German Culture Vs Indian Culture
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This is my first year in Germany. Before I become fully integrated and stop observing the quirks in German culture, I thought I would record my thoughts on it. Some of the aspects of German culture are already in me. Hence the attraction to moving to Germany, I guess.
Timeliness
Let’s start with the most obvious one. Germans are punctual and methodical in their lifestyle. They like to plan things and stick to it. They have insurance for everything that could go wrong. They love their routines and respect the boundaries of work and personal life. Routines and timeliness help them with this balanced lifestyle. Indians on the other hand, have no boundaries and no sense of time. We are notoriously late to everything. We bring personal life talks to office and office talks to personal life.
Food
Bread, potato, soups and sausages. The German food revolves mostly around this theme. Popular street food is usually sausages and Turkish Doner Kebabs. In contrast, Indian food ranges from naans, rice, curries, and kebabs to samosas and paani pooris. The variety in spices and colours is endless. For a vegetarian, Germany is a better place than many other European countries. The reason is that the restaurants have a mandatory veg dish on every menu. This doesn’t guarantee good taste but it ensures survival. I have seen friends surviving only on fries and veg mozzarella pizza on trips throughout France. Germany certainly treats vegetarians better. India is heaven for vegetarians. But the unpredictability of the spices continues to scare the foreigners. Many restaurants have not learnt to adapt food for tourists yet.
Family
Just like most of the West, the German family system is fragmented. Families are nuclear. Children leave their homes during college and some families decide not to have kids. Freedom takes higher priority for individuals in Western countries. On the other hand, India is full of joint families. Parents depend heavily on children after retirement and children stick to their parents for the long term. Though communities help support child care and health, freedom of expression gets curtailed in many cases. Festivals bring together communities in both countries though.
Education
Probably the biggest advantage of German social services is the nearly free education. The government even provides financial support to couples with kids. Though education is primarily in German medium, the pedagogy is very hands-on and practical. The Indian education system is known to be stuck in the Colonial style of bookworm approach. Children are encouraged to memorise and pedagogy is mostly theoretical.
Health
Employers always provide health insurance which makes the medical system easily accessible in Germany. In the absence of employment, the government provides alternatives in terms of social benefits. In India, private medical clinics are very expensive and the cheaper public ones are often corrupt.
Career
The opportunities in my Career are quite good when you consider the technical or automotive field. A lot of digital start-ups are also cropping up in and around major cities. It is tough to get in because the companies here are notorious for slow decisions. But once you get in, you get government-regulated pay and great job security. Be aware that many domains have language barriers. Being in Germany without learning German is not easy. In contrast, jobs are in abundance in India, easy to get and hard to hold on to. Though India is also good at job security, the pay is not good and is highly skewed between cities and genders.
Festivals and traditions
Each region in Germany has a fixed number of festival holidays. Most holidays are based on Christian traditions. Some holidays are also based on regional specialities. Oktoberfest and Christmas festivities are particularly notable. In India, the festivals are not countable. Major holidays are around Hindu traditions like Diwali, Dussehra and Baisakhi. The holidays vary from state to state.
Technology
Paperwork breeds bureaucracy when it comes to interactions with Government offices in Germany. In India, you can now register for a Passport online. One visit closes the Passport verification and you receive it shortly after your visit. A visa update in Germany means several visits, during which the officer keeps adding a new document to the list each time. You miss some paper, you miss some translated versions, you miss some appointments due to changes in the system and sometimes you return without any progress information. These could have been easily avoided with digitisation. India has seen this transformation but Germany continues to resist it.
Discrimination
This may be a controversial section to write on. The following statements are purely from my limited experience. The picture may be different from the perspective of other nationals. I have not faced racism yet in Germany except for the occasional snub from the elderly population in public transportation. Knowing the language has been beneficial in many ways. However, my husband has heard racial comments. A few of my friends who studied in Germany faced bullying as well. When you compare this to India, we don’t have the typical black-and-white colour-based racism. But we have our versions of it. Castism, Regionalism and the most deadly religious discrimination continue to haunt our people. Let’s not even go into how poorly India treats its women, the safety discussion demands a whole another article or a book.
This is certainly not the whole picture of the German and Indian cultures. Some might say that I touched upon the stereotypical differences only. Maybe I will write a blog later on the commonalities. Different or not, we always have humanity in common. And love is a language that every culture understands.
Please leave a comment about your thoughts and experiences on this subject.
admin
Good points shared here
Could add some more detailed views.
Bharatiya
Wherever you go you will always remain a foreigner to them. You will be looked down upon as “Indian”
ShiningPoornima
That is a very reductive way of looking at it. There are so many germans who are opening their hearts to Indians and other foreigners here. Don’t go by what news tells you.