1. India and Indian Culture
By: Candice Clark
Integration of Information and Computer
Technology in Instruction â Part I
EDUC9F61
Brock University
2. Introduction
⢠Indian culture has a lot of aspects to it. For this
presentation, I will focus primarily on the Hindu
religion and its impact on Indian culture.
⢠There is a large Indian population in the GTA, which
is why I chose to study this culture. This culture is
personally relevant to my life as I work in Peel, which
has a high population of Indian immigrants.
3. Before we beginâŚ
⢠Letâs see what you might already know about Indian
culture:
⢠Complete this quick form:
⢠http://goo.gl/forms/NqzEVWRnmc
5. Relationships
⢠Family
⢠Patriarchal â Father
is the leader
⢠Elders are valued
above all others
⢠Family is valued â
extended family
(households often
contain several
generations)
⢠Other
⢠Teachers are called
Gurus and are highly
respected
⢠In business, boss is
source of ultimate
responsibility
6. Greetings
⢠Greetings depend upon social, religion and social
class
⢠Eldest should be greeted first, followed by men,
women, children
⢠When leaving a group, each should be bid farewell
individually
⢠shaking hands is common, especially if the person is
from one of the larger cities and used to dealing with
westerners
⢠Men shake hands with men, women with women, but
there are seldom handshakes between men and
women because of religious beliefs
9. ⢠Indians dress modestly and conservatively
⢠Shoes are removed upon entering the home
⢠Bright colours and jewels
⢠Known for their use of beautiful silks and fabrics
⢠Women wear colourful âSarisâ which are long pieces of
fabric tied around the body
⢠Traditional clothing for men is the âdhotiâ, an unstitched
piece of cloth that is tied around the waist and legs
⢠Men also wear a âkurtaâ, a loose shirt that is worn about
knee-length
⢠For special occasions, men wear a âsherwaniâ, which is a
long coat that is buttoned up to the collar and down to the
knees
11. ⢠Hindus do not eat beef and many are vegetarians
⢠Muslims do not eat pork or drink alcohol
⢠Sikhs do not eat beef
⢠Lamb, chicken, and fish are the most commonly served
main courses for non-vegetarian meals
⢠wash hands before and after a meal
⢠eat with the right hand only, either using fingers or
utensils
⢠Wheat, Basmati rice and pulses with chana (Bengal
gram) are important staples of the Indian diet
⢠Food is rich with curries and spices, including ginger,
coriander, cardamom, turmeric, dried hot peppers, and
cinnamon, among others
⢠Chutneys â thick condiments and spreads made from
assorted fruits and vegetables such as tamarind and
tomatoes and mint, cilantro and other herbs â are used
generously
12. Entertainment
⢠Bollywood movies & music are incredibly popular,
even in the western world
⢠Apps like âSpotifyâ and YouTube are loaded with
popular Bollywood music
14. Diwali
⢠Diwali is the largest and most important holiday to
India
⢠Five-day festival known as the festival of lights
because of the lights lit during the celebration to
symbolize the inner light that protects them from
spiritual darkness
⢠Diwali in 2015 will start on Wednesday, the 11th of
November and will continue for 5 days until Sunday,
the 15th of November
⢠In Canada, people will decorate their houses with
colourful Christmas lights, just as Christians would
for Christmas
18. Weddings
⢠Traditional weddings typically last one week with
many ceremonial activities
⢠Arranged marriages are a traditional feature of
virtually every community
⢠Marriages that are not arranged by the couple's
parents (âlove marriagesâ) are looked down on as
impulsive acts of passion (however, the practice of
love marriages is becoming more prominent,
especially in the western world)
⢠Two main types of marriage: a north Indian one in
which the man must not marry a closely related
cousin and a south Indian one in which a cross-
cousin, is the ideal spouse. Many south Indian
castes also permit uncle-niece marriage.
20. Religion
⢠Following religions
apply:
⢠Primarily Hindu (over
80%)
⢠Sikh
⢠Muslim
⢠Christian
⢠One of the largest
Islamic regions but
Muslims only
account for about
14% of the total
population
depending on what
study you look at.
21. Hindus
⢠Hindu religious theory justifies the division of society
into castes, with the unavoidable differences in
status and the differential access to power each one
has
⢠Hindus usually believe that a soul can have multiple
reincarnations and that after the death of the body a
soul will be reassigned to another newborn human
body or even to an animal one
⢠This reassignment could be to one of a higher caste
if the person did good deeds in the previous life or to
a lower-status body if the person did bad deeds
22. Impact on Ontario Teachers
⢠Knowing more about the Indian culture and
Hinduism, is very important in Ontario, especially the
GTA.
⢠There is a large Indian population and as such, we
can expect to see a number of students in our class
from India.
⢠Knowing more about the culture enables teachers to
incorporate that knowledge into lessons and to teach
other students about cultures of the world. Students
can help achieve this goal by researching and
presenting their personal culture or a culture of their
choosing.
