Post Tagged with "India"

The great big Coorgi wedding

The Indian wedding is a splash of colour, a blur of reds, yellows, greens and dazzling gold. It is the finest advertisement of Indian hospitality with guests numbering in the hundreds, sometimes entire villages. This detail I am careful not to miss in any conversations about marriage here in London, for the sheer amusement of seeing jaws drop once the comprehension of the scale of the wedding hits the listener. The pageantry of the processions stays in the mind long after the wedding is over – the Mehendi, The Food, The Drink, the Dancing and then the innumerable rituals steeped in traditions and kept alive through the ages, handed down from one generation to the next.

Weddings vary in form and structure depending on the state the bride and groom are from. And so the ‘Indian wedding experience’ is as diverse as they come.

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How to make things happen in Canada

Our weekly cultural expertise quiz has moved to Tuesday. This week’s question is from Canada.

To make things happen in Canada you should in general:

A. Be patiently and politely persistent.
B. Give gifts to the decision makers.
C. Give gifts and perks to gatekeepers.

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Do Indians like to be alone when upset?

Test your cultural expertise with our weekly quiz question. This week’s question is from India.

If an Indian is upset about something, he or she would like to have some time alone.

True or False?

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Naming children: traditions in 13 different countries

How are children’s names chosen in your country? Do you follow ancient naming traditions or are modern names more popular? Do you pass names down through family generations or invent new ones?

We’ve had a lot of fun writing this post and the subject of how children are named in our various countries has inspired a lot of discussion within our team of contributors. So, read on to find out how children’s names are chosen in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the USA.

Have something to add? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

There aren’t many clear-cut naming traditions in Argentina nowadays. In the past, first-born babies were named after their parents but now the focus is on distinctiveness. Parents choose names they like or that are fashionable. For example, when Argentinean-born Maxima Zorriegueta married Crown Prince Wilhelm-Alexander of the Netherlands, the name Maxima became very popular.

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A Tamil Brahmin Wedding from India

A wedding is the binding of two hearts… preparation for a life to be spent together. An Indian wedding not just binds the bride and the groom, but two families, in a union which lasts forever! All over India, irrespective of region, caste or language, a wedding is a reason to rejoice, and it is a boisterous occasion filled with pomp and splendor, rituals and traditions, and of course, a huge number of people!

While some basic traditions are the same all over the country, there are a lot of differences in the way marriages are conducted in the northern and southern parts. In the south itself, there are subtle differences in the marriages conducted among the four southern states, differences emanating from cultural as well as regional differences. Let me describe to you a typical Tamil Brahmin marriage, celebrated in the Vedic style, where importance is given to the traditions and rituals which have been passed on over centuries.

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How do you talk to Indian colleagues?

Test your cultural expertise with our weekly quiz question.

Last week we talked about celebrating personal accomplishments in Australia. Thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion on last week’s question. Here’s the answer:

False, Australians have a dislike for “tall poppies” who appear to boast of their achievements and prefer the more modest “team player.”

What do you think? Is that what you expected?

The new question is from India:

As part of your work you talk to Sanjay Mehta, an Indian person who is junior to you in rank but older than you. You should address him as “Sanjay” because your status is higher.

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