HEALTHCARE

Eastern health practices like Yoga, acupuncture, ayurveda has penetrated in every area of Western society. There are increasing numbers of westerners looking to ancient knowledge of Traditional Chinese and Indian medicines and health practices.

Yoga actually made its first appearance in the west in the early 19th century. But it wasn't till 1960's that yoga really began to take off. Prominent Indian yogis began moving to Western countries to extend their teachings. It was around at this time that the Beatles were first exposed to Yoga. George Harrison was fascinated by this ancient practice and began studying yoga and Eastern religion. By 1966, Harrison journeyed to India to study Sitar, a type of stringed instrument, under the master Ravi Sahnkar.

Today Yoga is the integral part of many people's excercise regimens in Western world.International universities are now offering courses in Yoga Psychology, Metaphysics, & Hatha yoga.

Many foreigners are now arriving in India in droves, often staying on to teach and become part of the fabric of ashram life. There are lot of young Europeans who are totally into it, and are interested in teaching Yoga as their career.

We see so many foreigners getting attracted to this ancient form of practice that instead of singing hymns, we see them sitting in the Lotus position chanting “Omm” at the America’s oldest school of theology (Harvard Divinity School)

Ayurvedic system of medicine of India, which remains commonly practiced in India is now spreading worldwide. Ayurveda is the traditional yogic system of medicine. Combining Yoga and Ayurveda can provide the foundation to create such Yoga doctors who can revolutionize healthcare in the world.

By 400 AD, Ayurvedic works were translated into Chinese; by 700 AD, Chinese scholars were studying medicine in India at Nalanda University. Indian thought, as well as influencing Chinese spirituality and philosophy through Buddhism, greatly influenced Chinese medicine and herbology through Ayurveda. In 800 AD, Ayurvedic works were translated into Arabic. In 16th century Europe, Paracelsus, who is known as the father of modern Western medicine, practiced and propagated a system of medicine, which borrowed heavily from Ayurveda. In the following discussion, we would take a global view of Ayurveda.

Today Ayurveda is increasingly popular because it speaks of those elementary concepts of (1) contact with nature, (2) holism, and (3) we are what we are. Its principle s are utilized not only to treat persons who are ill but also to prepare a balanced meal and to construct a harmonious environment. Ayurveda brings to life the concepts of preventive health care and health promotion. The goal of ayurveda is to help the individual discover a personal knowledge of leaving.

Western and Indian culture have blended in many other ways. Fair skin is the current craze in India, where number of fairness products, cosmetic surgery have been used by the Indians. Being white still rules in India.

On the other hand we see the tanning obsession which is the current new craze in the western world. There are number of tanning studios which help the people to get a tanned skin easily.

We See that there are end number of things which has influenced both the cultures. There have been both positive and negative influence n both the cultures in some way or the other, but at the same time adopting different cultures and accepting each others ways has truly been rewarding.

References

http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/briefings/data/000074

http://www.motleyhealth.com/eastern_health_and_fitness/acupressure-for-relaxation-and-healing

http://people.howstuffworks.com/beatles-yoga.htm/printable

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_es/t_es_agraw_ayurveda_frameset.htm

http://www.vedanet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=158&Itemid=2

TELEVISION SHOWS AND CHANNELS

Western television shows/channels, especially American shows have found its place in every corner of the world. Western television’s popularity in India, especially in urban areas, is traced to 1991 when CNN became prominent in the country, as elsewhere in the world, for its live coverage of the Gulf War.

For decades, Indians were restricted to the state television known as Doordarshan (DD). Doordarshan broadcasted discussions by government bureaucrats, old Hindi movies with singing and dancing, mythology series, and Indian cartoons like Jungle book, Shaktimaan etc.

Some of the famous shows like Malgudi Days and Mowgli cartoon were extremely famous shows in the old days before the launch of cable network and foreign channels.

Malgudi Days is an Indian television series based on the works of famous writers R.K.Narayan. Malgudi is a fictional semi urban town in Southeren India. Malgudi evolved with the changing political landscape of India.

In the fall of 1991, many new channels were introduced on Indian television. Channels like Star TV, BBC world, MTV, channel (V), an all day sports channel for the cricket hungary fans, CNN, Fashion-TV from France, Music Asia, Cartoon Network and many other Indian and International entertainment, sports and news channel.

