No two countries are similar. I witnessed this as soon as I exited the airplane and walked into the Indian airport.
India and the United States are ten and a half hours apart from each other and are extremely different from each other. The climate, culture, and technology in India are very different from those in America. However, on my recent trip to India I realized that the two countries are similar in every day life and holidays that are sometimes overlooked because of the major differences. When I walked into my grandparents’ house, one of the first things I did was locate where the computer and Wi-Fi router were.
Even at first glance it was apparent that the technology in India is not as modern as the technology in the United States. The Wi-Fi router was smaller than the one I have in America and the computer still had a slot to insert a floppy disk. At the time of this revelation, I assumed the outdated hardware was a result of my grandparents’ not using technology too often. But, it turned out that my cousin had the same type of technology.
The look of the technology matched its performance because I could immediately tell that the Internet connection in India is much slower than the connection in America. In the States the download speed of the Internet is 82. 33 Mb/s whereas the download speed in India is a mere . 7Mb/s. The Internet speed in America is one hundred times faster than the speed that was available in India. I have seen people use smartphones in almost every place that I have been to.
This is no different in India; the smartphones that people use over there are Androids, Sony, Xperia, Intex, Nubia, and Micromax. In America, the majority of people use Apple or Android smartphones. In India, people use many variations for a phone where as in the states, just a few brands rule the smartphone market. The most concerning find for me was the way homes were kept cool.
Despite the scorching temperatures in India, the majority of the people use fans and not air conditioners. In America, almost every building is equipped with an air conditioner and the temperature does not ever reach as high as it does in India. The differences are not just between metal and plastic, but are also within the people. During my time in India I felt as if I lived in another dimension. The Indian culture is extremely different from the American culture. Despite the temperature reaching one hundred degrees Fahrenheit almost every day in India, there is a dress code implied by society for men to wear pants.
I noticed this when I saw people take quick glances at me at the movie theater. I was not sure what I was doing to catch their attention and I had thought I was blending in with everyone else pretty well. It turned out that everyone else in the theater were wearing pants and I was the only one who was wearing shorts. In America, if the temperature reaches seventy degrees Fahrenheit, everybody starts to show off their legs by wearing shorts.
But in India it is strange for a man to wear shorts and it is seen as loungewear that should not be worn in public. In another example, when I am walking around with my hands in my pockets it is not out of the ordinary in America. But, in India it would be strange, because other people do not see that as normal and I felt as if I were being judged when I did so. What is a normal thing to do in the US was an odd thing to do in India.
Nevertheless, I discovered that the two countries are similar in the routine of every day life. My cousin wakes up at six o’ clock in the morning and then goes to school. His father wakes up a little earlier and gets ready for work, and his mother is a housewife so she makes sure everyone is ready for the day. At the end of the day, he returns from his after-school activities of tutoring and playing volleyball, the father returns from a long hard day of work, and the mother makes sure my cousin does his homework while she prepares dinner.
The same routine occurs here in America. For example, my friend Tony and his parents wake up at around six o’ clock, his father and mother work so they all leave the house at about the same time. Tony’s mother comes home first after work at four o’ clock in the afternoon, his father usually follows after, and then Tony comes home after his basketball practice is over at around six o’ clock. Then, his mother prepares dinner and afterwards they sleep to start the routine over again. Both families have a similar every day life despite being on different continents. The holidays in India are also similar to those of America.
Thanksgiving is one of the main holidays celebrated in America. It is when family and friends join together and have a big meal to remember the colonists and natives and to also spend time with each other. Christmas is a Christian holiday, but in a dominant Christian country it does have a major impact. Christmas is another holiday when families come together. There is a holiday called Diwali in India and it celebrates similarly to Thanksgiving and Christmas. It celebrates the day when Rama saved his wife Sita who was kidnapped, but he was able to return home from the forest because the people lit lamps to guide them; this is why Diwali is also called the festival of lights.
In my experience, during Diwali we light up all of the lamps in our house and turn on as many lights as possible because the brighter the house the more chance there is for god to bless the house. All of our family is gathered at our house and we celebrate by praying, sharing gifts, eating many different foods, and spending time with each other. Both Indian and American holidays are similar in the gathering of families. Through my experience I found that America and India have many differences that are shown through culture and technology. From using the slowest Internet connection on earth, to wearing pants all summer, despite the scorching temperatures, there are many differences.
However, I found that the two countries are similar to each other in the everyday routine of life and holidays. Celebrating an American holiday like Thanksgiving and celebrating an Indian holiday like Diwali are almost the same, except that there’s a turkey involved in one of them.
