Visible Differences: Bangalore, India (NPG)

Two of the hardest questions that my friends and family have asked me about studying abroad are; how is India and how is it different from the US. To be quite honest it would be easier for me to tell you all of the things that are similar to the United States than all of the extensive cultural, political and social differences. India is an exceedingly complex society in which I am still grappling to understand even the most rudimentary of elements.

            To start the food and the culture surrounding it is entirely different from home. In the United States it is assumed that you eat meat in addition to vegetables and that some people are vegetarians. However, in India everyone is assumed to be a vegetarian and food options are labeled veg and non-veg. Many of the restaurants that we have visited have been veg only.

            Further, all of the food put into the dishes serves some sort of function when it comes to health or the dietary process. The food itself serves first for good health and then for taste. Raw onions are served with most, if not all, meals because they help a lot with digestion. Curd rice is also a great cure for upset stomachs. Finally, a south Indian meal is considered incomplete without chapatti or rice.

            Another immediately apparent difference is the traffic in India. Family cars have only become a common thing with in the past 15 to 20 years so traffic laws have not really had a chance to be enforced or learned. Drivers never follow lane discipline even though lines are painted on the road. Signal lights are also a rarity, only at major junctions are they put into use. Between my house and school there are only two traffic lights. The use of honking is also a common occurrence and is usually meant as guiding practice for the other drivers around you. The most popular vehicles here are motorcycles which everyone calls bikes. They are the most popular because they allow the driver to weave in and out of the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

            My standard mode of transportation is an auto, which are like a three-wheeled bike with a covered cabin and a back seat. This form of public transportation is much more common than taxis or buses. To get to school each day it costs about RS 65 for 6.6 kilometers, which is the equivalent to 1 US dollar.

            These are just two of the vast sea of differences between the United States and India. I chose to describe them to you because these are two aspects of life that are common for us day to day.