Star television’s foray into India has gone through various identities. The identity of Star Plus has been completely changed to match its Hindi counterpart, Zee TV, with almost all Hindi soap opera and movie based shows. Even Discovery Channel along with English Channel started a 24 hour Hindi channel and the second channel Animal Planet.

Practically overnight, millions of Indian television viewers, long used to DD's staid educational programming and dramas based on Indian mythology, found themselves tuning in to the likes of "Baywatch," "Dallas" and "Dynasty."

Consumption of Western English-language programming is facilitated in India by the fact that English, which is one of the official languages of the country, is widely spoken in urban areas.

MTV is the most popular channel among teenagers in India followed by other music channels and channels carrying dramas and movies, both Indian and Western.

This hip generation finds that information on sex is also widely available courtesy of media globalization. Talk shows on adultery, seductive soaps like "The Bold and the Beautiful," and titillating pictures on the Internet are commonly accessible in urban India today.

From the above information we can see that Introduction of foreign channels and shows on Indian television have been a great success and it continues to be the part of the Indian culture.

References

http://www.tbsjournal.com/Archives/Spring00/Articles4/JFine/jfine.html

http://www.razonypalabra.org.mx/anteriores/n31/krampal.html

FOOD

Indian food is the fusion of western and eastern taste. Indian traditions along with the foreign culture have created a spectacular palette of foods in Indian cuisine. Along with retaining its traditions of Hinduism, India has also accepted and involved western taste to its cuisine.

The introduction of new food products in Indian cuisine was largely evident after the Portuguese established and remained in the colony of Goa and for four hundered years, the Portuguese maintained trade with India. Portuguese brought to India from the Americas many vital ingredients in modern Indian cooking. Some of the food products are as follows

Vinegar is best used in Goan dishes such as the well known Vindaloo dishes. The concept of salting and pickling came out of the introduction of Vinegar

Potatoes or batata as the Portugues know it, is used as a revolutionized snack foods. In Indian snacks like samosa, cutlets (potato patties), Potato is the key ingredient.

Tomatoes are the basic ingredients of many North Indian curry dishes.

The Indian version of bread (i.e roti, or double bread) is inspired when the Portuguese brought to India yeast, which produced the loaves of bread.

Other food items like corn, leavened bread, sweet potato, refined sugar, the cashew nut are other ingredients in Indian cooking that the Indians quickly incorporated into their cooking.

Once upon a time eating at home remained very much inbuilt in Indian culture.The growth in nuclear families, particularly in urban India, exposure to global media and Western cuisine and an increasing number of women joining the workforce have had an impact on eating out trends. Which has lead us to a new era of eating- ‘fast food’. Mc Donalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, Dominos Pizza are the biggest fast food companies currently dominating in the Indian market.

Fast food companies are running successfully in India because of increasing number of women or both the parents working, and also there are increased numbers of single-parents households. Due to global influence there has been increase in the demand for concentrated wheat, animal products and related foods, and there is a decline in the consumption of traditional foods such as rice, pulses, cereals. These food outlets have adapted their emnus to suit the Indian palate, offering items that are hotter and more pungent adding onion and garlic wherever possible.

Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe. Indian cuisine is enjoyed by the general population in North America, Europe, Australia and parts of Africa.According to Britain's Food Standards Agency, Indian food industry in the United Kingdom is worth £3.2 billion, accounts for two-thirds of all eating out and serves about 2.5 million British customers every week. Chicken Tikka Masala is often hailed as "Britain's national dish" replacing the iconic status previously held by fish and chips. Curry's international appeal has also been compared to that of pizza. Though the clay oven called a tandoor did not originate in India, Indian tandoori dishes, such as chicken tikka made with Indian ingredients, enjoy widespread popularity. Historically, Indian spices and herbs were one of the most sought after trade commodities.

Consumer tastes also plays a vital role according to the different regions and countries. Food is prepared, after the detail study market if the particular nation. Since India is the land of hot spices, many asian dishes were made adding more hot and spicy flavours to the dish. For example, one of the dishes Vegetarian/chicken Manchurian is prepared by the chinese restaurants which are in India. But the actual fact being that one will never find this dish in an authentic chinese restaurant back in china. This dish is the Indian version of vegetable dumplings. It is prepared to suit the taste of Indian consumers.

So we can see that how Indian cuisine and western cuisine have blended very well, reflecting the Eastern and Western culture individually creating its place worldwide.

