In conclusion...

Direct Link to My Video (Note: I apologize in advance for the subpar quality and how pixelated it is. Windows Movie Maker sucks.)

Originally, I was interested in studying Asian Indian youth but I narrowed my focus to Hindu youth. This posed almost no difficulty, though, because Hinduism is the main religion of India. I wanted to see how easy or difficult it is for them to live in American culture and maintain their Indian roots.  Some of the questions I asked in my first blog stemmed from Ibrahim’s Self Concept of Minorities. I wanted to see how they define themselves and how they think others see them. In my opinion, the last part of the Self Concept of Minorities is perhaps the most important. It asks how minorities wish to be defined. I think this is the most important aspect because how people carry themselves, what values they maintain, and what traditions they practice are what outsiders see. What they emulate becomes how they are defined. We can use this notion to predict that a person who appears 100% American wants to be fully assimilated and wishes to be defined as American.

As another example, the people I studied in my cultural reporter project are both outwardly American (dressing in western clothes, having western habits) and outwardly Hindu (going to temples, performing traditional dances, etc). This is a prime example of integration, where minorities want to practice their original culture but include the other cultural group (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). My friends Viki (who I interviewed for my 2^nd blog) and Aishwarya are great examples of integration. After going to school and having classes together for four years, I learned that they’ve maintained a balance between Indian and American culture well. They both dedicate a lot of time into traveling back to India, choreographing and performing dances for various events at school, and spending time with their family.

Speaking of which, growing up in America has made it hard for them to fully communicate with their family. In her interview, Viki mentioned how she had trouble saying certain things to her parents because she didn’t know the correct word in Hindi. There were also times where her parents had to explain certain things to her a little more simply in Hindi because she doesn’t speak it as fluently as they do. Viki and Aishwarya have had different cultural experiences growing up in America that their parents will never experience for themselves. This coincides with Kalavar & Van Willigen’s (2005) assertion that each generation becomes increasingly separated from their root culture.

When we usually encounter a group of people from a different culture, it’s easy to become intimidated and less inclined to interact with them because let’s face it, who wants to stick out like a sore thumb? Martin and Nakayama (2009) identify several stages of minority identity development. From what I understand, those that only associate with people from their own race are in stage 3, the resistance and separatism stage (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). We must remember that they only associate with people from the same culture because they don’t want to stand out, either. If they hang out with people of their own race, it’s less likely they’ll be discriminated against or made fun of.  It’s not always easy being the new, foreign kid. It is much easier to meet people from a different ethnicity if they are in stage four of identity development (integration).  These people have a strong sense of self yet appreciate and partake in other cultures as well (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Those who are born in America but have ancestral roots elsewhere are most likely integrated, and those who are international students, for example, are probably stage three. When talking to people from either stage, we must remember to respect differences between cultures. It is especially important to remember that those in stage three probably feel uneasy in such a foreign place; we can’t assume they know and understand all western figures of speech or mannerisms. Something we say could offend them, albeit unintentionally. Take the time to sit down and ask them about their cultures and how they see ours. It’ll make them feel welcome and it’ll help you learn a little more about them.  

Blog Bibliography

Bhakta, V. (2011, October 25). Being Asian Indian in America. (L. Le, Interviewer)

Ibrahim, F., Ohnishi, H., & Daya, S. S. (1997). Asian American Identity Development: A Culture Specific

          Model for South Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development , 34-50.

Kalavar, J., & Van Willigen, J. (2005). Older Asian Indians Resettled in America: Narratives about 

           Households, Culture and Generation. Journal of Cross Cultural Greontology , 213-230.

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: 

            McGraw-Hill.

Video Bibliography

Anu123km (Director). (2011). Incredible India-Dance by Hema Malini and Daughters-

               Natyavihar Parampara [Motion Picture].

Irresistiblyattracti (Director). (2009). INDO WESTERN DANCE FUSION - ASHISH SWETA


                SUNITA- IMPULSE 2009 [Motion Picture].

