India: A Novela Where Cultural Differences Become Salient

Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff, Stuck in Customs (Flickr)

It’s almost been a week since India’s premiere on TeleFutura and I must admit that I've been glued to the television screen every single episode. Although last night’s episode focused primarily on developing secondary characters, a lot of interesting things happened:

Raj & Duda

Last night we saw cultural differences between Raj and Duda become more salient. If you haven’t been following, Raj recently broke up with Duda because his family is against him marrying a non-Indian girl (a “firangi”). Upset that Raj ended the relationship so abruptly, the only explanation Duda can come up with is that Raj is in love with another woman. As they converse about their break-up, she insists on finding out who this imaginary woman is and refuses to understand that he left her because he doesn’t want to be ex-communicated from his family, community and caste.

As I watched this scene, I couldn’t help but to think about the cultural differences driving this break-up. Raj, coming from a collectivist society where relationships—to one’s family, to one’s neighbors, to one’s caste—seems to be at the center of everything can’t get Duda to understand that it’s not a lack of love that’s standing between them but an entire community. Duda on the other hand, living in a western society, sees things from a more individualistic perspective. To her, the problem is all about them two and the choices that each of them makes. Although Brazilian society is not as individualistic as those of the United States or Western Europe, her cultural background doesn’t allow her to understand what it means to be excluded from his social circle and caste.

Bahuan & Shankar

We also saw Shankar (Bahuan’s adoptive father) become upset over Bahuan’s plans to leave India for the United States. In the past two episodes, Shankar has been acting a little bit more conservative than we might have expected. While in the first episode he talked about castes being man-made and not necessarily indicative of what a person should do, last night we found out that the reason he didn’t marry the love of his life is because of the restrictions imposed upon his (Brahman) caste. He also has refused to lie for Bahuan because, as a member of the priestly caste, he could never live with lying—no matter how benevolent the lie might be. While I don’t expect him to lie, I do hope we can get a little more clarity as to whether he’s for or against castes. If he doesn’t believe that castes should determine what a man can do, why does he follow the rules of conduct for his caste so strictly?

I guess we’ll have to keep on watching to see where the story takes us next. As we wait for tonight’s episode, let me just say that Duda is not going to stand idly by as Raj leaves for India...

Novela "India" Shows the Importance of Family in Indian Culture

Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff, Stuck in Customs (Flickr)

If you’ve been following India, TeleFutura’s new sensation, you have become aware of the importance of family in Indian culture.

We have recently seen how one’s family can be the most important thing in determining one’s social status in Indian society. For example, if your family is from the merchant class, you will also belong to that class. In a society that is portrayed as highly hierarchical, this is of extreme importance as your past can directly affect your future.

Case in point: Bahuan. Coming from a family in the lowest caste of Indian society, (dalit), he is not only prohibited from marrying Maya, but he’s not even allowed to touch her. Not having a family of a “respectable” caste, he also doesn’t have anybody with whom to appear before Maya’s parents to ask for her in marriage. While Shankar has attempted to give Bahuan the opportunity to have a family, he will not lie and say that he is Bahuan’s biological father in order to make Maya’s parent’s believe that their daughter is marrying a member of the priestly caste (highest social class). As her parents not only insist on meeting his family and learning about his family tree, Bahuan seems to be in an impossible situation.

Similarly, through Raj’s character we see the importance of the family as a means for passing on Indian traditions to future generations. His father warns that in marrying a foreigner, he will not only affect his own life but the lives of his children and future generations. Thus, his marriage not only concerns him but his entire family. Unfortunately, even his rebellious grandfather seems to think that he shouldn’t marry a non-Indian girl. The situation is further complicated by the fact that his family seems to be very close-knit, as can be seen in a scene where they are gathered in the kitchen as Indira (his mom) prepares a meal. Knowing that he will be ex-communicated from his family and society if he decides to marry Duda, he finally chooses his family over her. The problem now will be dealing with the resulting consequences especially since Duda didn’t take the bad news lightly.

As the young Indian characters of India attempt to settle down and get married, we can see that avoiding family intervention is no easy task. if you’ve been watching closely, you can also see that plans are in-the-making to get Maya and Raj to marry each other. These may soon pan out—especially if Shankar tells Maya’s parents the truth about Bahuan’s identity.

Will the families succeed in deciding the protagonists’ lives or will they be able to marry whomever they want?