"మాతృ దేవో భావ - Matru deyvo
bhava - it means you have to worship your mother as a god." said Varma this morning. I raised my eyebrows and flattened my lips
hoping to communicate "hmm that's interesting." Varma is my language teacher and he is
teaching me some sacred texts from the Vedas - ancient Hindu writings. Basically this little part of the text
outlines four commandments: Worship your mother as a god, worship your father
as a god, worship your teacher as a god, and finally worship your guest as a
god. This core Hindu teaching reveals a
lot about India.
First it shows the
emphasis of strong family. There is
another Vedas commandment that says outright "don't leave your
relatives." For the most part in
India children will not leave their parent's house until they get married; even
if they are 35, and even when they do get married a lot of time they move in
with Mom and Dad or at least next door.
I remember one time in Delhi a shopkeeper told me to go find a phone and
call my Mother immediately; she said she would die if her son was out traipsing
around a foreign country. In the rural
areas of India the divorce rate is less than 1% and even in the modern cities
it is below 7%; nursing homes don't even exist.
It also reveals the
Indian view of education. Education and
learning are priorities here and teachers are to be respected and revered. My language teacher Varma knows more facts
about geography and even my own calendar than I do. India had universities before the Roman
empire even started. (Unfortunately only
the higher castes can afford to take advantage of this)
The last line shows
just how important hospitality is to India.
Most families will give you a meal worth weeks of wages just because you
are a stranger and a guest. They treat foreigners
like they are Bollywood stars.
 |
| Busy India street in central Hyderabad (just to break up the text really) |
It's important to
really try to get to know a people before you make assumptions about what they
need or don't need, what they believe or don't believe, and why they hold onto
their traditions. Without having discovered
these core beliefs it would have been easy to assume that because Indians live
at home so late they are fearful and dependent, or that Indian teachers are
prideful and condescending, or that Indians' over-the-top hospitality is
because they find you exceptionally attractive; when really it is stemming from
a tradition of honor. Honor that extends
to the point of divine reverence albeit, but that can be addressed later.
This is just one
tiny example, but immersing yourself as a foreigner and studying a different
culture can be incredibly interesting and rewarding. You can join me if you like…
