Rozhovor s Indkou Anushou o její domovině provoněné kari kořením. O tom, že Indie není jen zemí vědců milovníků IT typu Ráje Koothrappali z The Big Bang Theory. Je to také země, kde je po USA nejvíce anglicky mluvících na světě, kde aktuální západní posedlost jógou a jogínstvím berou tak trochu s nadhledem, kde jsou krávy posvátné a kde se svatby slaví v ohromném stylu se stovkami hostů.
Rozhovor s Indkou Anushou o její domovině provoněné kari kořením. O tom, že Indie není jen zemí vědců milovníků IT typu Ráje Koothrappali z The Big Bang Theory. Je to také země, kde je po USA nejvíce anglicky mluvících na světě, kde aktuální západní posedlost jógou a jogínstvím berou tak trochu s nadhledem, kde jsou krávy posvátné a kde se svatby slaví v ohromném stylu se stovkami hostů.
I am Parvina and I will talk to my parents from all over the English-speaking world about various interesting topics. Thank you very much for finding this channel and we can start.
Speaker 2:I am so excited to be welcoming my guest for today, anusha Vaidya, from India.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Today we are going to talk about your marvellous country, india. Where to even begin? It seems like it is a colourful country, full of everything.
Speaker 3:It is a huge country. If you have seen the map of the world, india takes up a lot of it If you see the size of the country and the population. There is so much drama every single day. There is not one day where it is just a calm working day, where everything is fine. There is always something going on, but it is great. It is never boring in India, that is for sure.
Speaker 2:I am definitely sure about that. You live in a city called Pune. Am I pronouncing it correctly?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Pune, which is not that far from Mumbai. What is your town like?
Speaker 3:It is really close to Mumbai. It is a three hour drive from Mumbai. It is smaller than Mumbai but it is way more green. We have a lot of universities and schools here. There are a lot of students coming in and out of the city through the year. We have a lot of these cool cafes and places to hang out. It is quieter than Mumbai. It is smaller, but I think it is more fun. You can do a lot more here. It is fun as well, but it is crazy. Work wise, mumbai is like any other big city in the world, like New York or London. People are really working and getting their life together. Pune is a more chilled out place.
Speaker 2:It is really funny for me when you say that it is very close to Mumbai. It is just a three hour drive In the Czech Republic. You would go from south to the north and it would be it. You would cross the border and you would be in a different country.
Speaker 3:I know what you mean. It is funny because when we were studying in UK it felt so small. The country felt so small compared to where I come from, just my state. There are 28 states in India. All of them are pretty big, but when I am from Maharashtra, that is twice the size of UK itself, so it is pretty big.
Speaker 2:That is mad. You just said that there are 28 states. Am I correct? 28 states and 8 different?
Speaker 3:territories.
Speaker 2:I read that there are 22 languages in India, stated in your constitution. Hundreds and hundreds of other languages are being spoken around the country. I would not suppose that you could speak all of them.
Speaker 3:Can you?
Speaker 2:tell us a bit about the languages that you speak.
Speaker 3:I went to an English medium school. Basically, in every state in this country they have their own regional language. There are 28 states. Like I said, there are 22 official languages that represent every state. Each state has schools and colleges that have the same medium as their state language. For mine, it is Marathi. That is my mother tongue as well, but we also have English medium schools. Everything is taught in English. Thanks to the Brits, who are here for a long time, we have those schools.
Speaker 3:I studied in an English medium school from 1st grade to 10th grade and even all through college. English is my first language, along with Marathi. Just to unite the whole country, we have Hindi, which is a common language. Most of us study Hindi in school. After the 3rd grade, english is also taught, at least if you are not from an English medium school. I speak 3 languages fluently. That is, english, hindi and Marathi, and I mean I understand a few other languages like Gujarati and Bengali. But yeah, it's really tough. Like every state has such a distinct language, you can probably get a few words here and there, but I can't speak or write or read any of the other ones.
Speaker 2:Wow, but man, that's so interesting and I think you once told me that, like when you watch a film that was made in the South, then like you wouldn't really understand that you would need subtitles.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure. That's why because, especially the South Indian languages, they're really hard, like they're really, really one of the toughest languages in the world, I think. So like, if there's any language apart from the three that I know, I would definitely need subtitles for that film. Oh yeah, yeah, it's crazy. Like if I just move, not like I'm in the central part of India, in Maharashtra, so if I move a little more north, a lot of people speak Hindi, and then in the South it's like a whole other world, like the language gets harder and harder.
