, I had a feeling while going round a certain Wal-Mart outlet in a small American town that if someone were suddenly knocked unconscious and whisked away to another Wal-Mart outlet a thousand miles away, s/he would never notice any difference. Now Indian cities are beginning to give me the same feeling.
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4 comments:
!!! regarding the illustration of 'culture shock'...poor governor and poor poodle. Sometimes I forget how easy it is to experience culture shock within the country...
That illustration (as darkly hilarious as it is) reminds me of how I get an involuntary jab in my heart whenever I see quiet Chinese students walking their happy, excited...and well-fed dogs. Terrible. Most improper and an example of (utterly misplaced?) cultural stereotyping too, I know. And then there was the time when I'd been looking after two dogs, and I spotted a very quiet, nimble-footed, and peaceful East Asian man walking near the river, and the friendlier of the two dogs who loved humans suddenly started barking her head off as the man (who really looked like some Ta'i-chi expert!) ventured closer...
That same thing bothers me about Wal-Mart. I've had that thought, believe it or not, in grocery stores, malls, and even the book-shop chains ('course there's only one chain now since even the other one closed down!).
...And the same goes for the suburban towns, as nice and clean and well-maintained and more or less safe as they are (and I admit I haven't visited many). The first time I noticed how similar they looked it brought to mind what Zooey (from Salinger's Franny and Zooey) said about walking into an apartment and fitting right in because everything is made to fit in and look alike - even people.
Better end this comment or go muse about this on my blog...
Was nice finding this post here today.
Sir,
I remember I laughed out aloud when I first heard the (in)famous "Keep Austin Weird" slogan. But maybe they do have a point.
Thanks,
Joydeep
I can't really say about cultural homogeneity but 'culture shocks' are not that easily encountered. And I say this while sharing classrooms with people from all over the subcontinent. I don't know if I could attribute it entirely to the 'age of information', but it does play a good role, I suppose. The anecdote you recounted, Sir, is a very apt example of the implications of cultural heterogeneity and it might have horrified a person alien to such practice. Matters as they stand today, however, there would hardly be any reason to expect such reaction. The simple reason is that, the cause itself would be non-existent or something very like it. Regardless of which part of the country a person hails from, we dress alike in Levi's and Lees, we eat the same 'takeouts' or 'takeaways' from McDonald's and KFC, we know each other as the 'dudes' we 'chill' and 'hang out' with - in short, there's nothing to distinguish one person from another in this nation we so proudly boast as possessing 'a rich and diverse cultural heritage'in the essays we write for our examinations.
Urna Mukherjee
We can start by embracing our regional roots a little. The last time I attended a Bengali wedding, they played loud Bhangra music, served butter chicken and naan, and almost everybody wore suits or sherwanis. What's wrong with the Bengali cuisine, music or the nice old dhuti-panjabi? Or have we become too 'cool' to highlight our ethnicity now?
Thanks,
Joydeep
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