[FULL ACCESS] Understanding Indian Culture and Personal Growth

This assignment provides a comprehensive overview of Rohit's life experiences, including his upbringing in a Hindu Punjabi family, cultural traditions such as birth, marriage, and death celebrations, and the importance of religion. It also delves into his educational background, with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Delhi and an MBA from St. Wilfred College. The assignment highlights Rohit's mobility across different environments, including his home, physical surroundings, and interactions with individuals and institutions. Through this detailed narrative, readers can gain insight into the complexities of Indian culture and personal growth.

INTERCULTURAL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Romanian Culture(Marcus)....................................................................................................1
Indian Culture(Rohit) ............................................................................................................1
Comparison between the Two Culture...................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5
APPENDIX 1...................................................................................................................................6
APPENDIX 2...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Cultural autobiography is an appropriate concept of culture that is considered as how it
affects the life of people and individual views towards other. It has been drawn to education
because of their belief that human beings can be more as they used knowledge. Consequently, is
addressing people personal relationships with the terms culture and overall community. This
project report is providing specific information about the autobiography for a Romanian man and
as well as Indian man. A comparison between the two autobiographies will take place under the
current report which will try to specify the difference between the culture of two people Rohit
and Marcus.
MAIN BODY
Talking about the cultural aspects, This report has contained the comparison of two
individuals one of them belonged to Romanian culture while the other one belonged to Indian
Culture. The Romanian Individual has a quite different mindset than the Indian individual, this is
because a lot of the things matters on the level of upbringing that an individual have. The
following discussion will throw some light on the cultural practices that takes place within both
the countries Romania and India.
Romanian Culture(Marcus)
The culture in Romania is more influenced by the orthodox Christianity religion and
hence most of the people in country follows Christianity and its rituals. While in India, the
standard of living is quite lower as compared to Romania An average individual within Romania
has a higher per capita income than Indian individual. Romanian food is one of the most
interesting and attractive aspect of its whole culture. Marcel Enescu's parents as well as
grandparents live in Romania. The tradition in India regarding all the aspects of daily lives is
quite different than the level of tradition in Romania.
Indian Culture(Rohit)
In India Rohit and his family do go to temple for the purpose of worshipping millions of
God and goddess that exist in their Holy book of Gita. Rohit also spent most of his childhood
memories with his parents as well as grandparents, through which he is able to learn manners
and etiquettes that is going to help him in his lifetime.
Comparison between the Two Culture
Marcus (Romanian) Rohit (Indian)
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Birth Birth
The Roman people follows a different kind
of culture, on special occasions that take place
within their lifetime. For example, In the event
of Birth, The kid is taken to father of Church,
who then bless the kid with his hands and after
that kid's new name is kept. The parent with
themselves used to decide the names of their
babies after taking permission of Church
father. Religious has been one of the positive
strengths of families that used to provide them
with spiritual sustenance.
Once a baby took birth in an Indian family,
it becomes a very auspicious event for the
whole family. The family then decides to name
the kid by following a ceremony called
'NaamKaran', under which the perfect name
based on astrology is decided from a person
who do have knowledge about this, also
Known as 'Pandit' in Indian Hindu Tradition.
The birth in Indian rituals is considered a very
prosperous event and thus is celebrated for
many days.
Marriage Marriage
In modern marriages, the bride and groom
each select a pair of “Nasi” a married couple
that is close to them. The nasi will official
witness the signing of the marriage documents.
These couples are also expected to be role
models for the newly-weds and serve as
marital mentors to assist them to adapt to their
new lives all together. Essentially, they are
most welcomed and incorporated as important
part of their couple families and stay with them
throughout their lives. The traditions of action
for choosing bridesmaids and grooms men in
relations to Nasi has been imported from the
US in recent times. There primary role consists
of organising the bachelor and helping to
organise the wedding, assisting the bride and
Marriage is also a occasion in Hindu
family, when two people decides to spend their
whole lives together. But unlike, other
religions marriage is a celebrated event in
India, not only two person but two families are
linked together in an Indian marriage. In Hindu
tradition, marriage is also called as 'Shaadi'.
