O Shinzen Shiki- The Japanese Wedding

Japanese weddings are celebrated as an integration of modern and traditional values. These weddings traditionally take place in the 'shinto' style at a shrine. The Shinto priests conduct these ceremonies. The guest lists in Japanese weddings usually include only family and close friends. They are close-knit events, to say the least!

During the ceremony, the groom reads his vows of commitment. The couple is purified by drinking a drink called ‘sake’, a Japanese rice wine. The couples, who are dressed in the traditional ‘kimono’, give offering to ‘kami’, the Shinto gods, at the end of the ceremony. The bride wears a kimono called the shiromuku (white kimono robe), and the groom wears montsuki (black formal kimono), haori (kimono jacket), and hakama (kimono pants). The couple is required to change costumes a few times during the ceremony.
It is interesting to note that Japanese weddings do not see the presence of a bridesmaid, or a best man.

At the end of the ceremony, at the reception, the newlyweds are usually seated on a stage. They enjoy the speeches and performances of their guests. After the performances, once the wedding cake is cut, it is tradition that the bride and groom walk around the room lighting candles and greeting their guests.

The guests are gifted wedding souvenirs. These souvenirs include tableware, sweets, interior decorations etc. In more recent times, guests are given a catalog from which they can choose their gifts.

Japanese people are known for their traditional values, and to know about a Japanese wedding, is the best way to know about Japanese culture.

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Adjectives, anyone?

If you ever paid attention to yourself while speaking, you would realize that many words make up your sentence; nouns, articles, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs etc. We will take a look at each of them in due time. 

But today let’s take a look at adjectives!

Adjectives can simply be defined as words used to describe objects, places and people. Let’s take a look at 

a sentence to help you understand adjectives better.

“A beautiful garden of roses.”

Can you point out the adjective in this sentence? If you guessed ‘beautiful’, your guess was right!

Now let us ask you: How were you able to identify the adjective in the sentence above? It’s simple! You looked out for the word that described the garden of roses- beautiful.

Now that wasn’t so difficult, was it? A quick tip: While reading, always try to identify the adjective in the sentence and make a note of it. You should then try to use it in a sentence later yourself! Not only will this help you understand the English Language better, but it will also improve your vocabulary!

Who wouldn’t want that?

Here are a few sentences to help you understand adjectives better. Why don’t you try and identify the adjectives in the following sentences?

·         Rohan’s mother is a wise woman.

·         Children are innocent.

·         She has long, brown hair.

·         Sleeping early makes you feel fresh and alert in the morning.

·         The red apple is juicy and very tasty!

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The Big Fat Indian Wedding

Everyone has varied opinions on weddings. Some love the little traditions and rituals that come with weddings. Some get bored sitting through the long ceremonies. Some are simply grateful for the food! Whatever a person’s opinion might be, one cannot argue with the fact that a wedding packages all the traditions and culture of a country in it.

Indian weddings, like in any other country, vary from state to state, even city to city. And each state brings with it a new tradition, a new ceremony.

A traditional Indian wedding, in its most basic form, consists of three phases. The pre-wedding ceremonies suck as the ‘mehndi’ and ‘sangeet’. These ceremonies build up to the wedding in a way. You’ll always hear brides saying they don’t really feel like they’re getting married until the day of their ‘mehndi’. The point of the pre-wedding rituals is to simply set the ball rolling. Families get together and have fun. Dance and music is an essential part of these festivities.

After the pre-wedding phase, comes the actual wedding day. The wedding day brings with it the ‘baraat’ that is, the groom’s side of the family being welcomed to the wedding venue by the bride’s family. The ‘varmaala’ stage of the wedding is the exchanging of garlands between the bride and groom. Towards the end of the wedding ceremonies one will see the ritual of ‘satphere’, that is the seven rounds around the fire by the bride and groom, each round; a vow between the two.

The third phase is that of the ‘kanyadan’ and the ‘vidaai’. The ‘kanyadan’ refers to the ritual wherein the father hands his daughter to her groom. The ‘vidaai’ is the sad part of the wedding, where the bride leaves behind her family, as she becomes the part of a new one.

Yes, the Indian wedding is full of small rituals. They’re the key to a memorable wedding!

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The Beats and Rhythm of India- Dance & Music

When one talks of Indian culture, it is essential to throw light on the dance and music of the country. The concepts of ‘nritya’ and ‘sangeet’, i.e., dance and music respectively, have been a part of Indian culture throughout time.

