Indian residents generally have flushing equipment in their toilets. Ordinary people have a glass of water in their hands when they defecate. I am used to washing my ass with my left hand, so don't use my left hand when picking food in the store. This is actually a good habit. Its advantages are: firstly, the incidence of hemorrhoids is greatly reduced; Secondly, it can save a lot of paper, which is very conducive to protecting the earth's resources and protecting and developing green projects. This alone can save a lot of wood. But overseas Chinese living in India think it is harmful, and most of them are not used to it. So far, they have maintained their national habits and still use toilet paper. ?
But I used this method, feeling unhealthy and not used to using paper.
Second, leaves are used as rice bowls.
When Indians eat collectively, the rice basin used for eating is often made of leaves. This basin consists of several large whole leaves, with two layers inside and outside, and the leaves are "stitched" with twigs smaller than matchsticks. The pots are round with beveled edges around them, so the appearance is the same as that of metal rice pots. All pots are the same in shape and size, which is obviously pressed by a mold. At first, I thought it would be unsanitary to use this thing. I was always worried that it would leak, so I was reluctant to use it. But then I completely changed this idea, because I found that it has obvious advantages: first of all, it is made up of few leaves, while there are many big leaves in the tropics! Therefore, these materials are very easy to obtain and the cost is very low. ?
Secondly, this kind of tableware is very light, not afraid of falling and touching, easy to carry, and very suitable for group and outdoor dining. Finally, and most importantly, it is easy to handle after meals, without washing, easy to be digested by nature, and there is basically no pollution problem. As for hygiene, there is no need to worry at all. Locals often eat with this kind of leaf basin, but foreigners (including the author) have no problem using it, so they can rest assured to enjoy this unique leaf fast food basin! ?
Third, don't eat beef, drink milk.
India is one of the largest milk producing countries in the world, and milk plays a very important role in the diet structure of Indians. Every morning and evening, people go to the state-run milk station for milking in an endless stream, and some large households have several liters and a dozen. Many Indians have a cup of tea and a few biscuits for breakfast. Indians usually drink tea with milk and sugar.
In the vegetable market in Delhi, you can also buy snow-white milk tofu, which is rich in milk fragrance. Indians especially like sweets, and the most traditional sweets in Indian meals are also made of cheese and sugar. ?
Fourth, the side table agrees.
In some Indian states (such as West Bengal), people don't nod, but turn their heads to the right. Foreigners often misunderstand at first. Some books say that Indians (including Bangladeshis) shake their heads in agreement. In fact, this is not accurate, because tilting the head and shaking the head are different actions after all. When the Indian side head agrees, sometimes the movement range is very large, and even the whole upper body leans to the right, which is more obvious from shaking the head.
5. Pay with your right hand?
Indians only use their right hand to buy things, and the other party only uses their right hand to give change, never using their left hand. I was told that it is impolite for local people to pay with their left hands. It took me a long time to get into the habit of handing money only with my right hand. I say "to some extent" because sometimes I forget this rule and use my left hand. But probably because I'm a foreigner, I haven't met a situation where the other person gets angry when he pays with his left hand. ?
Actually, it's not just paying.
Six, "Big Mac" is mutton.
There are many vegetarians in India for religious reasons. When you invite an Indian to dinner, you must first find out whether the other person is a vegetarian or not, otherwise it will be embarrassing. A strict vegetarian doesn't even eat eggs, but usually drinks milk. Some devout Hindus must pray before eating. Once, we invited an Indian friend to our home for dinner. After everyone sat down, we suddenly found a friend closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking something. After a while, he opened his eyes and began to eat. ?
Sometimes it is also important to give other things (especially gifts) on some more formal occasions. If you use only one hand instead of two, use your right hand. ?
Seven, drink raw water.
Because the climate here is hot, and generally like to eat curry (India's curry is the first in the world), raw onions and so on. This kind of food has good sterilization ability. In the long run, they got into the habit of drinking raw water. Even in grand hotels, grand hotels, guests are given a glass of raw water first. Most people, especially westerners, think it is too unsanitary. The Indian people have adapted to the environment like human beings in the era of eating raw meat and blood, and often eat curry and onions, so they can have strong resistance. How much energy should be saved for the earth when human beings move to this extent!
Indian life customs
Clothing: The traditional clothing of Indian men, the lower part of which is Totti, is actually a wide white cotton cloth wrapped around the waist, also made of hemp or silk. The length is generally 3.6 to 4.5 meters, wrapped around the waist, hanging to the knees or feet, and some have piping. Wearing a knee-length "Gu Erda" coat. Headscarves come in different colors and different wrapping methods. Rajasthan headscarves and Sikh headscarves are very famous, and sometimes people put feathers on them.
