Reflection task 2a

Odd Traditions Of India

 The reason why I have chosen this topic is that I am interested in cultures and different cultures mean a new ocean of knowledge, view and variety. Every nation has different culture so sometimes it is hard to get used to and accept other cultures.  According to me Indians’ culture is among the most crackpot and various cultures so I will tell about some different and amazing traditions of Indians. Let’s start with HOLI which is the fest of spring, color and love. The festival signifies the victory of God over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter. During the Holi people chase and color each other with dry powder and colored water. Anyone and anything is fair in the game; the friend or the stranger, the poor or the rich, the children or the elders, the man or the women. This fest sounds entertaining to me so I want to celebrate it. I wish there was a fest like that in Turkey. I can’t imagine what kind of fest it would be because it is important to respect elder here and I don’ think that old people would join this fest and enjoy like crazy with children. Furthermore, the differences between the poor and the rich people are quite sharp in Turkey which makes me think that they can’t enjoy together. Another custom is bathing in Ganj  River. Indians think bathing in this river or dying near it will redeem their sins and give them a chance to go to heaven. When thinking so many people bathing in this river, it is inevitable to see the river become dirtier day by day. The number of the diseases like typhoid, cholera and diarrhea is increasing in this area. No matter how strange it is, I still respect their belief but they should be aware of these diseases. Let’s take handle Drahoma which is not less strange than other customs. Unlike Turkey, girls who marry give dowry to bridegroom’s family in India. As it is a financial burden on brides’ family, people do not want to have daughters. As a result of this, people have their girl babies aborted and the sex ratio of the country is distorted. I think this custom should be changed little bit to relieve poor people. Going through the customs I want to tell about Nag Panchami which is known as a festival of snakes. During the festival people bathe the snakes with milk ensuring their families freedom from danger of snakes. According to myth ploughing a field is forbidden on this day. Charming the snakes is another eye-catching event related to snakes in their culture. The cobras which snake charmers try to make them dance are deaf to snake charmers’ pipe but they follow the visual cue of the moving pipe and sense the ground vibrations from the snake charmers’ tapping. In conclusion, I like the weird tradition of this country but some of them have negative effects on people and environment.