Indian dances are segregated into classical and folk. Though there are umpteen folk dances, coming from various parts of the country, there are few main classical dances. The classical dance forms come from different states; Bharatnatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh), Kathak (Uttar Pradesh), Doisy (Orissa), Kathakali (Kerela) and Manipuri (Manipur).

Apart from the classical dances, there are folk dances which not only belong to different states, but often are different in different districts as well. Just like dialects of a language, these dance forms have developed over a period of time.

With dance comes music. Classical music is segregated into north Indian classical and south Indian classical. Folk music has more life, it tells a story. Folk music and dance goes hand in hand mostly at the time of particular festivals, like the ‘bihu’ dance in Assam is performed at the time of the Bihu festival. In the same way, people dance to the beats of ‘bhangra’ in Punjab at the time of Baisakhi.

The best thing about the dance and music of this country is that it promotes a sense of festivity, and joy. Stories can be told not only through the lyrics of music, but also through the expressions of dance. Artists have found a way to express themselves through this part of our culture, and it is something to be truly proud of!

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A glance at the world of Nouns!

What is your name?

Where are you from?

What is your favourite fruit?

The answers to all these questions will be Nouns. How can you tell? It’s simple, really! Nouns are words to 

name animals, places or things.

There are a few things we must keep in mind while learning nouns, though. You shouldn’t get confused while trying to trying to tell the difference between the genders of the noun. Take a look at this sentence, for instance.

“My English teacher in the tenth grade was my favourite!”

In this sentence, the noun is ‘teacher’ (you guessed that right!) However, the word ‘teacher’ could be 

referring to a male or a female teacher. It is still a noun, nonetheless.

The same is the case in this sentence: “Who is the artist who painted this beautiful picture?” The noun, that is, artist could again either be male or female. We’re just making sure you don’t get confused about it in the future!

Nouns can be broadly categorized into: Common Nouns and Proper Nouns. Let’s take a look at them closely.

Proper nouns are the specific names of a place or a person or a thing.

Look at this sentence: “Romeo took Juliet for a vacation to Rome in January.”

What are the proper nouns in this sentence? Romeo, Juliet, Rome and January. Remember to always keep in mind- specific names of places, people or things.

Now we’ll look at common nouns. These are words naming places, people or things in the general sense. So for instance if we said: “There are many trees in our school’s garden.” We’re sure you can tell what the common nouns in this sentence are!

Now as a fun exercise why don’t you re-read this blog post and try to list all the nouns- proper and common!

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An Article on Articles!

Let’s take a look at articles used in the English language! We use articles in our day to day life. Articles are present in every sentence we speak. But does everyone know what articles are and when we use them while 

speaking?

The articles in English language are “a, an, the”. They are used before nouns and occasionally adjectives. Articles can be categorized as ‘definite’ and ‘indefinite’ articles. Definite being ‘the’ and indefinite being ‘a, an’.

Let’s take a closer look at indefinite and definite articles.

A definite article identifies a particular noun. For example: “The tree outside my window.” Here, we are talking about a particular tree and giving its location. Hence, we can say that the article “the” can be used 

when we talk about a specific object, person or place.

An indefinite article is used in more general terms. Let’s take a look at two examples of indefinite articles: “I have an apple tree in my backyard.” Here, we are talking about one of the many kinds of trees in the backyard. We use ‘an’ before words that begin with vowels- ‘a, e, i, o, u’. (Note: Sometimes the alphabets ‘h’ and ‘y’ are also considered vowels in their silent form. Examples: An hour.)

Now take a look at this sentence: “We have a swimming pool in my school.” In this sentence, we use the word ‘a’ to indicate a swimming pool in the school. We use ‘a’ before consonants. Consonants are letters excluding a, e, i, o, u.

Here is a fun exercise for practice!

• ·         There is ____ gym on the way back from work. (a, an, the)
• ·          ____ boy on the street was looking for his mother. (a, an, the)
• ·         ____ apple a day, keeps ____doctor away. (a, an, the)
• ·         Can I have ____ slice of pie? (a, an, the)
• ·         It takes me ____ hour to get to work. (a, an, the)

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Yummy in your tummy!

A new place means a new cuisine, no?

But it is hardly like that these days. Of course, the authenticity of a country’s cuisine comes only when you’re having their food in their country. Pizzas are better eaten in Italy, and tacos are best enjoyed in Mexico, but that said, most countries have gone the multi-cuisine way and serve food from all over the world.