References

http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/alycem/writing_indiancooking.html

http://www.merinews.com/article/fast-food-industry-in-india-on-the-rise/15791035.shtml

ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/ae060e/ae060e00.pdf

http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/4-4-2/20702.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/books/01grim.html?_r=1

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Indian_cuisine

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=333829

LANGUAGE

The simplest kind of influence that one language may exert on another is the “borrowing” of words. When there is cultural borrowing there is always the likelihood that the associated words may be borrowed to.

Today English in the Indian subcontinent is dominating in many crests and colours. The establishment of English language as cultural, political, economical, educational, entities in India by replacing Indian languages is one of the crucial factors, for analysing the positions of the modern Indian languages.

Hindi is being popularised by the global bollywood. Hinglish is largely gaining popularity in India. Hinglish is a rich linguistic curry that is stirring together English with Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi.

Hinglish is widely spoken in India. Morever Hinglish has become the language of the Urban youth. Bollywood has always embraced Hinglish and nowadays we see number of songs in Hindi + English.

The advertising world has also contributed in this direction with ads like “Hungry Kya?” (Dominos Pizza), “Yeh dil mange more” (Pepsi), Clear hai (Sprite) etc.

Emails, chats, Orkut scrap, all communication on Internet in the Indian domain is facilitated by Hinglish.

The origin of English, Russian, Chinese, Greek and many other European languages have vastly been influenced by Indian languages. Sanskrit illustrates its ancestral relationship with the Indo-European language family. Through Sanskrit the oldest language of India, English words like hour is derived from the Sanskrit word “hora”, brain is derived from Sanskrit word “shira” or “brahma”. Common words like mother, father, and brother are also derived from Sanskrit. Oxford dictionary lists around 30,000 or more words and phrases which are derived from Sanskrit. Sanskrit has had global appeal and has changed many languages.

Even Hindi has found a large following back in the western culture. Hindi is one of the critical need language and is important to US diplomacy, national security, and economic competitiveness. Hindi language have been introduced in many western countries. Huston and Dallas schools located in Texas,have added hindi language in the curriculum and have been successful in making American students opt for the language.

There are many westerners who are currently learning Hindi, Sanskrit and other Indian languages out of their interests. And many of them pursue Sanskrit and have ambitions of teaching Indian languages in India.

References

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?

Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/

0070290402.html

http://www.topics-mag.com/index.html

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/26/stories

/2008112650240500.htm

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=333829

http://www.merinews.com/article/hinglish-gains-trans-national-

acceptance/136053.shtml

MOVIES

The infuence of Western and eastern culture (Indian Culture) has been greatly seen through themedium of movies.

Western Media has intense influence in Indian society through the impact of Hollywood on Bollywood, and vice-versa. Bollywood being the equivalent of Hollywood in India is a movie making, idea producing machine. It is not only a entertainment industry, it is seen as a role model and the ultimate change, as cinema is the most powerful media force.

We can see the influence of western culture in the name itself. The name “Bollywood” is a blend of Bombay (the former name of Mumbai) and Hollywood, the centre of the American Film Industry. The naming scheme for “Bollywood” was inspired by “Tollywood” (The cinema of West Bengal) which was the earliest Hollywood-inspired name.

Some of the examples of the Indian films that portray a continuous trend of western aspects are Monsoon Wedding (2001), Slumdog Millionaire, Bend It Like Beckham, Lions of Punjab and many more.

In these movies we can see the use of Hinglish language which is the blend of Hindi and English language together.

Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding is about a combining of traditional ideas of marriage and family of Modern life. It has touched on themes like poverty and sexual abuse, which are hardly addressed in the fantasy world of Bollywood.

Sex is another thing India is cautious about. India is very conservative on this issue. This is largely due to the way the cinema has shown sex scenes. Traditional Indian films have love stories. Yet increasing influence from the west has resulted in the movies like “Monsoon Wedding” showed increasingly long kissing scenes.

Slumdog Millionaire

The Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire is British director Danny Boyle’s passionate love letter to the city of Mumbai. Danny and his cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle perfectly capture the grime, grotesqueness and frayed glory of Mumbai city. The film is set into the wretched slums of Mumbai, from where the protagonist who appears on the Indian version of “Who wants to be a Millionaire? and exceeds people’s expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and law enforcement officials.

