The third interview

Interview preparation

Before the interview, I made sure that my recorder works fine. I also printed out the questions list just like the previous interview. I asked one of my friends on campus to have an interview with me about his culture, personality, country and etc. However, it was a bit difficult to make an appointment for the interview. Because he had a tight schedule, we arranged an appointment for early in the morning. Before he came for the interview I reserved a study room just like last time. He showed up on time, and we started the interview.

Interview process

The interview went very interesting. In the beginning of the interview, I talked to him about some general things so that he feels more comfortable talking to me during the interview. Because I gave him the question list, the questions I was asking him was not surprising to him, as he read the questions before we started the interview. I got to ask pretty much all the questions I wanted to ask him, and got answers in an interesting way. The most impressive part of his interview to me was when he mentioned that in India, they use bikes and motorcycles because of the crowded street. Because that was something I did not know about India. Overall, the interview was just as informative as the previous one, and I enjoyed interviewing him.

Country report

Geography
Area: 3.29 million sq. km. (1.27 million sq. mi.); about one-third the size of the U.S.
Cities: Capital--New Delhi (pop. 12.8 million, 2001 census). Other major cities--Mumbai, formerly Bombay (16.4 million); Kolkata, formerly Calcutta (13.2 million); Chennai, formerly Madras (6.4 million); Bangalore (5.7 million); Hyderabad (5.5 million); Ahmedabad (5 million); Pune (4 million).
Terrain: Varies from Himalayas to flat river valleys and deserts in the west.
Climate: Alpine to temperate to subtropical monsoon.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Indian(s).
Population (2010 est.): 1.17 billion; urban 29%.
Annual population growth rate: 1.376%.
Density: 324/sq. km.
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, others 3%. While the national census does not recognize racial or ethnic groups, it is estimated that there are more than 2,000 ethnic groups in India.
Religions (2001 census): Hindu 80.5%; Muslim 13.4%; Christian 2.3%; Sikh 1.9%; other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi within 1.8%; unspecified 0.1%.
Languages: Hindi, English, and 16 other official languages.
Education: Years compulsory--K-10. Literacy--61%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--49.13/1,000. Life expectancy--66.46 years (2009 est.).
Work force (est.): 467 million. Agriculture--52%; industry and commerce--14%; services and government--34%.

Economy
GDP (FY 2009 est.): $1.095 trillion.
Real growth rate (2009 est.): 6.5%.
Per capita GDP (PPP, FY 2008): $3,100.
Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, chromite, thorium, limestone, barite, titanium ore, diamonds, crude oil.
Agriculture: 17% of GDP. Products--wheat, rice, coarse grains, oilseeds, sugar, cotton, jute, tea.
Industry: 28.2% of GDP. Products--textiles, jute, processed food, steel, machinery, transport equipment, cement, aluminum, fertilizers, mining, petroleum, chemicals, and computer software.
Services and transportation: 54.8% of GDP.
Trade: Exports (FY 2009 est.)--$164.3 billion; engineering goods, petroleum products, precious stones, cotton apparel and fabrics, gems and jewelry, handicrafts, tea. Services exports ($101.2 billion in 2008-2009) represent more than one-third of India's total exports. Software exports--$35.76 billion. Imports (FY 2009 est.)--$268.4 billion; petroleum, machinery and transport equipment, electronic goods, edible oils, fertilizers, chemicals, gold, textiles, iron and steel. Major trade partners--U.S., China, U.A.E., EU, Russia, Japan.

PEOPLE
Although India occupies only 2.4% of the world's land area, it supports over 15% of the world's population. Only China has a larger population. India's median age is 25, one of the youngest among large economies. About 70% live in more than 550,000 villages, and the remainder in more than 200 towns and cities. Over the thousands of years of its history, India has been invaded from the Iranian plateau, Central Asia, Arabia, Afghanistan, and the West; Indian people and culture have absorbed and modified these influences to produce a remarkable racial and cultural synthesis.

Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of social and political organization in India today. However, with more job opportunities in the private sector and better chances of upward social mobility, India has begun a quiet social transformation in this area. The government has recognized 18 official languages; Hindi, the national language, is the most widely spoken, although English is a national lingua franca. Although about 80% of its people are Hindu, India also is the home of more than 138 million Muslims--one of the world's largest Muslim populations. The population also includes Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis.

The Hindu caste system reflects Indian occupational and socially defined hierarchies. Ancient Sanskrit sources divide society into four major categories, priests (Brahmin), warriors (Kshatriya), traders/artisans (Vaishya) and farmers/laborers (Shudra). Although these categories are understood throughout India, they describe reality only in the most general terms. They omit, for example, the tribal people and those outside the caste system formerly known as "untouchables”, or dalits. In reality, Indian society is divided into thousands of jatis--local, endogamous groups based on occupation--and organized hierarchically according to complex ideas of purity and pollution. Discrimination based on caste is officially illegal, but remains prevalent, especially in rural areas. Nevertheless, the government has made strong efforts to minimize the importance of caste through active affirmative action and social policies. Moreover, caste is often diluted if not subsumed in the economically prosperous and heterogeneous cities, where an increasing percentage of India's population lives. In the countryside, expanding education, land reform and economic opportunity through access to information, communication, transport, and credit are helping to lessen the harshest elements of the caste system.

Indian History in Short:-

The History of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread through in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from 3300 BC to 1300 BC. This Bronze Age civilization collapsed at the beginning of the second millennium BC and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plains and which witnessed the rise of kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas.

In the fifth century, large parts of India were united under Ashoka. He also converted to Buddhism, and it is in his reign that Buddhism spread to other parts of the Asia. In the reign of Mauryas, Hinduism took shape fundamentally.

In the eight century Islam came to India and by the 11th century it firmly established itself in India. The North Indian dynasties of the Lodhis, Tughlaqs, and numerous others, whose remains are visible in Delhi and scattered elsewhere around North India, were finally succeeded by the Mughal empire, under which India once again achieved a large measure of political unity.

The European presence in India date to the seventeenth century, and it is in the latter part of this century that the Mughal empire began to disintegrate, paving the way for regional states.

During the first half of the 20th century, a natiowide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress, and later joined by the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from Great Britain in 1947, after being partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan.

Culture

The India culture is multi-faceted to say the least, mostly due to its wide variety of religions as well as the many languages spoken. These are made even more diverse by the existence of indigenous groups and tribes that are each unique in their faith and linguistic repertoires, all of which dwell together in one land.

One of the main features of Indian culture is its rigid hierarchy within the social arenas. Social classes are defined and maintained by specific hereditary groups, which are sustained by ensuring that all members marry within a specific class, ethnic group or social group. This is called endogamy. These groups are termed castes and this caste system is strictly adhered to in the vast majority of the families and societies of India. The family is headed by the patriarch (the father) and usually includes a number of generations within one household. This has not changed much in recent years, although urbanisation is resulting in more households consisting of just the parents and their children.

The Indian culture does not advocate divorce and, although most marriages are arranged by the parents and other relatives, the divorce rate is far lower than in many other lands. The bride and groom have to consent to their families’ choices, and marriages are generally long term. Half of the women are married before the age of 18 years.

The culture of this country is particularly syncretic in nature. This means that there are a number of different beliefs and

An Indian woman carrying on with her work.

faiths being combined in an effort to create a unity despite basic differences. Usually, it is key thoughts, motivations and ideals that are identified and merged as bases for the entire society, rather than trying to get everyone to subscribe to one faith, religion, political opinion and so on. Cultural pluralism is another term used to define Indian culture. This refers to the large number of small groups (of languages, religions, social sectors, etc...) within one country, each of which enjoys the general acceptance of the remaining population. This sort of culture is not only about living without warring against one another, but about seeking qualities in the other groups that are worth imitating and integrating these into the larger society. Even certain aspects of the lives and cultures of immigrants or those entering into India for political reasons are considered, refined and, if desirable, adopted.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454.htm

http://www.facts-about-india.com/history-of-india.php

http://www.indiaforever.org/india-culture.html

Transcipt

FA: Hi, thank you for coming! How are you doing?

SM: I am good, and you?

