4.9 Cultural Notes and Extra/Optional Online Materials

Cultural Notes

#

Topics

Explanation

1 City/Town Typically, Indian and South Asian cities and towns are very crowed and houses do not have front and back lawns. Villages have comparatively more open space.
2 Transportation Public transportation is easily available in India and South Asian cities. Though, all the buses, trains, and airports are very crowed and can be intimidating for someone new.
3 Private Space Given that families up to three generations live in one house, there is not much private/personal space.
4 Bathroom/Toilet In typical Indian and South Asian houses, the bathroom and toilet are not in the same room as in America. They are built separately. However, in a bigger city, and in apartment complexes, you will find the bathroom and toilet in one space. Please also note that South Asian toilets are squatting toilets.
5 Worship Room Typically, in a bigger house, there would be a separate worship room.
6 Shoes NOT in the House Typically, Indians and South Asians do not allow shoes in the house. Everyone takes off their shoes outside the house in a corridor or near the entry door.
7 Kitchen Indian and South Asian houses/apartments do not have open kitchens attached to the living room like in American houses/apartments. Indian and South Asian kitchens are not visible to the guests. As a guest, you should ask permission to enter your host’s kitchen.
8 Market In India and South Asia, smaller markets are everywhere. You can find smaller grocery stores in your own alley. Every neighborhood has small stores for regularly used things such as: medical supplies, groceries, mobile phones, vegetables and fruits, etc. However, in a village, it is not the case so much and typically there is a weekly village market. Villagers also visit nearby/local towns or cities for shopping.

Extra/Optional Online Materials

!شکریہ

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Basic Urdu Copyright © 2022 by Rajiv Ranjan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book