Speaker 2:Basically, yeah, wow. Next thing that we definitely have to talk about is obviously food. When we talk about India. So I mean. I bet you're used to something completely different to what we consider Indian food in Europe 100%.
Speaker 3:I mean, the first time that I left the country like that was, you know, for my masters in UK when we met. So when I tried Indian food in UK it kind of surprised me because it's not I can't describe it but it's not really very spicy. It's not even about the spices, it's really about the way they make it over there. I think it has a lot to do with the kind of ingredients you get and what's in the season and stuff like that. But yeah, it's more mild. I think any cuisine like around the world, if you take like Chinese food or Chinese takeout, it's different in each country. We kind of modify the taste to suit our, you know, taste buds in a way. So yeah, so like the Chinese you get in India is, like you know, like an Indian version of Chinese food. It's almost like that Super spicy and like with a lot of oil and you know so have we?
Speaker 2:have we gone like completely wild? It's not that bad.
Speaker 3:I've not had like Indian food. That's really terrible, thank God, like kudos to the chefs you know who. It's never been that bad. But yeah, I mean you probably won't understand what I describe, you know, until you eat it for yourself in India like the original stuff. So I think you should come here and then see for yourself if there's a difference.
Speaker 2:And so what's your favorite? Do you have a favorite recipe?
Speaker 3:Lots of them. So in my family we are a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian people. Like we are meat eaters and vegetarians, so we kind of divided. But there are a few recipes that you know are common that have been passed down. I think I can't cook for nuts. I mean I really can't cook. If you give me a recipe I'll still probably mess it up in some way.
Speaker 3:But I really like to eat butter chicken. It's this sort of a gravy curry kind of a thing with chicken and lots of butter. But it is spicy as well. It's not mild like butter. So I really like that, super heavy in the stomach but really tasty, and it's a North Indian dish. You should definitely check out a recipe and make it if you can. Then I also like pao bhaji. So pao bhaji is basically so pao means bread and means vegetables, so it basically is like a vegetable curry, not really curry, like a thick curry of vegetables, and you have it with bread and it's really great. It's a great street food over here, so you should check that out also. And I can't make either of them, but I can eat them. In a minute I can finish them.
Speaker 2:I mean, it sounds lovely.
Speaker 3:It's like one for each one for a meat eater and one for a vegetarian.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, another thing that we definitely need to discuss is that you got married half a year ago. Congratulations, and I mean I know that Indian weddings are just something from a totally different universe, Like it's massive right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, pretty big. I mean weddings in general, I think, are a pretty big deal in this country, also because of the traditions and the different kinds of cultures. Like I said, every state has its own little tradition, you know. They've got their own culture, their own sort of family things that they do so in every state. It's kind of they have their own rituals and customs and stuff when it comes to weddings, but overall they're all pretty big weddings.
Speaker 2:But like pretty big that. That means like hundreds of people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hundreds of people for like two days. I mean it's really crazy. Also, like I think the smallest wedding that I've been to is mine. I'm pretty sure about that, because me and my husband, like we discussed about getting married and then the first thing we said was no, we do not want a big wedding with like a thousand people. That's not how it's going to happen with us, because we needed like a chill wedding with few people, like just close friends and family and, like you know, lunch afterwards. So that's what we did.
Speaker 2:So what's a few people in your eyes?
Speaker 3:I'll tell you for you, but we had about 45 people. Is that true?
Speaker 2:Yeah, 45. I mean, yeah, like my husband and I, we had 200, which was pretty big. Which was pretty big so.
Speaker 3:I mean 20. It was almost half half, yeah, like half of his side came from his hometown which is in Madhya Pradesh, which is in the heart of the country. So they flew here and I had my side of my family like really close relatives and a couple of friends, and then my parents decided to invite their friends and all their colleagues and that ended up being like 450 people for lunch.
Speaker 2:So you mean, you had 45 just for the ceremony, but then you had 500 people coming for the lunch. Yep, that's what I mean. That's a whole different story then.
Speaker 3:That is, two different weddings for two different sets of people, one for me and my husband and then one for the parents. But yeah, this is I would call this a compromise. I would call this a really sweet compromise. I genuinely like I genuinely wanted to have a ceremony with just a few people and like no fuss or anything. So that's like that's the only thing I cared about. But I know a bunch of people who've had like strictly small weddings, like genuinely like just 50, 60 people and that's it, like no lunch.
