Cultures add variety, color and values to the human lives. The various styles of interactions, languages, thoughts, spiritualities, arts and sciences are attributes of cultural differences. It is this cultural difference that prevents our human lives from being mundane and monochrome. However, along with variety, they bring their very own share of intercultural conflicts.
Coming from India, a country known for its diverse and rich culture; I have had the opportunity to witness the bewilderment of some of my foreign friends on being encountered by various Indian cultural practices. While I was in the 12th grade, a family from Utah moved next door. It was a common practice for all the families in the neighborhood to give extra money to the gardener, apart from his weekly wages. The family from Utah, however, constantly failed to get the gardener to accept the extra money. This surprised them, as he would accept money from every other family in the neighborhood other than theirs. Were they doing something wrong? Did they not come across to the gardener as helpful people?
Well, this complication aroused due to the intercultural difference. In the Indian culture, it is customary not to instantly accept an offering of any sort. The offering is first declined by the recipient several times before it is finally accepted. This is done to prevent the recipient from being obliged to the donor in any manner. The culture in Utah was quite contrasting.Offering an item more than once, was considered to be a deliberate intrusion of the recipient's decision by the donor. Thus, when the gardener refused their offering the first time, the family politely withdrew the offering, leaving both the gardener and the family confused.
As a volunteer at the Youth Olympic Village, I have had some of my own share of wonderful cultural experiences. I got to hear the simple word "Hello" in so many different ways. The Eastern European and the African countries said -"Bonjour", the Indians, Pakistanis and the Nepalis said -"Namaste" while clapping their hands together in front of their chest , while the Spanish said -"Hola"; just to name a few. In order to make the working environment more friendly I started addressing the athletes and the managers in their respective languages. Interestingly, even they started addressing me by saying - "Namaste", on finding out that I was an Indian. This showed that all intercultural communication barriers can be dissolved by simply showing the other party an interest in their respective culture. Clearly, we must not make our cultural differences our personal barriers of communication. While protecting and preserving our very own culture, I feel we must take time to understand the other exquisite cultures surrounding us.
Here are just a few pictures of me along with the athletes I interacted with.
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| Nicaraguan Athlete |
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| Youth Ambassador from Papua New Guinea |
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| Athlete from Papua New Guinea |
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| Moldavian Athletes |
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| Athletes from The Republic of Congo |
