تكفون لاتردونا

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
تفضلي اختي الكريمة ...الحياة في الهند
'life in India'
**Introduction**
In a country as diverse and complex as India, it is not surprising to find that people here reflect the rich glories of the past, the culture, traditions and values relative to geographic locations and the numerous distinctive manners, habits and food that will always remain truly Indian. India has been invaded by armies, traders and immigrants who brought with them their own habits, faiths, practices and observances which have all contributed to the rich texture of Indian life and living.
**Religions**
India is the birthplace of two great religions of the world, namely, Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also the birthplace of one of the oldest religions of the world, Zoroastrianism, and home to an ancient religion, Jainism. Sikhism is another very recognizable religion which began here bringing together the best aspects of Hinduism and Islam. Followers of religions originated in other countries such as Islam, Christianity, Bahaism and Judaism also form a part of the population of secular nation, India.
Hindus and Muslims are spread throughout the country. Muslims are found mostly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. They represent a majority in Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep. Christian concentrations are found in the northeastern states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya and the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Goa. Sikhs are a majority in the state of Punjab whereas Buddhists are found in large numbers in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Bengal and Sikkim. Though a tiny minority, Jains are found all over India. Majority of Jains live in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat.
**Languages**
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. Official languages: Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit. Hindustani a popular variant of Hindu/Urdu is spoken widely throughout northern India.
''Note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible.''
**Festivals**
Indians believe in sharing happiness and sorrow. A festival or a celebration is never constrained to a family or a home. The whole community or neighborhood is involved in bringing liveliness to an occasion. A lot of festivals like Diwali, Holi, Id, Christmas, Mahaveer Jayanthi are all celebrated by sharing sweets and pleasantries with family, neighbours and friends. An Indian wedding is an occasion that calls for participation of the family and friends. Similarly, neighbors and friends always help out a family in times of need.
**India Art**
In arts, India's sculpture, architecture and painting have had a rich history. The cave architecture of Ajanta and the cavewall paintings of Ajanta and Ellora, the temples of Khajuraho, the Mughal and Rajasthani paintings and the Taj Mahal are but a few examples of India's cultural heritage. The history of accomplishments in dance, drama and music is equally formidable and impressive. The classical dances still thrive in India, especially in its major forms-the Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak and Manipuri.
Traditional crafts and textiles have been equally famous from times ancient. They also served to carry forward myths, legends, motifs and other aspects of a culture peculiar to a region. Some famous examples of the craft and art are the warp-weft type of dyeing as seen in textiles from Orissa (Ikkat), embroidery from Bengal (Baluchari), Banarasi silk-brocade from Varanasi.
**Costumes **
India has a rich and varied textile heritage, where each region has its own unique native costume and traditional attire. Indian clothing is popular for its colorfulness and grace. The uniqueness of Indian culture lies in its geographical diversities, natural wealth, vast population and people's attitude, among other things. Though the majority of Indian women and men wear traditional costumes, the urban population residing in cities can be found in more conventional western clothing.
In the dry regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat men wrap and twist a length of cloth in the form of a dhoti around their lower limbs and a shirt-like kurta above. Colourful turbans are also a significant feature of Rajasthani Men. Women in Rajasthan wear a form of pleated skirt known as the ghagra or lehanga. The heads are covered by a length of fine cotton known as orhni or dupatta.
In the northeastern regions the tribal communities such as Khasis, Nagas, Mizos, Manipuris and Arunachalis wear colorful woven sarong-like clothing and woven shawls that represent the identity of each tribal group.
In urban India, the salwar kameez and the churidar kameez, are commonly worn by women and the saree is worn on formal occasions. Men wear kurtas and pajamas, or a sherwani for formal wear.
**Indian Society and Ways of Living**
India offers astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life. Diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and caste groups crosscut Indian society, which is also permeated with immense urban-rural differences and gender distinctions. Differences between north India and south India are particularly significant, especially in systems of kinship and marriage.
Hierarchy
India is a hierarchical society. Whether in north India or south India, Hindu or Muslim, urban or village, virtually all things, people, and social groups are ranked according to various essential qualities. Although India is a political democracy, notions of complete equality are seldom evident in daily life.
Societal hierarchy is evident in caste groups, amongst individuals, and in family and kinship groups. Castes are primarily associated with Hinduism, but caste-like groups also exist among Muslims, Indian, Christians, and other religious communities.
Social Interdependence
One of the great themes pervading Indian life is social interdependence. People are born into groups—families, clans, subcastes, castes, and religious communities—and feel a deep sense of inseparability from these groups. People are deeply involved with others, and for many, the greatest fear is the possibility of being left alone, without social support.
Family
Deep-rooted family values continue to exist in Indian families. The surname of an Indian is based on his caste or place of origin or his family occupation. Men are still considered the head of a family and are consulted for all decisions though they no longer continue to be the single breadwinner. A wife will always serve her husband before she eats. Parents are looked upon with respect and regard. Children are financially supported by their parents throughout their education.
Family Ideals
The essential themes of Indian cultural life are learned within the bosom of a family. The joint family is highly valued, ideally consisting of several generations residing, working, eating, and worshiping together. Such families include men related through the male line, along with their wives, children, and unmarried daughters. A wife usually lives with her husband’s relatives, although she retains important bonds with her natal family. Even in rapidly modernizing India, the traditional joint household remains for most Indians the primary social force, in both ideal and practice.
**Village Structure and Unity**
About three-fourths of India’s people live in some 500,000 villages, where India’s most basic business—agriculture takes place. Most villages have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, but some have as many as 5,000 people. Indian villages are often quite complex and are not isolated socially or economically. Most villages include a multiplicity of economic, caste, kinship, occupational, and even religious groups linked vertically within each settlement. Residents typically range from priests and cultivators to merchants, artisans, and laborers. Various crucial horizontal linkages connect each village with many others and with urban areas both near and far. In daily life and at colorful festivals and rituals, members of various groups provide essential goods and services for one another.
Traditionally, villages often recognized a headman and a panchayat, a council composed of important local men. Usually, disputes were adjudicated within the village, with infrequent recourse to the police or courts. Today, the government supports an elective panchayat and headman system, which is distinct from the traditional system, and, in many cases, mandates the inclusion of members who are women or very low caste. According to a schedule rotating every few years, the head of the council of a certain percentage of villages must be a woman or a Dalit. State and federal government regulations increasingly intrude into village life, diminishing traditional systems of authority. Further, dissent and competitiveness seem to have increased in many parts of rural India as a result of the expanding involvement of villagers with the wider world via travel, work, education, and television, and increased pressure on land and resources as village populations grow.
**Urban Life**
The acceleration of urbanization is profoundly affecting the transformation of Indian society. Slightly more than one-quarter of the country’s population is urban. Mumbai (Bombay) is currently the sixth largest urban area in the world at 18 million, and Kolkata (Calcutta) ranks fourteenth at 13 million. In recent years, India’s largest cities have grown at twice the rate of its small towns and villages, with many of the increases due to rural-urban migration.
The largest cities are densely populated, congested, noisy, polluted, and deficient in clean water, electricity, sanitation, and decent housing. Slums abound, often cheek-by-jowl with luxury apartment buildings, with the roads overrun with pedestrians, cattle, refuse, and vehicles spewing diesel fumes.
Traditional caste hierarchies are weak in cities, but caste ties remain important, as scarce jobs are often obtained through caste fellows, relatives, and friends. Ingenuity and tenacity characterize poor urban workers supporting themselves through a multitude of tasks as entrepreneurs, petty traders, and menial laborers.
The ranks of the growing middle class are increasingly evident in cities, where educational and employment opportunities benefit them. For them, as for all in the city, linkages are affirmed through neighborhood solidarity, voluntary associations, and festival celebrations.
Cities, of course, are the great hubs of commerce, education, science, politics, and government, upon which the functioning of the nation depends. India’s movie industry is the world’s largest, centered in Mumbai and Chennai, and popular television stations are proliferating. These bring vivid depictions of urban lifestyles to small-town dwellers and villagers all over the country, affecting the aspirations of millions.

