Understanding Indian Cultural Differences: 16 Do's and Don'ts

Good cultural differences

1. Guest is God. In India it is an honor to have a guest, doubly so if it’s a visitor. This is because they have a beautiful proverb that says “Atithidevo Bhava” which means “the guest is equivalent to God”. For this reason there’s a good chance you’ll be invited to someone’s home.

2. The people are so genuine and friendly. We have met some of the most kind-hearted and generous people we’ve ever known during our travels in India. Even though these people didn’t have much money, they welcomed us into their homes and spoiled us with the most delicious food ever.

3. Spirituality and religion thrive. Upon every street corner in India is a religious statue or place of worship. It is the birthplace of yoga, meditation and the concept of enlightenment.

4. Indians try to offer amazing service. India is known for being a “service-oriented culture” and almost everyone tries hard to please.

5. Exquisite color creates eye candy everywhere. Indian’s love color. Whether it’s the clothing, the food or the houses, everywhere you look, you will be overwhelmed by beautiful arrays of color.

6. The resourcefulness and ingenuity is mind blowing. While driving the streets you will find the most eye-opening resourcefulness. From people carrying a bed frame or sheet of glass on the back of a motorcycle to a truck so over laden with goods that the driver can barely see out the front window. This no doubt stems from the poverty and need to survive.

Potentially uncomfortable cultural differences

Note: All of these cultural points I’m about to share are from our experience as Western observers. None of them are intended to offend anyone in any way. We are sharing them purely so that other Westerners are more prepared and to help reduce their possible culture shock.

1. Chaos is everywhere. Almost all road rules including red lights will be ignored. The streets are bustling with people, livestock and every kind of vehicle you can think of all tooting their horns. This can be quite a contrast from the quiet streets of the West. Furthermore, you may find it hard to locate your seat belt making it rather unsafe.

2. Personal space is rarely respected. Whether you’ re looking at photos on your camera, lining up to catch a bus or just standing on the street there’s a high possibility someone (or group of people) will approach you, nudge past you or come a bit too close for comfort. With over a billion people in a relatively small space, this isn’t surprising, and it isn’t culturally rude.

3. The caste system still exists. It’s composed of “priests” known as Brahmins, “warriors” known as Kshatriyas, “merchants” known as Vaishyas and “workers” known as Shudras. Unfortunately this division seems to cause discrimination between the castes and can get confusing without knowing the ins and outs.

4. Most animals get abused, except for cows. Be it a dog, cat, chicken, or an ox drawing a cart, animal abuse in India can be shocking and seems to be everywhere. The one animal that is largely exempt from this abuse is the cow because it holds particular importance in the Hindu religion. Although, you often see cows eating trash which is a different kind of abuse.

5. Almost everyone will try to get your money. Since over one hundred million Indians are living on less than $2/day the struggle for survival is real. The main thing is to have your wits about yourself and be compassionate. One quick side note is that I suggest you don’t give money to beggars as you will likely attract a crowd. If you want to give money, find a charity or school who will do a lot more good with the money.

6. Anticipate incessant staring. It doesn’t seem to be rude to stare in India. You will find it can be overwhelming at times but the main thing is to ignore it. Sometimes I pretend I’m a celebrity and then it’s more of a novelty than a problem.

7. Lying or bending the truth. It may be due to communication difficulties, but it seems that often Indians don’t have a problem with lying. Whether it’s a taxi driver or a shop owner – there’s a good chance they will bend the truth or flat out lie if it helps them make a sale. I suggest you try to get informed beforehand and ask the right questions, ones that can’t be simply answered by “yes”.

8. Expect to see spitting. A lot of men use chewing tobacco which means there can be a lot of spitting on the street. Many women also don’t have a problem spitting publicly when they need to.

9. Littering and trash are ubiquitous across India. It is yet to be understood that littering is a bad thing and so the streets act as open trash cans. The trash then piles up and the solution is normally to set it on fire!

[mowiththeflow]

As an Indian I have a mixed reaction to this video. Though there's a lot of work to be done on these things, the littering and polluting of public places is a problem that needs to be addressed at any cost. It's a real problem and honestly I have no clue how it can be solved..

[skr]

A little late but the lying part is true everywhere for unsuspecting tourists. On my first visit to the US I was scammed out of $200 by a cab driver just because I had a hard time figuring out the entire coin system. People in developed countries are also more than willing to scam tourists out of their money

[sweetdaisy]

thank you so much for an informative and helpful resource. my students will love it

[Mondesir]

The point about personal space is sotrue. While on vaccay in Dubai i met a very nice a d sweet Indian lady, we started chatting & exchanging some thoughts but I noticed she kept on invading my personal space even though I kept backing. It was very uncomfortable as am not used to that unless I've known you for years or that you are my lover 😅😅

[chrissystewart]

From my childhood to my adulthood I met a lot of people from India my Elementary school teacher from India & I used to have a crush on an model from India 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 teach me more about India all I know Aug. 15th is Independence day, Its 1 of the largest asian countries besides China , New Delhi is the Capital, Mumbai is the largest city I'm an fan of Bollywood

[girlpower]

Some things i can relate to, some things i can't. I visited India once now and will visit it more often. I stayed with locals in a good and hygenic home. There is litter everywhere and the street animals eat plastic and all. It was very weird for me to see and seems not very healthy. The lying is something i also noticed, i think it is becauae it is rude to say no so they start lying. Yes people stare. Nobody asked me money in any way, but thats maybe because there was a local with me at all times. I didn't see any animal being mistreated or abused. I even saw kids play with the street dogs. And street animals are not agressive at all. I didn't encounter monkeys, i've been told that they are agressive.

[hayatneda]

Good video but I am just curious why the Muslim population which is more 250m is not mentioned while Christianity with 30m population called out

[allywix]

Where are the do's and dont's?

[JamesRamey-ru]

I recently made some ignorantly critical and disrespectful comments about this beautiful culture recently and it's tearing me apart. I am truly sorry.

[boartank]

Service * shows Filipino waiter *
We really are everywhere, bois!

[ameliajordan]

It seems you are talking about north India. South India and easternmost India are very different.

[I_double_u]

Seems like you've visited some shady places in North India and made this video
I an from Kerala and I dont relate to anything you've said

[jogaramjakhar]

that's why I see you if you have a telegram because that's where you get your salary.

[yashaswinikrishnan]

oh hell naw not this audio for india and using taj mahal as a reference for anything indian

[chancemodiri]

I'm not sure if I understood the title write but I thought this was supposed to be do's and don'ts. This just feels like you saying nice things about india. You tell us that the people are very nice but we are not told their motivations for being so. We are told that they wear beautiful and colorful clothing but why?

[omprakashpatil]

Don't go through this link ..this is froud people, telling we will give you money before just like our video.. please guys suggest you ..don't watch n like it

[matthewpeloso]

Do's and don't of India - Do: lie constantly, cheat people, repeat. Don't: tell the truth, act with decency to others.