Relatives are invited in marriage from family
of both groom and Bride and all of them can
access food in the marriage event which will be
arranged by both the families. Usually all the
people who are involved in a marriage
ceremony wears traditional attire and this
makes the whole event of marriage a very
attractive occasion for people and thus they
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groom to dress in early morning and acting as
freeter and ushes at the receptions.
enjoy most in it.
Death Death
After any person passes away in the Roman
culture, the doors would be kept open for death
to escape. All the family members bathe the
body and leave some water at the feet so that
spirit can bathe as well. The wake mainly lasts
for about two nights, but the family and friends
watch over and assist the deceased. Performers
lead prayers to pay all kind of respects to the
deceased and prevent any hauntings through
the spirits. Before the burial begins, family
members place the flower crowns on the
casket. They used to set up an effective table
with wine and traditional Romanian food. The
cloths of deceased are burial is entirely relying
on their age. The elderly mainly used to select
their cloths ahead of time, while young
unmarried male/female have to wear wedding
cloths.
Unlike any other religion, The death is
usually celebrated in India. It is said that if
someone dies and he or she has done some
good deed, the person will be offered heaven
by God and which will be far more better then
the existing place. However, if the person had
some bad deeds, it will take the person to hell
where the person will have to pay a price for
his bad deeds. The body is first washed and
then usually four people gives the support to
dead body to take the same to Funeral place
from the place of death and later on it is burnt
by the family members. Post funeral, various
ceremonies are conducted till 13 days also
called 'Terhvii' in Hindu tradition. Once the
whole ritual is completed, on the death
anniversary also called ' Barsi' in Hindu
tradition, family members of the deceased will
conduct a ceremony where food will be offered
to needy peoples, this is done to satisfy soul of
the deceased.
Families Families
Families in Romania mostly believes in
Christianity religion and thus going to church
is a daily routine for them and it is a part of
their lifestyle, reading the holy book of Bible is
The Indian Family is a bit conservative and
have various conservative norms and culture
that has to be effectively follow by each and
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also a effective way of worshipping Christian
religion.
Childhood of Marcus is spent with his
parents and thus most of the traditional mindset
that Marcus has and the love and respect
towards his country and religion is primarily
derived from the parents.
every family members.
Mindset Mindset
People thinks more freely in Romania as
compared to a bit closed and traditional
mindset within India. This is because the
tradition within India is more conservative as
compared to Romina, which is a European
country and is having a quite developed
background (Schenker, 2012).
The people in Indian culture do have a mixed
mindset, most of the rural region would be
having a conservative mindset. While, In
Urban cities, people do have a bit Open
Mindset, like they believe in educating their
daughter child for a better career in future, but
such is not the case with other rural region.
Every culture do have uniqueness in its own and demeaning other culture or tradition is
not good. Respect to every culture as well as tradition can lead to better and effective lifestyle for
individuals, no matter where they spend their life in the Global Map and thus respect to all
religions and colour shall be practised by each and every individual residing on this planet.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion about the autobiography of two different people, it has been
found that both persons are having their own culture, language, marriage and death patterns.
Romania is having limited culture and festivals, while Indians have the opportunity to enjoy
various kind of festivals. Because of Christianity religion the marriage and death ceremony is
quite different from Indian. In the Romania, they have to speak only one language, while in India
have various language. The culture of Romania sets itself apart from other in the EU region just
as it shares some common elements with them. Whereas, the Indian culture is often labelled as
amalgamation of various cultures across the Indian sub-continent and has great impacts on the
history that is several thousand-year-old. remarks on them and this is the primary reason that UK
is considered as one of the important destination for qualification seeker as well as job seeker.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Byram, M., 2014. Twenty-five years on–from cultural studies to intercultural citizenship.
Language, culture and curriculum. 27(3). pp.209-225.
