I have from a credible source that
1. Protima Bedi ( one time wife of Kabir Bedi- recently seen in Main Hoon na) would in the 70's streak naked on the beaches in Goa.
2. Amitabh Bacchan, while still married to Jaya, had a hot affair with Rekha.
Perhaps some of you older people can substantiate the above 2.
Are the above 2 examples of Indian culture?
More recently we have
3. Amisha Patel has severed ties with and renounced her parents.
4. Mukesh and Anil (need I mention the last name) fighting over the family fortune.
5. Something similar to 4 but between the family and the chartered accountant I believe, in the Birla empire.

Are the above part of Indian culture?
How about cremation, burial, and having vultures eat corpses(so I am told)?

Recently, there was a "holier than thou" attitude adopted by the Maharashtra government to ban dance bars etc. A friend of mine told me that for every one closed 2 would crop up and the cops would have a field day every day collecting bribes and also the goons of Bombay's strongman ( I forget his name- I will post it as soon as I get it from my friend) would go around extorting money from these new joints to fill up the coffers of this strongman, who purportedly is worth Rs 30,000 crores or approx CAD 9 billion.
So on side they, by shutting down the bars, promote one aspect of the Indian culture and on the other give rise to another side of Indian culture.
Or am I mistaken?

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There is a poll about desi food and videdesi food. Also someone said culture comprises of food.
So what is desi food?
When I go to a Hakka restaurant, invariably the person will speak to me in Hindi and I look at him blankly as my Hindi is terrible. is Hakka chinese considered Desi? I feel practially all Hakka restaurants, if not all, are run by these Chinese looking individuals who speak Hindi. Even some Tandoori restaurants advertise Hakka style chinese food. I remember several years ago I ran into a Chinese looking person who asked me directions in Hindi and I told him to speak in English, which he did. I couldn't wait to get home to tell my parents that I ran into a Chinese guy who spoke in Hindi. They laughed and told me there are tons in India, which I was ignorant of till then.
How about omelette made with coriander, onions, chilies and tomatoes?
How about fried egg?
How about Goan sausages?

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Winner of this year's spelling bee contest is an Indian - Anurag Kashyap.
Way to hustle!
Final 3 contestants were all Indian!

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What is Indian Culture - are we talking about something historical. I have read the posts dealing with things like dowry deaths, sati etc. Is that Indian culture or is that a facet of misguided religious thought. I am not going to make a comparison on social evils and both the east and the west have a share of social evils.

To me and this is my personal views, Indian culture revolves around respect and self discipline.

Respect for oneself, elders etc. Self discipline to put the family ahead of one's own wants and needs.

I am sure I will get more brickbats than bouquets for saying this - Each one has his own brand, perception and opinion of what \"Indian Culture\" is. To me it may be patently dangerous if we allowed each one's brand of Indian culture to be propogated here. The so called \" Pichday hue jaathi\" will first ask for a reservation in education, and then jobs. Then the tribes will follow. Dowry deaths and molestations (like we hear day-in-day-out in Delhi) will be the headlines in the newspapers.

Do we want that brand of \"bharatiya Samskriti\" here?

Thanks, but no thanks........... we can do without it here in North America.

there are shortcomings in every society whether it is india or canada or usa. offcourse there is problems of poverty , corruption and social evils like dowery , etc. in india.
similarly there in western world problems are different types.
early exposure to sex etc. things are also changing here in india so far such evils of western world are concerned.
no society is perfect.instead we should think about our own home and try to make a atmoshphere where elders care for youngers and youngers pays respects to their elders. here i seen lot of persons who has not taken doweries in marriages of their son and had given dowery in the marriage of their daughters. its a matter of perception . normally daughters does not take share from their parental properties and parents just to equate their kids , gives some money or goods to daughter out of their love and affection . its just your way of looking which change entire understanding of anything.
i think that indian culture is certainly better than the western one overall.
also social evils like untouchability ,castiesem are vanishing fastly atleast in urban areas.

there are shortcomings in every society whether it is india or canada or usa. offcourse there is problems of poverty , corruption and social evils like dowery , etc. in india.
similarly there in western world problems are different types.
early exposure to sex etc. things are also changing here in india so far such evils of western world are concerned.
no society is perfect.instead we should think about our own home and try to make a atmoshphere where elders care for youngers and youngers pays respects to their elders. here i seen lot of persons who has not taken doweries in marriages of their son and had given dowery in the marriage of their daughters. its a matter of perception . normally daughters does not take share from their parental properties and parents just to equate their kids , gives some money or goods to daughter out of their love and affection . its just your way of looking which change entire understanding of anything.
i think that indian culture is certainly better than the western one overall.
also social evils like untouchability ,castiesem are vanishing fastly atleast in urban areas.

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I have to take issue with ptm with regard to a few points raised by him.


First of all, there is nothing that you could call uniquely \" Indian Culture\". Culture today is more of a personal perception. Besides it changes rapidly and it would be wrong to say that \"this is Indian Culture\".
Ptm justifies dowry by stating that daughters do not ask for parental property - and so it is perfectly right to perpetuate the dowry system. Perhaps ptm forgets that by supporting the dowry system, he is undermining the significance, and the sanctity of marriage itself..... case closed!

If he believes that untouchablity and casteism are \"vanishing fastly\" in India, he is either misinformed, or just trying to look the other way. this is far from the truth.

Early exposure to Sex is another issue he raised. He would do well to read some articles about how early the indian is awakened to sex. In one story about this, \"India Today\" wrote that many an average teen has had sex at the young age of 13. Let us not forget that labelling the west as bad and it's culture is kind of a fashion for hypocritical indians (It's the same desis who come here in search of wealth, and the quality of life)