Culture Café: India
We are grateful to HSE students Rahul and Neeraj who prepared a thrilling presentation, helping us discover their country from a completely new angle.
Our trip started with politics. By that we mean a parody video about Indian independence from 1947 after 300 years of oppression. Full of humour, easy to understand, yet filled with hidden meaning and metaphors. We do recommend you watch it ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrbM96jPtGQ ) if you want a general overview of the political situation in the country.
Of course, it has to be mentioned that India was called ‘the diamond in the British crown’, and these are not just words or rumours, but literally a fact. The Indian diamond Koh-I-Noor is on top of the British monarch’s crown.
Well, are you still wondering about Indian identity? India is different. Very different. The largest number of Hindus, Sikhs and Parsis in the world, the second largest Muslim population, and the very roots of Buddhism… All of that you can find here. The true meaning of life is hidden in that complexity, behind stereotypes, prejudice and any kind of biases. « Indian identity is not to assert your identity. It is to absorb».
Lots of us didn’t realise that before, however, this is the reason why Hindus worship many Gods. Diversity is appreciated, the world has as many realities as there are people living here, and there are millions of Gods, so anyone could find one special for him or her.
Obviously, we can’t forget to mention the most common Indian practices that have spread all over the world. Which ones? Yoga and Holi festival. There were plenty of questions from students about yoga and its meaning changed in modern society, as well as about the origin of Holi and another festival – Diwali (the Festival of Lights on October 19).
By the way, Happy Diwali!
Our Culture Café ended on a high note…the world famous tune ‘Tunak Tunak’. You know it as well, right? It turned out that all of us did!
Thrilled and excited about going to India one day, we expect you to join us for our next Culture Café. Let’s see where the wind of travelling is going to take us…
Author: Irina Klimova
Editor and proofreader: Rachael Horwitz