Chávez, K. R., 2013. Pushing boundaries: Queer intercultural communication. Journal of
International and Intercultural Communication. 6(2). pp.83-95.
Harrison, N., 2012. Investigating the impact of personality and early life experiences on
intercultural interaction in internationalised universities. International Journal of
Intercultural Relations. 36(2). pp.224-237.
Hotta, J. and Ting-Toomey, S., 2013. Intercultural adjustment and friendship dialectics in
international students: A qualitative study. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations. 37(5). pp.550-566.
House, J., 2014. Moving across languages and cultures in translation as intercultural
communication. In Translational action and intercultural communication (pp. 14-46).
Routledge.
Liddicoat, A. J., 2013. Language-in-education policies: The discursive construction of
intercultural relations (Vol. 153). Multilingual matters.
Moeller, A. K. and Nugent, K., 2014. Building intercultural competence in the language
classroom.
Noble, G., 2013. Cosmopolitan habits: The capacities and habitats of intercultural conviviality.
Body & society.19(2-3). pp.162-185.
Oetzel, J. G., 2017. Effective intercultural workgroup communication theory. The International
Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication. pp.1-5.
Schenker, T., 2012. Intercultural competence and cultural learning through telecollaboration.
CALICO Journal. 29(3). p.449.
Online
Marriage culture in Romania, 2017. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.pure-
romania.com/life-moments-traditional-romanian-wedding-bucovina/.com>.
]
Birth Culture in Romania. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://travelguideromania.com/traditions-regarding-birth-wedding-burial-bukovina/>.
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APPENDIX 1
Cultural Biography of ROMANIAN MAN
1.Cultural autobiography of various culture family structure and their relationships or role:
Parents:
“Marcel Enescu”
Family structure:
(Parents): George Enescu (Mothers name): Angela Enescu
(Grandparents): Tristan Enescu (Grandmother): Anabell Enescu
(Other family members): Mircea Enescu(Younger brother) and Adag Enescu (elder sister)
2.Nationality of yourself, parents and grandparents
 Yourself: Romanian
 Parents: Mother (British) Father(Romanian)
 Grandparents: Grandmother(Romanian) Grandfather (Romanian)
3.Education Qualification:
Where?.....................
How long?....................
Principal impacts?.................
Parent:
(a): Daily living
My everyday living rituals is based on my Christianity religion in Romania which is getting
up in from the early morning then I was my face and hand. After this, dressed up for morning
wall and decency in the lavatory. After walking for 2 hours I come back and take bath for prayer
or Torah Study which is essential to start by day. Thereafter, in the mid of the day, I used to take
my lunch and went for few sports events and at the end of the day get ready for the prayer.
During the night, I have dinner with all my family member as well as perform all the day to day
activities with my parents.
(b): Special occasions
Birth: As Religion has always been an important value for Romanians. According to the
Christianity religion, baby boy is still numerous and vivid in Romania. After the birth of the
baby/boy is take into the church in front of Jesus to take initial blessings.
Marriage: A Romanian wedding is a fancy event. Basically, the fancy activity for the most of
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the people living in the country. When any Romanian couple gets married they don't simply join
their lives and families, they used to bring other couples into their relationship as well.
Death: The Death Ceremony in Romania takes place among lot of people. A proper process is
followed with the body of Deceased and then the same is taken to graveyard to be buried under
the land permanently.
4. Environment where you grew up:
Home: My early childhood is spending with all my family which would give specific knowledge
to me.
Physical surroundings: After the childhood period goes on few of basic knowledge and
learning is attain through physical surroundings.
5. Individual and/ or institutions (Church, college etc.) which would have a strong impact
on you
My college time is entirely provide huge impacts on me because at this particular period I learn
plenty of new and fresh ideas and knowledge that would provide reliable opportunity in near
future time.
6. Mobility moving from nation to nation, moving from class to class, profession to
profession:
Your own: My learning experiences get varies from friend to classmates as few of them belongs
to other nations.
Family: It is the parent and traditional cultural that used to delivery appropriate base to increase
moral and creativity under me.
