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    India for Idiots
    India for Idiots
    India for Idiots
    Ebook56 pages49 minutes

    India for Idiots

    By Dianne Sharma Winter

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    About this ebook

    India for first time visitors. A guide to the cultural quirks of India.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDianne Sharma Winter
    Release dateJan 22, 2011
    ISBN9780473182762
    India for Idiots
    Author

    Dianne Sharma Winter

    My obsession with India has kept me on the road in various places across the world while I work on having a life that allows me to travel, allows me to plumb the depths of my creativity and keeps me in sporadic contact with my family. It's the life of a rolling stone, gathering no moss but also with a momentum of it's own. Sometimes there is a feeling of "stop this stone, I want to get off" or at least change direction. The direction I long for is straight to the heart of my grandchildren who keep growing so fast and at such a rate that it scares me sometimes! And sometimes when I am furtherest away is the times when I want to be close to hand for my family.But given this little niggle and prod at my heart strings I also know and believe that if you are living and acting according to your dharma then you are always exactly where you need to be in life and that your soul and spirit do not recognize physical boundaries. We all take on a shape with which to experience life and I happen to believe that we get to experience as many shapes and forms and experiences as it takes for the soul to realize that we are all part of the Universal Oneness which is the Dream of the great Creator. It's this belief in action which has become my life, a life that is meandering through the scenic route instead of along the super highway. Wandering with a purpose that is between me and The Dreamer, stopping in wonder at the beauty of His Imagination and chuckling at His Divine sense of humor!

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      Book preview

      India for Idiots - Dianne Sharma Winter

      India For Idiots

      A Cultural Guide to India

      By

      Dianne Sharma-Winter

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      Copyright 2010 Dianne Sharma-Winter

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Chapter 1. Cultural Confusion

      Chapter 2. Body Bits and What To Do With Them

      Chapter 3. Gods and Gurus

      Chapter 4. Insane Information

      Chapter 5. Being, Single, White and Female in India

      Chapter 6. Saying It With Enthusiasm

      About the Author

      CHAPTER 1.

      CULTURAL CONFUSION

      ADJUST

      India has a population of over 1 billion people, one million of whom are constantly on the move. One of the most illuminating demonstrations of a democracy in action is the way in which people will 'adjust' to allow another person sitting or standing space on a public conveyance. The Indians were the first to recognize space as both a void and a public space and work constantly to fill it to the brim.

      AHINSA

      The practice of non-violent protest which became a huge success in ousting the British from India but has fallen from popularity since then. If you have come to India to practice ahinsa then please join a queue in any railway station booking counter and see how far you get. Also refer to Queues.

      ANGREZI

      This is you. Whether you are Spanish or Norwegian or Australian, once you step foot on Mother India, you will become Angrezi. If you are Japanese, Chinese or Korean you will become Japa-knee for the duration of your stay.

      ARGUMENTS

      The art of debate is much admired in India, people are just as amused by an exchange of words as tennis balls, watching an argument is therefore part of the public space and everyone is entitled to watch to listen and to interact. This is a grass roots experience of group consensual process in action and very enlightening to watch. Should you be lucky to witness a street argument, keep to the sides of the crowd that develops and watch for clues for which winner to back by the reaction of the crowd.

      ARRANGED MARRIAGES

      The Family is the centre of society in India, as such marriages are arranged in order to strengthen and stabilize this institution.

      Indian weddings are a celebration of the family, with the focus on the groom. Sightings of the bride are brief. The ceremony is conducted while people wander around greeting and meeting each other, sit in groups on the lawn and eat picnic style.

      The meeting between bride and groom is as furtive and fleeting as their future nuptials will be and only slightly less public. The bride is not supposed to look happy but guests are allowed to speculate whether she is or not. Unlike western weddings no one takes bets on how long the marriage will last. Marriage is for life in India. Divorce and Love Marriages carry a whiff of the hint of individual will and go down like a fart at granny's tea party.

      AUSPICIOUS

      People like auspicious signals, receiving them as direct communication from the Gods. People do not like inauspicious things such as widows, people with bad luck or black faces.

      BABU

      Is a term used for the youngest of a family and is used by an elder to someone younger. It is not the Hebrew word for waiter.

      BEGGARS

      It is the dharma and the karma of the beggar to beg and it is

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