The film has shattered barriers of language, geography, and sensibility and also connected across the globe. Due to the movie’s popularity, the words “Jai Ho” and Slumdog “have entered into the international lexicon.

Sabrina Dhawan, the screenwriter of the film Monsoon Wedding, says, “what’s important about Slumdog Millionaire in particular is that it’s a Hinglish film directed by a Western director. Its not just about the Indian Filmmaker or the Indian actor who wants to come to America to become successful. But that there’s reciprocity, and there are filmmakers from the west who want to make films in India and about Indians”.

Bend It Like Beckham

Another hit film that drew on both Indian film traditions and its western roots was Bend It like Beckham. The film revolves round teen aged Londoner Jesminder Bhamra-Jess for short who is fanatical about football. Playing organized sports goes against Jess’traditional Punjabi parent’s, specially her mother who wants her to learn the traditional Indian food, so that she can find a nice Punjabi boy for marriage.

Gradually Jesse end up falling for her coach, Joe, and commits the biggest sin for an NRI girl:Falling for the white guy.Another excellent aspect of BILB is how the Indian obsession with lady - like daughters is paralleled by Westerners as well.Gurinder Chadha highlights the need for social reforms in both societies

Loins Of Punjab

It provides a glimpse into the quirks, quibbles, eccentricities and other cultural excesses of a bunch of Indians in the US trying hard to keep the Bollywood spirit alive in the land of opportunities and, yes, dreams. It is about the surface to discover the painfully embarrassing dreams and ambitions of a generation that has moved as far away from ‘home’ as India has moved in the world of globalisation.

"Indian cinema has greatly influenced the western culture since Satyajit Ray in the early 1940s. Satyajit Ray is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of the 20^th century. His movies, specially “Apu Trilogy” have had the universal appeal.

And some of the examples of influence of Indian cinema in Western movies can be clearly seen in the movies like

• Pink Panther 2 – Starring leading bollywood beauty, Aishwarya Rai
• Moulin Rouge – a tragic romance told with song and dance, borrowed heavily from bollywood.
• E.T.: - The Extra- Terrestrial- The famous Spielberg movie E.T released back on 26 November 1982, is said to be based on the plot penned by the grat Satyajit Ray. The outline and the rough script of the idea kept roaming into several production houses in Hollywood before it was made as “E.T.”.

Refrences

http://accurapid.com/journal/32film.htm

http://depts.washington.edu/engl/ewp/eg/03.GandhiS.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood

http://bobbytalkscinema.com/recentpost.php?postid=postid052010145500

http://bobbytalkscinema.wordpress.com/category/2-cinema-gets-inspired/bollywood-inspires-hollywood-2-cinema-gets-inspired-2/

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/23/

bollywood.hollywood/index.html

http://bobbytalkscinema.com/recentpost.php?postid=postid032609123239

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=333829

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/26/stories/2008112650240500.htm

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0070290402.html

http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/western-cultures-overbearing-influence

http://accurapid.com/journal/32film.html

http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/western-cultures-overbearing-influence

http://www.eastwestconverge.com/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96914703

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/01/25/is-slumdog-millionaire-poverty-porn/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood

http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2007/09/loins-of-punjab.html

INTRODUCTION

Culture

The term culture has been defined in different ways by different people. The different definitions attach to culture is based on the differences in the orientation of the people.

Culture is the complex, which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of the society (Tyler (1871),in Jekayinfa (2002)

Among the feature that characterize culture is that has its own personality and identity. The fact that we are human does not mean we are the same. Every moment we are being transformed. Culture is dynamic. Culture is gradual and continous process of change. Inspite of the change culture continues to give a community a sense of dignity, continuity, security and binds society together.

The impact of globalization on the culture is immense and diverse. It has affected the cultural aspect of people in different ways. The most significant example of this being the ever increasing values of the western and eastern cultures on each other.

This blog focuses on the influence of Western and Indian culture on each other in the field of

• Movies
• Language
• Food
• Television Shows/Channels
• Health care

References

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultures_

east-west-phylosophy.html

http://www.lcsedu.net/departments/curriculum/esl/east-west/

http://www.google.co.in/images?hl=en&q=cultural+fusion&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=TeESTN-MLtCIkAWetIXwCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=

11&ved=0CFQQsAQwCg

http://www.musero.org/impact_globalization_culture.pdf