Reddymalli (Director). (2011). youngest dancers in the world to perform conventional

              "arangetram" in Bharatanatyam [Motion Picture].

Image Links: Please note that some images (shown in video, not linked here) were gathered from Facebook and are the property of Viki Bhakta, Aishwarya Abareddy, or Sonam Bhakta.

Spread of Hinduism

Hindu Swastika

Hindu Deities

Deity on Lotus

Deity Statue

Indian Bride

Indian Bride in Red

Kal Penn Modi

Temple in Houston

Obama

Group Celebration

Learning and Applying IC Concepts to Hindu Culture

A picture of Viki and some friends dancing at a cultural event

I thought the application of cultural hybridity would be perfect for what I want to find out about the Asian Indian culture.

The concept of cultural hybridity consists of the combination of assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization. This creates a “salad society” where the cultural group maintains its distinctions but also blends in with the host society (Martin & Nakayama, 2009).

In assimilation, the people try not to maintain a cultural identity that would cause them to be isolated from the new culture. The host cultural group can force assimilation on the new cultural group, thereby causing a “pressure cooker” type of society. If assimilation is voluntary, it creates a “melting pot” society (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Integration is when new cultural groups try to find a balance between maintaining their cultural identity and interacting with the host group (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Voluntary separation is when groups choose to avoid blending in with host groups (or any other group different from their own). If separation is not voluntary, it is considered segregation, where groups are forced to live apart from each other (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Marginalization is when the culture group exists in the middle grounds, or in the margin between cultures. That is, they don’t try to keep their cultural identity but they don’t try to blend in with the other cultural groups either (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). They’re just kind of stuck in the middle.

One’s cultural identity is formed based on their social cultural context, which could include what neighborhood they’re in, social class, religious affiliations, etc (Ibrahim, Ohnishi, & Daya, 1997). Moreover, someone’s identity involves their ‘sense of belonging’ with other members of the group, whether it is with their own cultural group or a different one (Ibrahim et al., 1997). Moving into and adapting to new environment is hard because people who have spent their lives in a different country have to learn a new language and adapt to new social roles and expectations. They must make cognitive, attitude, and behavioral changes (Kalavar & Van Willigen, 2005).

For example, an Asian Indian person could experience difficulties in assimilating because of their cultural values. Such values include humility, filial piety, a sense of obligation towards elders, etc (Kalavar & Van Willigen, 2005). In America, the people are individualistic and assertive; they focus on achievement and mastering their environment (Kalavar & Van Willigen, 2005). The stark contrast between the two countries’ values creates problems when someone tries to blend in with their new community, thereby decreasing the chances of them wanting to assimilate and creating a hybrid culture.  

However, there are some changes in America that Asian Indians can’t ignore. Their households become “multicultural;” that is, each generation becomes increasingly separated from their root culture and has a much different set of cultural experiences (Kalavar & Van Willigen, 2005). It is thought that their root culture gets compromised and even ignored while in America (Kalavar & Van Willigen, 2005).

When asking my Asian Indian friend about her experiences as a Hindu child in America, she recognizes that her parents are far more traditional than she is, but she still tries to maintain a connection with her heritage (Bhakta, 2011). In the article by Kalavar and Van Willigen (2005), it is stated that Asian Indians in America put more effort into being Indian; being Indian “takes time.” I asked Viki about this, and she agreed. She has to allot time to participate in traditional Hindu dances and be active in the Hindu culture (Bhakta, 2011). Another grey area for Viki is speaking her native tongue; she stated that her parents speak fluent Hindi but she cannot. This creates somewhat of a division in the household. Her parents are, in a way, separated from the larger cultural group while she has managed to integrate herself in both cultural groups. Viki speaks English just fine and has some problems speaking Hindi, but tries to balance both cultures.  

However, because her parents struggle with English, it is harder for them to balance the American culture with the Hindu culture that they’re so accustomed to.  As I’ve learned, the concepts alluded to by researchers such as Kalavar and Van Willigen can be applied to Hindu culture even though their original studies were performed with Indian participants. By that I mean to say that broader, more general trends can be applied to and seen in more narrow cultural groups.

