April 16th, 2020.
Culture
ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES#1: INDIA
by Timoteo Freitas, Natalia del Bianco
Located in South Asia, bounded by the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal and borders with seven countries, India is a country with a millenary and unique culture, but, at the same time, it's very diverse. Its population is more than 1 billion people and, for that reason, India is the second-most populous country in the world. China is the first.
​
In any place, good communication is vital, but what can we expect from it in a country that has more than 400 languages and dialects? To that, the federal government establishes that Hindi and English are the official languages. Furthermore, in a state context, they have 22 other languages. Because of the English colonization, English is very disseminated in India and also it is taught at schools. However, Indian English is a little bit different than what we are used to listening to.
The main difference is the very notable accent that is impossible not to recognize. If you've heard any Indian speaking English, you will agree with us. If you don't, we suggest that you watch the video “Indian English: the most difficult accent?”, from the Brazilian YouTube channel "English in Brazil”, by Carina Fragozo. In this video, she interviews Anisha, an Indian woman, so it is possible to note the differences in her accent. (Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KViy8jqwO-I)
There are other curiosities about Indian English, in a grammatical way: they often use 'would' instead of 'will' to talk about future; they usually use 'no' and 'na' instead of tag questions - You play soccer, no?; in the Standard English the correct form would be 'pay attention to' but Indian use 'pay attention on'; the verb “to open” also means “to turn on” for electric devices or “to take” for clothes.
​
Continuing our exploration through the Indian culture, we have to mention the religion, which is a very expressive point in this country. The main religion in India is Hinduism, but there are others like Islamism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Christianism. Lots of the festivals and events that happen there have the origin of the one religion. The most famous festivals are Holi or Festival of Colors (February to March); Khumba Mela (It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years); Ganesha Festival (August to September) and Diwali or Festival of Lights (October or November).
Talking about events, we cannot set aside the wedding parties. This kind of party is realized in steps and it can take days or weeks. And if you are thinking of a white dress, you are totally wrong. The bride, groom, and guests wear colorful typical clothes. Jewels and reindeer tattoo cannot miss, too. Just for you to have an idea, it is common for the groom to arrive on a white horse. After this, we only wait for more great things.
The Indian architecture is also characterized by religion, with their big temples. It is composed of many details, statues, and representation in the walls, etc. There are many touristic spots. the most famous are the Taj Mahal, Lotus Temple, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Akshardham Temple, Chand Baori, Amritsar - the Gold Temple and Virupaksha.
The Indian cinema is very famous for its music, dance and melodrama shows. The movies contain a little bit of everything, romance, action, drama, comedy and more! This mix of gnres is called “masala”. Bollywood is India’s most popular film industry worldwide. Within the many movies of this industry, we choose two of them for you.
First, we have the movie “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (1995). This is an Indian classic, with comedy, drama, and romance. It broke records when it was released, being the first to make more than 1 billion rupees and win10 Filmfare Awards (Indian "Oscar"). And even after 20 years of its release, there is a cinema in Mumbai where it is still showing. Dozens of other Bollywood films pay homage to this film to this day.
​
The other movie is "3 Idiots” (2009). It is a dramatic comedy film. It won many awards and became one of the most important Indian films of the last decade. It was very popular in other countries, such as China, the United States, and England.
​
Another great characteristic of India is the music, the traditional ones use instruments such as sitar, tabla, and bansuri. The most famous songs in India are those that are part of Bollywood films. We selected two of them to exemplify how the Indian songs are: “Kajra Re” (https://youtu.be/DovUEruZ2q4) “Tujhe Dekha To” (https://youtu.be/r7NVIwO8_pI). One of them you probably have already heard in a soap opera.
And if you are searching for reading, we also have suggestions. "Os Indianos" by Florência Costa, it discusses different themes about Indian culture. And "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts, is a fiction inspired by the experiences of the Australian author, who fled to India with a false passport after escape from prison. At last, we have the book considered a classic of Indian literature. "The God of Small Things", by Arundhati Roy. The book is about Indian varieties and approaches themes that are considered taboo for those people.
​
India, as well as any country in the world, is hard to be shown as a whole in a text. What we expected here was to show a little bit of what this country reserve for those who decided to explore it. One of those people is the professor of the course Letras Inglês at UNESPAR/Apucarana, Fernanda Tarran. Her trip to India was in January, 2018 and she talked to us a bit about what she lived there. Another thing about her is that she is such a good photographer. All the photos in this article were taken by her.
​
​
Travel report (Jan. 2018):
India was an old dream, so I've already read about it and watched a lot of videos before going there. Even so, the arrival is a shock: the customs and their way of living are very different from ours. There is poverty, a lot of litter in the streets and many people, everywhere. At the same time, it's a country with a rich culture, landscapes, and temples absurdly beautiful, and with happy and receptive people. I went through the main cities in northern India and each of them marked me in a different way. Delhi is the gateway. Varanasi, the sacred city of the Ganges, it is a dip in the Hindi religion. Agra where there is the amazing Taj Mahal. And, in the Rajasthan, the color route: Jaipur, the pink city; Jodhpur, the blue city; Udaipur, the white city; and Jaisalmer, the gold city.