7. Few other aspects of your life or any influence made it of valuable to you
a. Is timing matter to you? Why?
Yes, from my point of view, time is the basic things which can help me to perform my role
effectively and efficiently. I do care for people and reach to my college or any other place on
right time.
b. Which meal do you like the most?
There is one of the famous “Moldavian stew” which is ultimate Romanian dish I used to
have daily.
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c. How is social class evident in your life?
The experience of social class is shaped my career more drastically, the actual based attitude
is readily apparent from a cursory examination of social life of people.
8. How have ethnicity and nationality affected your educational and social experiences?
During my college time, there were different kind of people who belongs to various countries
such as japan, France and American. It will be little difficult to cop-up with their nationality and
ethnicity. It does not much effect on my education and social experiences.
9.Is religion matters in your family. Why?
Yes, it is important to follow all your religious aspects that are followed within the family so
that pleasant atmosphere can be prevail all around.
10. How is language evident in your life?
As local language helps me to communicate with people more positively which will be lead to
create balance among each other. It is through language that is most other cultural knowledge is
acquired.
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APPENDIX 2
Cultural Biography of INDIAN MAN
Cultural autobiography of various culture family structure and their relationships or role:
Parents:
“Rohit Khanna”
Family structure:
(Parents): Devraj Khanna ( Father) Kriti Khanna (Mother)
(Grandparents): Deviprasad Khanna (Grandmother): Smriti Khanna
(Other family members): Ravinder Khanna(Younger brother) and Tripti Khanna (elder sister)
Nationality of yourself, parents and grandparents
 Yourself: Indian
 Parents: Mother ( Indian) Father(Indian)
 Grandparents: Grandmother(Indian) Grandfather (Indian)
Rituals of Family Life:
a. Daily Living: The first thing that my friend and his family usually do in their daily life is to
wake up and then after having a tea going for a morning walk. After that, it is almost in every
house of a Hindu Indian family that a 'Pooja' or worship of God is conducted and after doing so
they all get ready for their respective work, His elder sister gets ready for College as she is
pursuing her PhD. While my friend has to go for a job while living in India. My friend then
takes lunch in the mid day, he is only allowed 45 minutes to take up his lunch. After reaching
home from office, usually a tea is offered by mother to my friend, and then its time for dinner
later in the evening and while on dinner, whole activities of the day us discussed and then its
time to sleep.
b. Special Occasions:
Birth: It is a very special Occasion for a Indian Family and specially for parents. Thus, It is
celebrated in a very big way. The Kid's name is kept after following a due Traditional Process.
Marriage: Marriage, Like any other culture is a very important part of Indian Culture as well.
Lot of people are invited in an Indian marriage from the both Groom's as well as Bride's Side.
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Food is offered and various dance ceremony took place within it.
Death: There is a real distinction between Indian culture and other culture, when it comes to
death that under this culture the dead body is not buried instead it is burned into ashes by the
family members. For achieving satisfaction of the soul.
4. Environment where you grew up :
 Home:
My friend Rohit's Home usually do have a peaceful environment within it. Thus he is
brought up in a homely environment which is quite peaceful and a devotee of Lord
Krishna. The grandfather within Home holds the supreme position and has the authority
to direct family members. He also guides family members on the issues that they are
facing in their life.
 Physical surroundings:
Rohit's physical surrounding consist of people who lives in the society and do have a
friendly behavior with the family. The surrounding people also follows the same kind of
religion and do respect each other in an efficient manner. Most of the families in Indian
tradition follows a cultural background and they follows the cultural occasions very
effectively.
5. Individuals and /or institutions(church, college, etc.) which have had a strong influence
on you.
6. What is the mobility moving from country to country, and moving from class to class,
as well as profession to profession.
- your own: Rohit has learned a lot from his classmates and his colleagues, he has been
able to grasp culture in an effective manner.
- your family’s: Rohit's Family belongs to a Hindu Punjabi family and is having a
developed mindset regarding all the aspects of life.
7. Education:
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