India

            
             "Frankly my dear I don't give a dam." Many people have this attitude towards learning about other cultures. Actually it is very important to be knowledgeable of other cultures. Some day you could have a job that requires you to travel to another country or meet with a person of another culture. You wouldn't want to offend them by not knowing their ways of life. Also, the United States has become so diverse that soon it will be an everyday thing to walk down the street and see a person of another culture.
             Recently my cousin, Molly married a man from India named Surajh. My knowledge of the Indian culture is nil, therefore this is a good opportunity for me to study his customs and traditions.
             India is such a large and varied country that there is no one way of life practiced by everyone. Food, clothing, religious beliefs and social structure differs from place to place. Nevertheless, there are some features of Indian life that are common among most people throughout the country.
             Family ties are important. Many families continue to live as traditional extended families. In a typical extended family, three generations live in one household. Upon marriage, a women leaves her parents" home and shares a home with her husband and his relatives, including his brothers and their wives, his parents and his unmarried sisters. However, the number of households consisting of only parents and their children is increasing.
             The parents usually arrange marriages, though the son or daughter has the opportunity to reject the arrangement. Many people feel that marriage is more of an alliance between families than a relationship between two people. The bride's family usually gives a gift of money or a gift of significance to the groom's family. Today it is illegal for the families to give this gift but they do it anyways.
             Indians generally expect a young married couple to have a child with in a few years after marriage.