Two lands that are filled with the richest of cultures in the world, India and Europe surely do have a lot to offer to the people in terms of wisdom and knowledge. Though these two places seem to have a similarity in stuff they are worth of, they do differ out on terms of the way of living of the people living in them. Both of them have differences in their rules and laws and they appear to be a bit stringent and liberal in their own ways. As years have gone by, comparisons have been done between them to find which place has what.
What a European dreams of Vs What an Indian dreams of
1. “I am going to score!” – Completely a simple sentence, though this seems to have a different ending. When you state this to a normal Indian and a European, be assured that you will be getting two different set of reactions.
For a regular Indian this sentence refers to the scores that a student gets in his exams and well,
For a regular European, going to score has totally a different meaning – getting intoxicated/high with substance abuse.
For the Indian kids, grades and scores in schools have been a thing of top priority, where their parents are ready to go to any length to help their children to score. At times, more than help it turns into pressuring their kids to perform better.
The Europeans are completely different on this and they seem to be more interested in the arts than the studies. All they care about is living up their fullest by having a bit of a laidback attitude.
2. “I am going to be…” – Ask an Indian student what they want to become and the answer comes up immediately as a doctor or an engineer. Becoming either a doctor or an engineer has become the stereotype and surely there seems to be no change in it.
Indian students have been seen to have zero awareness about some of the unconventional fields of study that more and more European students are opting for.
For instance, take the case of home science in India. Indians, set in the ideal of becoming either doctors or engineers, do not want to try out this field thinking they might not have a chance in the real world with that. On the contrary a European is willing to take up the culinary arts and they even have amazing schools for it too like Le cordon bleu.
One can just say that the European’s thinking of the corporate world is similar to the thinking of the Indians of the arts.
3. “God, work was exhausting today” – Working hours differ for both the Indians and the Europeans. Indians work their back out for a straight 15 hours before they tell this while a European clock a working hour of 5 hours before they reach a point of stating this. Funny to say so, during the 5 hours work time, Europeans tend to take an afternoon siesta everyday while on the downside, Indians forget that they have to sleep during the night when they are totally engrossed in their work and if they are on a tight schedule.
From this, one can deduct that, an Indian completely loves the idea of working long hours, even if it means missing sleep.
4. “Hey! I just met you and this is crazy” – Generally such a line when told by a European to another person, it simply means that the person is expecting them to give him their phone number.
For the Indians, a bit step ahead, this line kind of ends up in the person proposing marriage to the other person.
In India, marriage is taken to be an important social duty that each and every person has to perform in his lifetime. The word marriage has a lot of importance in the Indian society and is never to be taken lightly. The approval of the parent is largely placed emphasis on. The Europeans are a bit laidback on this. For them the idea of passion and love has an upper hand in this; and like taking their time deciding the right one for them.
5. Commitment – The quote, ‘In the East, you love the person you marry; whereas in the West, you marry the person you love’, is an idea, that, although mustn’t be generalised, does apply very well to contemporary times. Perhaps it explains why the average Indian holds on even if it is a marriage only for namesake and the average European has no qualms for when love might strike his temperament.
6. “So, mum was wondering…” – Two versions of ending to this sentence, if two people are married to each other
Indian: “So, mum was wondering when she might expect a grandkid from us.”
European: “So, mum was wondering where we could go to have lunch this Saturday.”
Indian parents seem to put pressure on their son or daughter to give them a grandkid just few months after they get married since they think that getting a grandkid soon after their children’s marriage is important to continue the good news syndrome.
7. Responsibilities – When the pitter-patter of little feet makes itself apparent in the home of an Indian, it comes with no doubt that the parents take it upon themselves to save up for their child’s wedding.
Not really the case, when it comes to the European household. The ideal of making your own money, and standing on your own two feet is inbuilt from within an early age.
8. “I am really excited about that bonus at work” – Both versions go like this; for the Indians, getting a bonus at work simply means savings. The first think they wish to do is put the money in a savings bank account immediately after getting it so that they can enjoy a particular percentage of interest they get out of saving in the future.
For the Europeans, the concept of saving might still be there but they wish to spend this money to get some adventure and some fun.
9. “I am getting old” – Indians and Europeans have different views on this. Since savings have been the way of life an Indian is thought from a young age, he tries to save something for the future in case any kind of an emergency pops up. The European, on the other hand, prefers to reach the grand old age of eighty after having lived a life of acute interest and having accumulated a life time of memories, of travelling across the world.
10. Outlook – The rampant idea, though, is to live life once past the yardstick of the age of responsibilities. While on the other hand, Europeans, once they feel that they are getting old, wish to travel around the whole world and see new places with the money they have. Savings seem to take a back seat, in comparison.
11. Lifestyle – Obviously, being part of two geographical terrains, the lifestyles of the Indian and that of the European are radically different. But is that truly what it is? While the European’s cost of living can be seen to be definitively higher than that of the Indian’s, for instance, take that of an average European’s income – while he/she might earn a decent sum, if they were to be equated to that of an Indian of the same class, we would notice that the Indian leads a more luxuriant and rich lifestyle. The entire GDP (s) of both nations cannot, of course, be equated, although comparisons may be drawn.
12. Vacationing – While the new generation of Indian males and females have been bred on the rising tide of globalization, values towards finance and living have changed. Like the European, the Indian seeks to look past the boundaries of the subcontinent to further look towards new terrains and kingdoms. Also, wanderlust is seen to be the opium of the masses with the grounds of the boundaries within the Nation towards the farthest reaches of the North-East Indian landscape and the Islands of Andaman and Nicobar being touted as one of the ultimate getaways from reality.
The yesteryear idea of skipping a vacation and letting it all convert to cash at the end of the year is fast changing in the belief system.
Diverse as they may be, they both have their own ways of working that they are set with. After all, to each their own.