China
China is an ancient country, with thousands of years of history which lay a rich basis for the lives of its inhabitants today. While some of the ancient Chinese myths and cultural traditions have been forgotten or are no longer observed, many of them are still remembered and incorporated into everyday life. Taking a look into the cultural traditions of China can reveal a lot about the way that the people live.
One of the most interesting bits of Chinese lore can be found in what is known as the Jade Culture. Jade is a stone that was first identified in the first Chinese dictionary, known as Shuo Wen Jie Zi, in around 100 AD. There are two types of jade: soft jade, known as nephrite, which is native to China, and hard jade (jadeite) which was imported from Burma starting in the 1200's. Jade is important in China not only because of its beauty, but also for its virtue and cultural significance. Confucius said that jade had 11 virtues, some of which include the fact that it stands for beauty, purity and grace. The Chinese character for jade, Yu, is often used in names and sayings to connote beauty.
Another of the many Chinese cultural traditions is the bamboo culture. Bamboo is one of four favorite plants seen in China – they are bamboo, Chinese plum, chrysanthemum and orchid. The characters of these plants are highly prized, so much so that Chinese people want to be like the plants in character. Bamboo is grown pretty much everywhere in China, with most people having gardens in which they grow bamboo. Bamboo chopsticks are the most common form of tableware in China, and bamboo is also the material out of which the Chinese flute is made. People often use bamboo paintbrushes, and bamboo culture festivals are even held throughout the year.
A final cultural tradition can be seen in the dragon culture. Dragons are an important part of Chinese tradition, so much so that people from China often consider themselves to be “the descendants of the dragon”. China's emperors believed that they truly were dragons, calling the beds they slept on dragon beds, and even their robes dragon robes. Dragons are also seen all over the imperial palaces, and dragon screens are seen as a symbol of the emperor's power.

Indian customs and traditions
Here are some of the Indian customs & traditions
Lightening Lamp: In almost every Indian home a lamp is lit daily. All daily worship, rituals and festivals are connected with the lightening of the lamp. It symbolizes knowledge and darkness. It is worshiped as Lord himself.
Namaskar or Namaste is the most popular form of greeting in India. It is used to welcome somebody or bid farewell. In doing it, the palms are placed together and raised below the face(on the chin) to greet a person. It is a symbol of modestry.
:
Prostrating before Parents and Elders:
Indians prostrate before their parents, elders, teachers and noble souls by touching their feet. Touching feet in prostration is a sign of respect for age,maturity and nobility that they personify .
Tilak: It is a ritual mark on the forehead. It helps identify them. anywhere. It is made out of red vermillion paste(kumkum). It can be of sandalwood (chandan) mixed with musk. It is placed between the brows as a red spot as a symbol of wisdom.
Garlanding: Flower garlands are generally offered as a mark of respect and honour. They are offered to welcome visitors. They are made of white jasmine and orange marigold flowers. During the wedding, the bride and the groom exchange them.
INDIAN WOMEN are fond of ornaments as nose rings, earrings, bangles, anklet(paayal) and toe rings.They wear traditional garments- saris.
للامانة منقول من موقع ولكن بتصرف