Speaker 3:So it's changing. It's changing. It depends on what kind of a couple you are, if your parents are up for a small wedding or not, because in India, like parents play a huge, huge part in all decisions basically in your life. So, yeah, it's kind of like that. Yeah, so yeah, but it depends like every couple, every marriage is different and nowadays, like the more like maybe people go out or travel or see the world, like they probably come back with a few different ideas of how their wedding should be. And yeah, like it's kind of changing, the wedding industry in India is changing pretty fast.
Speaker 2:Yeah and do they all give you a present? You know all those 500 people, or is it just like they come for the lunch?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we always, there's always like a note. So on the invitation card, like there's always a small side note that says please give blessings, no gifts.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay. Well, and now that you said that parents, like they, play a huge part in, like young people's lives, so I'm wondering, because I think that, like many of us foreigners would still maybe assume that you know, arranged marriages are still a thing in India. So would you agree, or is it just something that's you know long gone?
Speaker 3:No, no, it's, it's very much here. I mean, recently there was a show on Netflix called Indian matchmaking. I don't know if you saw it it's. You know, it's kind of a nightmare for us to watch because most of the people in that show they're like, not from India, like they're Indians, but they've been born and brought up in the United States or whatever. And two, three of them are from India. But they are really rich and well-off people who have a lot of money for matchmakers and stuff. But usually arranged marriages they happen through the family. So if my parents know someone or if my aunt knows somebody or someone in the family knows someone, then they set up a meeting and like the person, then you take it ahead, but it's not really formal. Now it's come to a pretty informal point where you do get to decide if you want no one's forcing you to get married to that person.
Speaker 2:Basically, Okay, well, next thing I wanted to ask is, like fashion, because obviously the typical saris that women wear are stunning, but I've actually never seen you wearing one. So I was wondering if it's because we met in Europe so you wouldn't really wear it while in Europe, or if it's just like something a generational thing, that maybe young people don't wear that much anymore, or like, or I mean, I've seen you wearing one of those on your wedding pictures, which were amazing. Oh, thank you, but yeah, so this is just something I was wondering.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so saris are really like they've worn pretty much everywhere in the country. It doesn't matter where you're from. In India, everybody at least owns a saree in the wardrobe, like for sure, because I have mine from my wedding. But you're right, I mean I particularly don't like saris because I'm not really too comfortable in them. I've not, you know, practiced wearing them since I was a kid. I never really hold them, ever. So it's really the choice that you make. I guess it is just like a clothing item. It's not really, I don't know, like it's a big part of people's wardrobes for sure. Like even if I step out of my house now, I will see 50 women wearing saris. Like that is a more comfortable, accessible clothing ever.
Speaker 3:It is super comfortable if you're used to it, but, yeah, I'm not used to it. So I know a lot of my friends who are not used to it. But I do know a lot of people, like women my age, who love wearing saris, even at home, like even if you know they're just sitting at home just like and like if we wear like jeans or a t-shirt, that's you know. They find the same comfort wearing a saree. So it really depends on what you like to wear and if you're comfortable wearing it.
Speaker 3:But yeah, saris are still a traditional, like part of you know the weddings, like it is a big part of weddings and stuff. It does come under the cultural sort of clothing. So, yeah, no, I mean to be honest, nowadays it's like a huge statement piece. If you're wearing a saree on a casual wednesday, even in a pub, you know, it doesn't really like sarees can be dressed down and dressed up at the same time. You can have, like you know, a very simple organic cotton saree which is so light. You would probably wear it in the summers, because summers in India are really hot.
Speaker 3:So if you wear like a cotton saree in the summers, like, honestly, you can just wear a bunch of sarees for you know, four months and you'll be fine. Like it's almost like a fashion statement. I've met a lot of women while I was in UK who would wear sarees to work or, you know, just go out in the park and chill. Honestly, it's so versatile. You can dress it up or dress it down. So, yeah, there are no rules with the saree. You can wear it whenever you want, however you want.
Speaker 2:So yeah, Okay, and then also I wanted to ask about the red dot on your forehead.
Speaker 3:So, basically, a dot on your forehead just is like a symbol of being feminine or being a woman, and there are different colors to it. So if you're wearing a red dot on your forehead, it usually means that you're married, but there are so many different colors, again it's become more of a statement piece now, more than culture or tradition. So you can have, you know, it's called a bindi, so you can have a bindi the same color of your dress. You know, like you can pick a color that you love, and you can, you know wear a bindi of that color.
Speaker 3:It's very lost.
