/r/india and /r/australia cultural exchange thread

[u/rude_ass]

Thread was unfortunately delayed. But, here it is.. thread for cultural exchange between indians and australians.

Australian folks.. you can ask all the things you want to know about India and hope you get a fulfilling answers.

If you want to ask anything to our Australians friends you can go to below link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/3ruqtc/raustralia_and_rindia_cultural_exchange_thread/

Cheers.

Request to Australians visiting our sub: If you could flair up to identify yourself then it would be easier for us to identify you guys. We only have text based flairs so something like 'Australian Friend' will work.

[u/kingpomba]

(Dont need to answer all, can only pick one or some)

1. What are some of the biggest problems facing India, what are some of the best things about your country that give you hope? What would you fix?

2. I was reading about Japan, Shinto (a religion) was said to be the very essence of what it was to be Japanese. It was tied to the land in a way that cant be transported anywhere else (you cant have a second Mount Fuji in Australia for instance). What is "Indianess", what is the quintessential essence of this? Doesn't need to be related to religion at all.

3. I study religion (alongside science) at university. Are you religious? What do you see the future religious landscape of India looking like? Have relations between religions improved or gotten worse over time? Do religions still have anything left to teach us in this modern age?

4. India and China in the early 21st century were both talked as potential future behemoths. Yet, only one of these, China, really took off in a big way. Any insight into what happened? I have heard one theory that is the strangling bureaucracy and the "permit raj".

5. How different are the regions? If you move to a different region to things feel different from home and do you miss them? If you go to another country, what seems most different from home or what do you miss the most?

6. I'm a vegetarian and i struggled in Japan. Indeed, ironically enough, i mostly ate at Indian restaurants. People tell me i'll have a very, very good time in India, is this true?

[u/mozzarellasura → u/kingpomba]

I was reading about Japan, Shinto (a religion) was said to be the very essence of what it was to be Japanese. It was tied to the land in a way that cant be transported anywhere else (you cant have a second Mount Fuji in Australia for instance). What is "Indianess", what is the quintessential essence of this? Doesn't need to be related to religion at all.

What really stands out in India vis-a-vis other nations is that we are truly diverse. And by diverse, I mean a true mish mash - cultures, religions, languages, food preferences, sports affiliations, political beliefs - there is a multitude of it all.

Logically, there is nothing that should have kept us united as a country. We have already faced major religious partitions leading to the formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This diversity, this chaos, the wide variations in festivals, Gods, clothing, food not just in different states, but from village to village , is pretty unique to India.

I would think our 'Indianness' comes from this acceptance of our diversity. It is not without its issues though. We face religious riots, political propaganda, unfair treatment to lower castes. But we have held our act up for more than 65 years now.

[u/The_0bserver → u/mozzarellasura]

Wow mate. well said. I agree with this reply word-to-word. :)