In rural India, men generally don't wear shirts, just put a sweat towel on their shoulders, or use a piece of cloth as their main upper body and put it on their shoulders. People call it "Chad"
The national costume of Indian women is "sari". Sari is usually made of a piece of cloth about 6 meters long and 1. 1 to 1.3 meters wide. Sari is worn by wrapping it around the waist and finally covering it on the shoulder or head. Sarees are generally divided into cotton, silk, yarn and nylon.
Indian clothing is related to the local climate. The temperature can be higher than 40℃ in summer and 20℃ in winter, so clothes need to be breathable and refreshing. Nowadays, most residents in cities wear westernized clothes, and men also wear shirts and trousers, usually wearing suits and ties. Most women still wear saris, and many people change to jeans. However, ethnic groups in various regions still maintain their own national characteristics. Many Muslim men like to wear a Turkish hat with Persian sheepskin. Sikh women usually wear robes covering their knees and a wide skirt called Charvaut-McAz.
Indians like to wear all kinds of jewelry, such as hair ornaments, earrings, forehead ornaments, nose ornaments, necklaces, brain ornaments, wrist bracelets, wrist ornaments, rings and so on. Most of them are gold, silver or precious stones. In some places, people even understand the jewelry in clothes. According to traditional customs, Indian men regard it as an obligation to give jewelry to women, and women regard wearing jewelry as an important part of their lives, but widows can't bring any jewelry. Headdress is a product fixed on the top of the head and forehead with small chains and hooks. Nose ornaments are mostly gold and silver products, which are decorative signs of married women. Necklaces in necklaces are regarded as evil spirits, and the groom brings them to the bride at the wedding. As long as there is no divorce, the wife will wear this chain for life, which is still a custom in rural India.
Diet: Due to the influence of nationality, history and culture, the diet of Indians is very different between north and south. Influenced by the northern Islamic culture, cooking is usually Mughal, characterized by a lot of meat, grain and bread. The south is vegetarian, characterized by rice and spicy curry. The only similarity of all Indian dishes is that they all like spicy food.
Indian dinners often start with soup, usually thin curry, and the rest of the dishes are usually given by all colleagues, not divided into several dishes. In addition to dinner, there are complementary foods. The most common are condensed milk or yogurt, curry mixed with vegetables, condensed milk mixed with vegetables, vegetable puree and chutney. After dinner, there are generally nut ice cream, pudding made of rice, cream milk balls flavored with rose water, pancakes in syrup, Tanghe fresh fruit made of milk and milk, etc. After dinner, Indians entertain guests with carved products made of betel nuts, hydrated lime and spices wrapped in betel nuts leaves to help digestion.
"Dunduli Chicken" and "Cream Mutton" are famous dishes in India. The practice of "cream mutton" is to add almost the same amount of yogurt to the mutton. In the past, this dish was only used by the royal family, but now it is more common. "Dunduli Chicken" is to sprinkle spices on the plucked chicken, then put it on the yellow mud stove and bake it slowly with slow fire. The smell of the oven makes your mouth water.
Eating sweets is a hobby of Indians. There are dozens of desserts in India, and different regions have different ways to treat one dessert. "Layeda" and "Sheridan" made of yogurt are very popular. Candy is generally made of flour, milk, cheese, almonds, walnuts, cardamom and crocus.
Hindus are most taboo to eat vegetables on the same plate, and there are many vegetarians. Generally speaking, the higher the level, the fewer meat eaters; Only people of lower rank eat meat (mutton).
There are many kinds of drinks in India. In the south, people like to drink strong coffee, while in the north, people like to drink tea. There are two kinds of drinks that are always accompanied by milk and sugar. If you don't put milk and sugar in your tea, you should "tea". Other drinks in India vary from place to place and from season to season, and fresh fruit sweat is widely loved by Indians.
Indians usually don't use tableware when eating. In the north, it is impolite for people to eat with the fingertip of their right hand and take food above the second knuckle. In the south, people stir rice and curry with their whole right hand and knead them into balls to eat. Indians eat with their hands, but they can't touch public plates or eat by themselves, otherwise they will be rejected by people who eat together. There is often a public water container for water supply when eating. When drinking water, don't touch the container with your lips, but pour it into whose mouth. After dinner, Indians usually bring guests a bowl of hot water and put it on the table to wash their hands. ?