          Perhaps in the future, the Hindu culture can be further studied by talking not only to Hindu youth but older generations. This way, we would be able to get a better grasp on how easily or how difficult it is form a hybrid culture. Communicating with the Hindu culture would probably be best facilitated by keeping in mind that although the Hindu youth are Americanized, they still identify with their root heritage. Using my friend Viki as an example, she strongly identifies with her Hindu culture yet also considers herself American, and that is how she wants people to see her. Having said that, I think that communicating with Hindus (or anyone of a different culture than your own, for that matter) would be most effective if we don’t see someone as purely American or as purely Hindu (or whatever culture the other person may be). We must keep in mind that they are a bit more complicated than that. They maintain both American and Hindu values and traditions, and could possibly show you a few things you never knew before.

Bibliography

Bhakta, V. (2011, October 25). Being Asian Indian in America. (L. Le, Interviewer)

Ibrahim, F., Ohnishi, H., & Daya, S. S. (1997). Asian American Identity Development: A Culture 

           Specific Model for South Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counseling &

          Development , 34-50.

Kalavar, J., & Van Willigen, J. (2005). Older Asian Indians Resettled in America: Narratives about

           Households, Culture and Generation. Journal of Cross Cultural Greontology , 213-230.

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: 

            McGraw-Hill.

Asian Indian Culture in America

My culture of choice is Asian Indians in America; namely, I would like to study the youth. By "Asian Indian," I mean people who have immigrated from India, as opposed to Native American Indians. Since this project is in the preliminary stages, the specificity of my research may change-I am debating whether or not I should refine it to Hindu youth..Or maybe Muslim youth. I'll post another blog should I decide.


In researching this culture, I plan on finding out how Asian Indian youth balance the American culture with their own. Is it difficult? Do they get pressure from older generations to maintain Indian ideals? Do they think it's important? If they had kids, is maintaining Indian culture something they would stress?


My interest in this stems from high school; we always had events celebrating various cultures. I have friends, both Indian and non-Indian, who participate in traditional dances, with Indian clothes and all. I thought, and still think, that it's awesome. I love how certain dance moves are representative of certain things; for example, they do something with their hands to symbolize the moon or sun. The dances tell a story or send a message, or are simply for entertainment. Additionally, the bright colors of their clothes and the variety of styles makes their performances entertaining; its an art form.

We see varying degrees of tradition maintenance. How does the youth find their happy medium? We see relatively Americanized people: (lol)

And we see people who are more traditional:

(This reminds me, I've also always found their wedding get-up to be gorgeous. It's so intricate and it comes together very well.)


How do Asian Indians our age develop their self concept? That is, how do they define themselves? How do they think others define them? How do they wish to be defined? I ask these questions based on Ibrahim's Self Concept of Minorities, which has the three parts mentioned above.


Given that their parents and grandparents immigrated primarily for familial reasons (such as "reunification...or providing assistance with raising grandchildren.." (Kalavar 2006)), I would imagine that their parents would at least somewhat stress the importance of their roots.


So, all in all, in this cultural reporter project, I hope to learn a lot about the Asian Indian culture. My research process will include peer reviewed journals and interviews with Asian Indian people I know or random people I come upon around campus. I aim to end this project with a greater understanding of a culture I've known for so long, but know so little about.




Sources: 
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/5220585873_9a8104913c_m.jpg
http://www.aacomedy.com/ckfinder/userfiles/images/Ansari(1).jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tERm1ap1v48&feature=related


Ibrahim, F., Ohnishi, H., & Sandhu, D. (1997). Asian American Identity Development: A Culture Specific Model for South    Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 25(1), 34-50. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.


Kalavar, Jyotsna M., and John Willigen. "Older Asian Indians Resettled in America: Narratives about Households, Culture, and Generation." Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 20.3 (2006): 213-30. Online.