Speaker 3:It's sort of cultural significance, but yeah it is a mark of you know, being a being, a woman and celebrating that, and it just makes you feel powerful, almost, or just really nice. It's nice to accessorize your forehead from time to time, so they wear it. I do. If I'm wearing something Indian like, if I'm wearing a kurta or a saree or something like that, I will wear a bindi, but not all the time. There have been times where I wear a saree and not wear a bindi. It just depends on how you feel that day.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, that's, that's very cool. And I mean, I think there's one misconception about Indian people or I mean men specifically, that we might be having here is that, like all of them are like Raj Guzhar Pali from the Big Bang theater, that they all love coding and IT and they work on computers like 10 times faster than any European would ever be able to achieve. So, like I bet that that's completely wrong, right.
Speaker 3:It's not completely wrong, I would say Okay.
Speaker 3:So I put it this way there are a lot of Indians who are in the IT sector, who are engineers and you know, who've even gone out of the country and you know, to work in the United States or anywhere in Europe or outside the country, literally anywhere, and we do have that.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't call it a problem, but it is a big trend even now. I think it started in the 90s when the internet started coming up and software was, you know, upgrading like every six months and a lot of Indians were getting into software companies and they're trying to look for jobs outside, and so it kind of became like that that you would find a lot of Indians, you know, at these companies doing those kind of jobs, and even in India we have so many engineers and people who are working in the software industry because, firstly, a lot of people and then a lot of companies who want to come here and, you know, start their offices, so it's not wrong. So the people like the Indians who go abroad I usually the ones who are engineers and who work into IT and companies like that or pharmaceutical companies or anything to do with like science or maths, basically.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean, I think there's another misconception we might be having about India is that is this like magical country full of snake charmers who all do yoga from dusk till dawn? So I was wondering have you ever seen a snake charmer in your life and do you practice yoga every day?
Speaker 3:I wish I had seen a snake charmer. I haven't ever in my life. I mean, at some point I'm sure they were, like maybe 40, 50 years ago. I'm sure Maybe there still are a couple of them spread out here or there, but I've never seen one. I've seen them in movies, just like you, or videos where I've seen one like in front of me. That would scare me, to be honest. I don't think I would For sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the thing with yoga is, you know, in India yoga is not something new or different. It's sort of always been there, like we've always known yoga since we were kids, because in school we would have like half an hour, 45 minutes of yoga, like where they would teach us basic yoga positions and for us to practice at home. It would help us, you know, be stay healthy, be more active and concentrate in our studies. I mean it's basically there to, you know, help you in your life, keep you healthy and active and all those things. I mean we never really learned yoga as like a lifestyle change or something that is happening in the west a lot Like I've seen a lot of foreigners come into India and, you know, becoming yoga people. I don't know how to call them. It's not yoga people Yoga, probably not I think I don't know.
Speaker 3:Then yoga, yogis, yogis, yogis. Yes, that's the word, and it's kind of strange to me because I feel like I don't think yoga is supposed to be your lifestyle change. You're supposed to include yoga in your lifestyle, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like if I see like a foreigner, like who's left their job in in the west and come here and you know, is learning yoga or teaching yoga like full time, I feel like okay, but that's not how I've seen people do yoga here, like that's on a whole extreme level. If you're really finding yourself and if you're doing yoga, like that's insane. Insane in the sense, like wow, I mean you need something to do. That Like some kind of strength, determination to leave everything and just become a yogi or something like it's crazy. But yeah, if you implement like yoga in your everyday life, even if you do it for like 15-20 minutes, and there are so many different types of yoga. There is yoga to help you breathe better, there's yoga to help you be more flexible. I mean there are so many like I mean I'm the wrong person to talk about this because I do not practice yoga in my daily life.
Speaker 3:I wish I could, but I'm just too lazy. But maybe I should. I have been out in school, but not since. You know, not since the last couple of years, I've not really practiced yoga at all. But yeah, if you find time, like even 10-15 minutes a day trying to do meditation, I think it really helps. It can help anybody. You don't have to be a yogi to practice yoga For sure, yeah, okay, well, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:This has been absolutely amazing, and thank you so much for everything that you've told us. It's just now. I guess we all want to, all want to come to India.
Speaker 3:Yeah, obviously now I feel like traveling, but it sucks because I can't do that now.
Speaker 2:but Well, soon, hopefully. Well, thanks so much again. It's been great and thank you to everyone who's listened to this episode and I really hope to see you next week. Bye.