The scenario I shall be describing here is that of when I had gone to my home town for the first time and this was 10 years ago.This was an enlightening experience for me as I had come to learn a lot about the traditions that my relatives follow as a part of our culture .
My family and I had gone there for a religious function that happened once every year.However this was the first time I had attended it ,as my hometown is quite far away from the city I used to live in.Our first meal had given me my first surprise of the day .Instead of plates , we were served food on banana leaves and we were supposed to eat food with our bare hands .As my parents had taught me to eat food using a fork and spoon when I was small,it seemed near impossible to eat the same food using my hands at that time.Nevertheless, I had managed to finish the meal with great difficulty and when I was folding the leaf , my mother firmly told my to fold it from the outside and not inside out.I was totally confused as for me it did not make that much of a difference whichever side I had folded it.
Later for the function (prayer ceremony), my parents made me change clothes to just a long cloth (called dhoti) that covered the lower part of my body leaving me bare chested .I felt very shy for a long time as it was the first time I was not wearing anything to cover my upper body in public.
Right through the day, I remained in a confused state of mind as I honestly did not understand as to why I had to follow so many practices which looked very meaningless in my point of view .
However,later in the night ,my father had explained the reason as to why each of the strange practices I had witnessed today were followed.In the case of folding the banana leaf, by folding the leaf from the outside showed that I was satisfied with the food and if I folded it inside out , it symbolized the fact that I was unhappy with the food served and it would not be very polite to convey such negative gestures.Furthermore,the reason why I had to go bare chested was the traditional attire for the function demanded all the men to shed their materialistic desires and adorn clothing that was only necessary.
Though , my memories of that function are not entirely happy ones , atleast it was an opportunity to get to know about my culture , tradtion and the practices followed by the people who belonged to my culture and thus overall it was an experience that made me better informed when it comes to culture and tradtion.
My family and I had gone there for a religious function that happened once every year.However this was the first time I had attended it ,as my hometown is quite far away from the city I used to live in.Our first meal had given me my first surprise of the day .Instead of plates , we were served food on banana leaves and we were supposed to eat food with our bare hands .As my parents had taught me to eat food using a fork and spoon when I was small,it seemed near impossible to eat the same food using my hands at that time.Nevertheless, I had managed to finish the meal with great difficulty and when I was folding the leaf , my mother firmly told my to fold it from the outside and not inside out.I was totally confused as for me it did not make that much of a difference whichever side I had folded it.
Later for the function (prayer ceremony), my parents made me change clothes to just a long cloth (called dhoti) that covered the lower part of my body leaving me bare chested .I felt very shy for a long time as it was the first time I was not wearing anything to cover my upper body in public.
Right through the day, I remained in a confused state of mind as I honestly did not understand as to why I had to follow so many practices which looked very meaningless in my point of view .
However,later in the night ,my father had explained the reason as to why each of the strange practices I had witnessed today were followed.In the case of folding the banana leaf, by folding the leaf from the outside showed that I was satisfied with the food and if I folded it inside out , it symbolized the fact that I was unhappy with the food served and it would not be very polite to convey such negative gestures.Furthermore,the reason why I had to go bare chested was the traditional attire for the function demanded all the men to shed their materialistic desires and adorn clothing that was only necessary.
Though , my memories of that function are not entirely happy ones , atleast it was an opportunity to get to know about my culture , tradtion and the practices followed by the people who belonged to my culture and thus overall it was an experience that made me better informed when it comes to culture and tradtion.
Hi Sai,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about the banana leaves issue from you in class, I thought that it was rather interesting. At that point of time, I was wondering does anyone fold their banana leaves inside out if they are really not satisfied with their food or will everyone just fold their banana leaves from the outside as a form of polite gesture?
I was also quite shocked that even in a traditional country like India, the difference between the rural area and city is so large. Nevertheless, it's a good thing that at least you get to experience some of the traditional practices of your home town.
On a side note, I thought most Indians still consume their meals using hands? How come that was your first time eating with your bare hands?
Hi Sai,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with yea wen with her last point. I have all along thought that Indians are taught to eat with their hands since young. That was what my Indian classmate told me when we were in primary school. In Myanmar, the Burmese people also eat with their hands. I was born in Singapore, hence, I never had the chance to eat with my hands.
Religion is also part of each and every one's culture. It is good that you learn more about your own culture and religion as it will help you to communicate better with the more religious Indians in your country.
Indeed, I had gained new insights from reading your post.
Min Thu
Yes , it is true that almost everyone in India are taught to eat using their hands ,however in my case since my family comes from a military background and the Indian armed forces in general have inherited a lot of mannerisms from the British culture, I was first taught to eat with the fork and spoon.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Banana leaf , generally it is a form of a polite gesture however, if someone really is disgusted with the food and if the people responsible for providing the food are in no way related to the person , then that person would not hesitate to fold the leaf inside out expressing dissatisfaction.
I can relate to this post. I have faced similar problems when I attended cultural functions/religious occasions. Although most Indians eat with their hands, it depends on the food being eaten. Rice is using fork and spoon(by the modern generation) and I guess this is the problem Sai faced. It is impolite to ask for a spoon as everybody else is eating with their hands and it takes some practice to be able to do so without making a mess. This post is a good example of intercultural behavior in the context of British culture mingling with traditional Indian culture.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post Sai :) It taught me a lot about Indian culture too. I did not know the story behind the banana leaves till I read this. I think that most of us are still oblivious to a lot of cultural beliefs in comparison to our parents, who are well informed about our culture. Sadly, we might not be able to teach a lot to the next generation about the culture that we hail from. Does this mean that our culture is going to die soon? Just wanted to prop up this question. It would be nice to get some views on this. Your language use was pretty good except for the following points,
ReplyDelete1.This was an enlightening experience for me as I had come to learn a lot about the traditions that my relatives FOLLOW IN as a part of our culture-->my relatives FOLLOW as a part of our culture.
2. Me and my family --> My family and I.
I am not too sure about the first line but I might be wrong. Anyway, a very interesting post Sai :) Thanks!
Hey Chandra,
DeleteI have made the changes that you suggested on my post.Regarding the future of our culture,it may be facing a problem of extinction due to the constant influence of western practices.However, I feel that it is up to us to take the responsibility of keeping our traditions alive as our generation is the bridge between the traditional and the modern era.
Thank you, Sai, for sharing this reflection about your return to your parents' hometown. What makes this apt as an intercultural observation is the fact that rural India and urban India can seem worlds apart, as you clearly have portrayed them. I appreciate the way you have focused on several specific traits: the folding of the banana leaf and wearing the dhoti. The very idea that you could see such traditional customs as "meaningless" shows, perhaps inadvertently, just how far apart these worlds have become for people of your generation.
ReplyDeleteYou've also garnered interesting feedback.