Pune for instance has restaurants which are dedicated to serving foreign cuisines. One will find Italian, Thai, Greek, Chinese, Mexican, and also multi-cuisine restaurants. Not only does Pune see restaurants serving food from other countries, but also, it has some excellent places serving food from other states. North Indian and South Indian food is served at large, and if provided you know the right place, the food is brilliant.

The best way to learn about a country is to immerse yourself in its culture, music, history, art and most importantly, its cuisine. If you ever stepped into a traditional Maharashtrian household, you will be served the ‘kanda poha’ with tea. North Indians will make sure you’re stuffed with two bites of their ‘samosas’, and they’ll make it a point to hold you down for dinner too (let’s just say, they are generous with the quantities they serve). A south Indian house hold cannot welcome you without steamy ‘idlis’ and ‘chuttney’. In the far out east, the Bengalis quite enjoy treating their fish as the part of a vegetarian meal. They are also known for their delicious sweets.

Imagine having all these delicacies in one city. Did you think of Pune? Once in Pune, you need not travel all around the country to try out the dishes they serve. You’ll get it all, right here.

So, come take a bite of exquisite Indian and international cuisines here in Pune!

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Pune- Largest hub for German companies in India

Pune has established itself as the centre for German companies to set camp in. As per statistics, Pune is home to 197 wholly-German owned companies. Also, Pune has established in it, over 200 Indo-German joint ventures. Further, over 80 local companies are doing business with German companies.

It’s safe to say the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) is doing a superb job at integrating German and Pune-based business. The IGCC, which was established a mere two years ago, has organized many events such as the Oktoberfest to bring German business to India. Such events give the firms a platform to present ideas and views on business, hence promoting the idea of collaborating businesses. Moreover, the IGCC has given the local firms a chance to exhibit their products in Germany on several occasions.

What is interesting is that not only are German companies investing in India, but many small and big businesses are looking to invest in Germany as well. The reciprocal reaction is of course expected, and hugely appreciated by German firms. The emergence of Pune as an engineering and automotive hub has contributed largely to why German companies are attracted to investing in Pune.

These German companies bring with them huge opportunities for Indians, in terms of understanding new business methodologies, and the very obvious aspect of introducing jobs to the people. Jobs as translators are fast expanding. The pay is brilliant, and all that is really required is the expertise in a language. That’s what German companies are bringing to India. Job offers, foreign exchange, and business expansion opportunities.

This is one of the best breaks that India can get in terms of expanding its business prospects to Europe. Germany, with companies like Volkswagen, is a huge asset for Indian companies to do business with. After establishing a firm relation with one country after the other like so, there will be nothing that can stop India from reaching heights which are only imaginable as of now. The sky is the limit, no?

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Re-acquaintance: The Western Culture, the Indian Style

India has always been under the influence of foreign nations. This could be meant in the literal sense from the time of independence, to a more superficial sense today, when India’s generation next is influenced by the way they dress, their lifestyle, or even their appreciation for more diverse cuisine.

The youth is of course highly influenced by the foreign culture. But by what are they influenced exactly?

If one is to look at the surface of it, the clothes, the music and the food is what one would notice. The dressing sense is getting more and more westernized. The music has gone from Bollywood music, to exploring rap, jazz, hip-hop and pop. Food is one of the older influences that countries have on each other. India serves food from Italy, Thailand, Mexico, China, and so many more countries. On a global perspective, Indian culture seems to have left a mark on other countries too. They’ve got out spices, yoga, and cuisine. Even Indian dances have become very popular abroad! Sports and entertainment too have always played a pivotal role in this globalised India.

A development however, is that through the Indian culture spreading rapidly in foreign countries, the youth is getting re-acquainted with these Indian ways. Is that really the ideal way to get through to the youth? No. Is it the worst way? Definitely not! In fact, it’s probably the most efficient way to get them to get back in touch with what they seem to have forgotten. More and more people are turning to Indian cuisine, because it’s been now known to have all the nutrients on the food pyramid. They are looking to take up Indian dance and music, because the rhythms are actually known to be healthy. These changes would not have come about with parents and grandparents trying to keep children aware of their roots. If they are under the foreign influence, and the foreign influence now means, just Indian culture with a wee bit of a foreign touch, it’s completely healthy. And the only foreign influence that comes to the more sensible youth is a kind of smartness in their approach to career and lifestyle, and this change is in good taste.

This shadow of foreign culture has a cons list too, but the pace at which the world is progressing; the cons can be sidelined at the moment. What one needs to ensure is that the pros are altered to a more Indian touch.

All in all, globalization in any form is only a plus point!

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