Let me make another disclaimer here:
These thoughts are from the mind of a Western-raised foreigner who only spent a month in the country. They are not thoroughly-studied or verified cultural norms. They're also composed rapidly in order to polish off the India posts.... finally.
Both men and women can dress completely in sheets of fabric (although there men mostly wore tailored shirts, and women wore small tailored tops under their saris, and many people wore more western clothing). Women can wear saris, a long, rectangular piece of cloth, which they tie magically like a skirt and then wrap up around their chest and over the shoulder and they look gorgeous. The men can wear a dhoti, like a long wrap-skirt which they pull up in the middle then tuck in the back of the waist to function as shorts. On their heads the women can wear head scarves and the men can wear turbans or just wrap a scarf around their head repeatedly.
It is socially improper for women and men to show affection in public, which means no kissing, no hugging, no hand holding. However, men can show affection to each other, so you often see good friends walking down the road with an arm around one another or two men holding hands.
The fabrics, clothes, and other products sold at outdoor markets are so colorful that they give the bustling markets the feeling of a straight-laced street party.
The poverty is severe and it's everywhere. That is not to say that everyone is impoverished, but rather that the tent-shacks of the seriously destitute exist alongside the skyscraper apartments of the upper-class.
There are no "personals" in the newspaper as we have them, but rather "matrimonials." These search for husbands and wives based on a couple dozen words regarding income, class, and life goals.
The caste system makes no sense to me. I don't understand it and it's irrelevant to me. But I thought I had better mention it. If you'd like to read about it, check the BBC's
page on the subject.
There are alot of monkeys, holy cows, parrots, and farm animals everywhere, all the time.
Maybe it's the age of the culture, maybe it's the colorful clothing; I don't know why, but the photo opportunities in this country are ubiquitous.
So many people are fluent or passable in English, that it's easy to converse, get around, and make friends.
Most people are Hindus. The differences between Hinduism and (our majority religion) Christianity are vast.
A huge number of people (maybe the majority) are vegetarians. Very different from at home where you can go out to dinner and not see a single veggie option on the menu.
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