FA: Very well, I have some questions to ask you, and here is the list of the questions.

SM: OK.

FA: Where were you from again?

SM: I am from India.

FA: Which part of India?

SM: From Hyderabad, that is Northwest part of India.

FA: OK. How is the weather like in Hyderabad?

SM: Actually, my hometown has a climate of combination of tropical wet and dry. Often times it will be very warm.

FA: OK. Do people enjoy the weather in your country?

SM: Yeah, even though it is warm, they are born in this type of climate, so they get used to that warmness and enjoy the weather.

FA: Nice, so the weather is warm over there; Can you describe a typical day for a child in Hyderabad?

SM: Umm… children have quite more assignments in my country compared to what it is in the US. So they have to study a quite a lot. A typical day for a child would be going to school in the morning, and doing some homework after coming back. And going out to play cricket or soccer, after that they would come back home, and after having dinner, they go to sleep. So, yeah that is about it, I guess.

FA:  Good, what about yourself, were you here when you were a child?

SM: No, actually, I came to the US four years back. I spent my childhood in India.

FA: At what age do children start going to school in India?

SM: Usually, children go to school when they are seven years old.

FA: Ok. Tell me about your childhood; when did you start your school and etc.?

SM: Well, my childhood was fun, I went to kinder-garden when I was four years old, and when I was seven years old I went to the first grade. After finishing my high school, I came to US. Right now I am a senior at SCSU.

FA: Sounds great. How do you like SCSU?

SM: I like it a lot actually. The education, facilities are nice at SCSU

FA: Good. Do you think SCSU should improve on something so that its students feel more comfortable going to SCSU?

SM: Well, as I said before I really like SCSU, and I can’t think of anything that SCSU should improve on.

FA: OK. Have you lived in one of the dorms at SCSU?

SM: No. I have been living off campus since I came to SCSU.

FA: The reason I asked you this question is that the students who live in dorms sometimes complain about the lack of room space in dorms.

SM: Yeah, that could be something that SCSU should improve on, I guess.

FA: OK. Going back to your country, can you tell me some types of greetings that are commonly used in your culture?

SM: I think it is a handshake. This is commonly used by the people in India, except woman. Because woman give a hug to woman if they know each other well.

FA: I got you. How about sports in India? What is the most popular spot type in your country?

SM: Well, the most popular type of sport is cricket. However, I am a big fan of soccer.

FA: Do you play soccer a lot?

SM: Yes I do. Especially I enjoy watching soccer games very much.

FA: That is good. What can you tell me about the different types of transportations that are mainly used in India?

SM: Actually, in my hometown the street are very crowded with people, so most of the people prefer to use bikes, motorcycles and public transports like: bus, train. The main reason people do not usually use cars is that it is very difficult to drive a car in this kind of streets. With motorcycles, they reach their destination faster than by car.

FA: So, it is bikes and motorcycles. What are the main religions in India?

SM: There are two main religions. One is Hinduism which is the main religion at about 80% of population. The next one is Islam.

FA: What religious holidays do you or people in your community celebrate?

SM: Since I am Muslim, we (in my community) celebrate two main religious holidays in a year. One is “eid ul-fitr” and the other one is “eid ul-adhaa”.

FA: How do you celebrate it?

SM: We get together with our family members and relatives, and cook our traditional food and enjoy it.

FA: Sounds like fun. Do you also have some daily rituals?

SM: Yes, I do. We have to pray five times a day as a Muslim.

FA: OK. Which country’s food do you like the most except your own country’s?

SM: Often times, I tend not to eat very oily foods, but I like American pizzas. Actually, I consider myself as a good cook, so most of the times I cook my food by myself. I really do not eat outside that much.  

FA: What are the similarities and differences between your country’s food and American food?

SM: The biggest difference is that our food is very spicy compared to American foods. That is why I had some problem with eating non-spicy food here. But, I figured that out gradually.

FA: That sounds interesting. Well, I am very glad that you came and let me interview you. That was the end of the questions, and thank you for coming, I appreciate it.

SM: No problem.

FA: Alright bye, take care.

SM: Yeah, you too.