Malaysia
India has a long history and a vast territory, forming a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-custom status quo. The influence of religious activities has left many special worships among the people, such as snakes, monkeys, rats and cows, so animals have a high status. Cows are the greatest gods. You can see beautifully dressed cows everywhere in the street. They can walk leisurely in the street by car and motorcycle. When you are tired, you can lie on the side of the road and sleep, or you can just eat roadside food. Elephants are also gods in India, and many gods in India are elephant heads. There are many religions in India, and basically every religion has an animal as a god, so the only edible animal in India is chicken.
Indian women's traditional clothing can be roughly divided into three types: one is the most beautiful and formal sari, which can only be worn after 15 years old. First put on a bra and petticoat inside, and then put a sari and a long scarf around your body. The way to surround sari is very complicated for us amateurs.
Marriage customs: In India, marriage customs have a lot to do with popular religious beliefs. Orthodox Hindus believe that marriage is a sacrament and a life obligation that everyone must fulfill. A Hindu woman must remain chaste before marriage, and any rumors and scandals may make her an unmarried girl. In order to prevent girls from having premarital sexual relations after meeting people, Hindus have been popular with child marriage since ancient times. According to Indian custom, a 24-year-old groom should marry an 8-year-old girl, and a 30-year-old man should marry a 12-year-old girl.
Since 1929, the Indian government has passed a law prohibiting child marriage, but many people still disobey it because it violates the traditional custom of early marriage of Hindus.
These young girls still go back to their parents' home after marriage, and they don't go to Randolph's home until they are eleven or twelve years old. Their future fate is in the hands of their husbands. Hindus have attached great importance to marriage since ancient times, and all believers believe in birthdates. Therefore, before getting married, we should check whether the astrology and astrology are consistent. The marriage of young men and women is still "the life of parents, the words of matchmakers." Dowry custom is still very popular in India. When a girl gets married, the woman must come up with a generous dowry. If the woman can't meet the man's requirements, the man will refuse to get married. A few days before the wedding, the bride should rub her whole body with ginger to make her skin soft and golden. The night before the wedding, the bride should bathe in water soaked with jasmine and roses. Hair should be braided with fragrant jasmine and marigold. Weddings are usually held in the woman's home in the morning or evening, but also in temples or clubs. On the wedding day, accompanied by relatives and friends, Sina went to the bride's house to meet her. When the wedding procession arrives at the bride's home, the bride's father, relatives and friends will rush forward and present Sina with jewelry, two sets of silk clothes, wine and candy made of ghee, yogurt, honey and Tang. Before the wedding, Sina and the bride, accompanied by their relatives, took to the wedding platform. Wedding table coal organic carbon and the bride and groom's seat. Weddings usually start with lighting a flame. There are many simple ceremonies in the wedding, but the handshake ceremony, the ceremony of putting on the sacred thread and the ceremony of bypassing the flame are essential. The handshake ceremony is that the bride's father puts his daughter's hand on Sina's hand, indicating that he has given his daughter to the groom. The ceremony of wearing the holy thread marks that the bride is married, and married women should wear it for life. Then, the bride followed the groom and walked around the flame three times from the left. The so-called sacred fire is the fire of seven kinds of firewood, which represents the lofty religion. After walking three times, I touched my parents and elders from other places, and the wedding ended immediately.
Sikh weddings are simple, mostly group weddings. The bride and groom are asked to sing the hymns in the Sikh Bible together, and then the bride and groom tie each other's headscarves together according to the Sikh custom and walk around the Sikh Bible four times, and the wedding is over.
Funeral: There are three main ways of funeral in India: Hindu cremation and water burial, Islamic holy burial and Zoroastrian celestial burial.
Hindu cremation is usually held by the holy river. The body is placed on the woodpile (sandalwood is used by the rich, celebrities and dignitaries), then it is poured with ghee, and then the priest recites the scriptures, and the son or male relatives set it on fire. Buried relatives and friends threw flowers at the fire to express their last wishes to their loved ones. After the cremation, the ashes were scattered into the river. If the ashes are scattered in the sacred Ganges of Hinduism, it is the highest etiquette for the dead.
Zoroastrianism prevails in India. After the death of Christians, the bodies were wrapped in white cloth and placed on a quiet platform built on the mountain for vultures and other birds to peck. After a period of natural decay and weathering, the rest became fragments and was pushed into the holy well by the clergy who silently managed him.
Hindus hold 16 kinds of ceremonies all their lives. These 16 ceremonies are:
Pregnancy ceremony: this is the beginning ceremony of future life. Due to the particularity of gender, the scope of this ceremony is very small, and it is often held in a mysterious way. They think that holding a pregnancy ceremony can make the fetus strong and pure. 25-year-old boys and 16-year-old girls will have a pregnancy ceremony within 4- 16 days after marriage, and they can only sleep together after the ceremony.
