India--Culture Smart! by Becky Stephen

Author:Becky Stephen [Stephen, Becky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-85733-841-6
Publisher: Kuperard
Published: 2016-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

VISITING AN INDIAN HOME

Hospitality

People you’ve just met may invite you home for tea, dinner, or even for a short stay. To show appreciation for their hospitality, take a small gift, such as a box of sweets. You will be warmly greeted at the door and shown where to put your shoes, which should be taken off before entering. Slippers are not typically provided. Shoes are considered unclean, so no good host would offer a guest footwear worn by others.

There is a proper protocol to an evening in an Indian home. No matter what time you enter a home, with or without an invitation, you will immediately be offered chai (tea with milk, sugar, and sometimes spices), coffee (with milk and sugar), water, juice, or sherbet (a popular fruit- or flower-flavored drink.) It is impolite to refuse.

In India, people converse first, eat later. Once the meal is over, everyone knows it’s time to go home. People may sit and chat for hours while a foreign guest, possibly used to eating first and conversing after the meal, or having extended conversations over a multicourse meal, may wonder why dinner is not being served. Dinner can happen at any time in the evening. Even families with small children will eat late.

Indians in cities and towns typically eat at a table. In villages, in a poorer home, or at an event with many guests, people may be seated on mats. The women of the house will have spent all day preparing food for an invited guest. Guests may be served the meal alone or with the head of the household. This is a sign of honor. In homes where food may be scarce, it also ensures that guests eat as much as they want without the family being shamed by running out of food. Dessert is not always served at the end of a meal. You will know it’s over when the family members get up to wash their hands. Then it’s time to thank the hosts for a wonderful meal, say good-bye to everyone present, and go home. You won’t be left until you are outside the gate, down the street, or in a car or taxi. It’s a sign of connection and protection that is an integral part of all Indian relationships.

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