Culture Shock

“Culture shock” isn’t so much the experience I have found myself having adjusting to an Indian way of life. Maybe it’s in part to being a fairly adaptable person. It’s definitely indebted to many conversations with people who have been to India. Still, I am unmistakably experiencing something like waking up in a house thought to be my own and fumbling around in the dark. It’s like being in escalating surprise as I find things where they shouldn’t be and things missing from where they should be. But, I am saved before panicking thoughts set in of somehow being abducted in my sleep and put in another house or being the butt of some demonic joke involving the rearrangement of my furniture. The difference is that, as the cloudiness of sleep wears off, I remember that I am not in my own house but a guest in somebody else’s and should expect things to be different. With that in mind, what follows are some interesting peculiarities of my host culture that I am having to adjust to.

The most obvious is the language difference. Most people here speak a few words of English. A few speak well enough to have a conversation, but still struggle some. Some words in Tamil (the main language around here) are taken straight from English. A Hindu guy I met in a shop called that “Tanglish.” Abbie taught me the word for younger sister, which I have referred to her with for the last several months. When I got here I learned that “thangai,” the word she taught me, actually means “coconut.” Tangacci was the word we were looking for! I’m still calling her “thangai.” Huh, Thangai? (if you’re reading this)

Clothing is a fun subject here. I really like how women’s clothing here is pretty dang modest and yet beautiful. Guys either where western-type garb (usually slacks and a button-up or polo) or a Lunki (a skirt-ish type thing. See below).



There are also some tricks for keeping cool in the heat. 100% cotton instead of any synthetic is the way to go, even if it is a long-sleeve vs. a short-sleeve. Also, the men wear undergarments called banyans. They help absorb sweat. I found a really special banyan the other day. Check it out:



It seriously says “For Super Hero” on the tag area. I asked the owner about it and told him what “Super Hero” meant in America. “Like Superman or Batman.” We had a pretty good laugh.

Last note on clothes, did I mention we wash them by hand? That has been fun. I do actually kind of like it. This is the area outside my temporary room.



It is a remarkable thing how the Indians keep their clothes so clean and presentable. I actually look pretty shabby next to most of them most of the time.

Oh hey! You know what else we clean with our hands? Our… uhhh rectus externi… OK, we use them as toilet paper. Seriously. I had my first Left-Hand Experience yesterday (I’ve been using TP the hotel in Chennai gave me). It went about as bad as it could. Usually, there is a little faucet near the toilet and a can (or just a hose). Basically, you fill the can with water and pour with the right hand while scrubbing away with your left. Well, yesterday I somehow chose the only bathroom in India I’ve seen without the water-can option. I just had to wipe… if you want to call it that. I’m not sure it helped more than it actually just made two parts of my body grody. I spent the next half-hour looking for a stall with a can and trying not to touch anything.

All-in-all, once I finally was able to, heh, rinse, I found the experience rather enjoyable and much more thorough/speedy than TP. It also helps you understand all the emphasis on the right hand in ancient texts like the Bible. I remember hearing an interpretation on Mathew 5’s “turn the other cheek” taking into consideration the significance of the right/left hand as well as Rome ¹. Initially, I struggled with wondering if that was a superfluous factor. Now I know, it isn’t. People here do everything with their right hand. When I was still using TP I’d eat with my left hand sometimes and get some pretty strange looks.

Which brings us to food. I think Ralph said it best, "Tastes like burning..." Outside of that, it is pretty good stuff! There is rice in every meal including breakfast and some kind of curry. We often have been eating fried eggs with breakfast, which has helped us Westerners. The best part is that we totally just eat with our hand (only the right hand).

A very peculiar part of Indian culture is the driving. It’s nuts. The only rule is to honk a lot. Seriously, sometimes drivers will pass people while those people are passing people (on a two-lane road!). The first thing I noticed is that they don’t associate the horn with emotion like Americans do. They honk like a blind man waves his cane around to find his way. Many vehicles read “Please Honk” on their rear. So the M.O. is to go straight, pass at a whim, and honk while trying not to hit anybody. And “anybody” includes buses, (small) cars, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, ox-carts, bicycles, cows, and walkers.



And sometimes you get to witness scenes like this.



That is a guy on a motorcycle. He has a mobile shop he takes from village to village on the island. His head probably came up to the green jug in the middle. It’s straight out of a Dr. Suess drawing.

Lastly, for those of you that mused I’d find an Indian wife here, Indians definitely have arranged marriages. It actually sounds kind of cool. The parents search for a woman for their son and they submit a profile to her parents (no joke). It sounds like something from a dating site: interests, photo, basic run-down. Apparently they do give the man and woman the final say in it. In the cases I’ve heard so far, they will even meet several times or spend a couple months talking on the phone to see if their life directions match. But since the parents first found the prospects they tend to be much more of a support to the marriage. As a result, the Indian divorce rate is something like under 1%. They also seem much more concerned with partnership towards a mutual goal than just being attracted to the opposite’s personality. So, Mom, if you’re reading this, get busy. JOKING.

I have one more post planned. It will be on the actual particular place I am in. After that, I hope to just blog on day to day experiences and unique things that come up/could use prayer and encouragement with!

(update: did I mention the power goes out all the time... like just as I was posting this... lol)

¹ If you haven’t heard the contextual commentary on “turn the other cheek,” Here ya go. Essentially the Gospels give many examples of Jesus trying to dissuade the Jewish Zealots from rebelling with violence from the Roman oppression. Scholars point to this verse as being a prime example of Jesus giving constructive advice for them. A Roman soldier who was going to hit someone he felt was inferior to him would generally slap with his left hand (which would land on the right cheek). This was a disgrace. But, Jesus told them to turn their left cheek to someone who would slap their right. If the Roman hit them again in response, they would be forced to use their right fist, and simultaneously admit acknowledgement as equals.