Panzi ceremony: Panzi ceremony is held in the fourth month after pregnancy. Women who give birth to their first child now often hold it in the third month after pregnancy. When holding a baby-sitting ceremony, both men and women should swear to the gods that they will never do anything that will ruin the fetus from now on. That night, the husband will inject the skin sweat of the banyan tree into his wife's right nostril to prevent massive bleeding. At the same time, put a small jar full of holy water in the pregnant woman's arms, and then the husband gently put his hand on the beating fetal heart and prayed silently in his heart to wish his wife a beautiful and healthy boy.
Comb baptism: pregnant women hold comb baptism in the fourth, sixth or eighth month after pregnancy. When holding a comb for baptism, comb the pregnant woman's hair upward to avoid evil spirits. At the same time, the husband should carefully wash and dress his wife in strict accordance with the priest's instructions. At this time, the mood of pregnant women should be particularly relaxed and happy.
Birthday ceremony: held after the newborn is born and before the umbilical cord is cut. Its purpose is to prevent babies from being possessed by evil spirits. At the birth ceremony, the biological father touched the newborn with his hand, gazed kindly, kissed repeatedly, and whispered a greeting. Then, let the newborn taste the honey and ghee in the golden spoon and say the secret spell silently. After the umbilical cord is cut, both mother and son should be washed all over immediately, and no bathing is allowed.
Naming ceremony: The father will hold a naming ceremony on the fourth or twelfth day after the baby is born. When his father is away, he should be presided over by an uncle.
Bathing ceremony: after the baby is born, it is not allowed to see the sun before the bathing ceremony. According to Manu code, in the fourth month after the birth of a newborn, the baby can only be taken out of the room after the bathing ceremony, so that he can enjoy the beauty of nature and breathe fresh air.
Dining etiquette: Children of 6 months or 8 months can hold dining etiquette. When eating etiquette, feed your child porridge or porridge mixed with ghee and honey.
Shaving ceremony: When the shaving ceremony is held, all the fetal hair is shaved except a pinch of hair on the top of the head, which can bless the child's longevity. Don't throw your shaved hair about. It should be wrapped in dough and thrown into the ever-flowing Ganges or other rivers, or buried underground. After shaving your hair, put yogurt or butter on your head and rinse it off with water later.
Ear piercing ceremony: In order to get rid of the disease, the ear piercing ceremony is held when the child is 3 to 5 years old. At that time, jewelers or hairdressers would make a hole in the child's earlobe, put on earrings and give candy.
Initiation ceremony: Initiation ceremony is limited to Brahmins, Khrushchev and Vedas. Marked by wearing sacred thread, unmarried young people should wear three sacred thread beside their bodies, and increase it to five after marriage. Teaching the most sacred hymn of all mantras is the main content of the initiation ceremony.
Admission ceremony: Children usually hold admission ceremony when they are 7-8 years old. The entrance ceremony must be presided over by a respected elder, teacher or priest in the family. They draw Hindu symbols or names of gods, or letters of grandfathers on children's palms. From then on, he was able to enter school for education, study classics and learn Canon.
Family ceremony: After the students have studied the basic Hindu classics Rigveda, Yelveda and Ramaveda in the teacher's home, they will hold a family ceremony with the teacher's consent. When a family ceremony is held, the holy father or godfather will present a holy book to the students to congratulate them.
Wedding: Wedding is regarded as a great gift in life. At the wedding, the bride's father or protector is entrusted with the holy water jar, reciting secret spells, and at the same time placing the bride's hand on the groom's palm to shake hands. Then the groom leads the bride to walk 7 steps to the northeast, or walk around the fire 3 times, even if she is officially married.
Seclusion ceremony: "Manu Code" stipulates: "When parents see that their skin is wrinkled and pale, their children and grandchildren should retire to the mountains." During my seclusion in the mountains, the most important thing is to read the Vedas constantly, endure everything and show sympathy for all five sentient beings.
Free from vulgarity: Christians who have lived in seclusion must be free from vulgarity in order to get the final liberation. After the ceremony, you should be alone and regard loneliness as the only way to get happiness.
Funeral: Funeral is the last ceremony in a believer's life. Funerals are usually held by the sons and relatives of the deceased. Dusk is a good time to hold a funeral. Religious shrines, banks of Ganges River or Yamuna and Pyi are all good places to hold corpse burning ceremony.