Comparison essay

Huỳnh Phạm Ngọc Hân_18dh711520

Class: Writting 4 ( Tuesday_t11,12)

Differences in Indian culture and American culture

The Indian culture has been shaped by its long history, diverse demographics, unique geography,
and the absorption of traditions, cultures, and ideas from some of the communities neighboring them
while at the same time preserving its ancient heritages, most of which got formed during the Indus
Civilization. India’s strong traditions and religions continue influencing their way of life and remains one
of the richest cultures in the world. The American culture, on the other hand, is a mass of knowledge
derived from reason. This reasoning makes it possible to understand the kind of life the American live,
and the ideal cores and values that govern their life. Although living in the same era, these two nation
have a big differrence in culture such as: family, marriage, child conception.

Firstly, Whenever we call family people are often sacred or respected it.However each nation will
have its own term or acknowledgeable ways.The family and its values form the pillar role to the culture,
which does not exist in the American culture. In India, being a part of the family is the most valuable
thing. Indians are more family oriented and the values of the family come first before individual values.
Women get lessons on how to take care of the children and the husband, and as they start their families
they already know what the society expects of them. People hold extended families are highly in the
Indian culture, where members of a certain family live together in the same house. The American
society, on the other hand, considers individuals values first before family values. Moreover, Americans
do not consider the extended families, to the extent that they take some elder people to elderly homes
since they are troublesome.

Secondly, the other difference between India and America is mindset of marriage. In Indian
families, commitment is extremely crucial, and separation in a family is a taboo. As a woman is growing
up in the Indian culture, she learns that divorce is not an option, and they have to fight and tolerate
problems in their marriages. However, in America, people do not value commitments especially in
marriage. There are many cases of single parents, and divorce is the order of the day. People do not
commit themselves in marriage and conduct live-in relations. In situations where couples get married,
but feel like they are not compatible, the divorce is always the option. Children in such families do not
have mental peace since they do not have a stable family to take care of them. Sometimes, the children
live one parent and the other parent gets visitation rights where they visit the children occasionally. As
these children grow, they fail to recognize family values. Therefore, such children’s chances of getting
divorced in their marriage become extremely high.

Thirdly,one of the things that nearly lead India become a country that has the highest maternal
mortality rate in the world is gender conception. Indian families emphasize the importance of having a
male child, who becomes the heir of the family’s wealth. A family without a son is considered as one
that does not have a child and the chances for survival, and continuity for such a family becomes
minimal. The families’ desire to have a male heir in India has a close connection to religious beliefs in the
Comparison essay
Huỳnh Phạm Ngọc Hân_18dh711520
Class: Writting 4 ( Tuesday_t11,12)

need for stability and continuity of the generations. Women in India are considered caretakers of the
homes, whose main responsibilities are to give birth, rear the children, and take care of their husbands.
In addition, men are the sole providers of the family. In this community the women do not inherit any
property, since they would inherit wealth together with their husbands in the families they get married.
In America, on the other hand, men and women have equal rights to property, and women can inherit
property from their own families. Women and men provide for the family equally, with each person
working independently.

Lastly, In India, after the death of a family member, the body remains at home before burial or
cremation, which takes place within 24hours. Preparation entails washing and anointing the body with a
mixture of sandalwood and water mixed with turmeric powder. The family garbs the dead body with
new clothes and mourners can bring flowers. Mourners prefer wearing white attires since they consider
wearing black attire during mourning inappropriate. Priests and the senior members of the family
conduct the ceremony. Cremation takes place. The ashes and the bone fragments are immersed in a
holy river. Then everyone takes a purifying bath, but the members of the family remain in a purified
state for a number of days, ranging from seven to thirteen. After closure of the mourning period, close
family hold a ceremonial meal and offer gifts to charities or the poor. The death ceremonies among the
Americans, like the wedding, ceremonies do not take long. Mourners dress in black during the burial
ceremonies, which symbolizes mourning.

In conclusion, Indian culture and American culture are actually different in many ways. They are
different in family idea, marriage life, or gender mindset. Therefore visitors from Western countries
should acknowledge or know about the cuture in India before they come visit here to avoid the least
confusions they may get when travel to a country that has long and strange culture from their countries.