interview

ben-hi my names is ben miller, yours?

anuj- im anuj sharma

b-do you mind if i record this?

a-no

b-how are you today

a-im doing good, and you self

b-im doing good, how do you like your time at school

a-it's going good classes are fun but challenging

b-tell me about your family

a-i live with my mom and dad, i have 2 brothers and 1 sister. my mom works in the lab at a hospital and my dad has a marketing company

b-What is the value of family in your country?

a-Family is very important, usually more important than anything else.  In most homes, the parents will often still live with their children.  And it is mostly expected that when your parents get older, you should take care of them.  And keeping your children in the house for as long as they want.

 b-how does that affect how you are viewed in your family

a-These ideas have stayed with me when I emigrated from India, family is always number 1.  I would not do anything without telling my family or discussing it with them first. 

b-What is your family structure like? is that how your home country does it?

a-Because my immediate family came together, It has essentially stayed the same.  So it is my family and my grandparents and our dog. 

b-How does your home country culture different from the US culture?

a-It is different because how others have relationships with their families. It is also very liberal compared to india.  Everybody has a different mindset when it comes to personalities and how you act in public.  It has become very similar in the last few decades, especially recently.  Every body there has their smarty phones, they all go on facebook.  It is more similar to here than you would think.

b-how is it similar

a-The closeness of the family.  Everybody is always close together even if they aren't family.  Friendships are also very strong compared to here. 

b-What are the highlights in your culture?

a-Sometimes there can be a lot of pressure to succeed, especially now that we are in 'murca.  We are expected to surpass our parents success but that can be difficult when you want to pursue something that they don't.

b-What is the most famous food in your country?

a-The most famous food is a flat bread we call roti, but the big macs there aren't to bad either

b-what is your favorite food?

a-My favorite food is pizza, dat shit good

b-how does the food differ from here?

a-The big macs here have beef, the big macs.  The food there is mostly vegetarian, with a large variety of spices and seasonings.  Most of the food there is also usually very fresh, often cooked the day it was bought.  The only thing that is consumed there that is frozen is ice cream. 

b-What are your meals like? Size, number, times of day

a-The meals are relatively normal to the sizes here.  It does seem like the  food their was more healthy, compared to what I eat here.  The meals are spaced the same their as they are here, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We also drink a lot of tea, usually 2 or 3 times a day.

b-does that have anything to do with population?

a-No, although I don't I see any reason for or against

b-What is the education system in your country?is it corrupt?

a-The education system is relatively the same.  Although the corruption is horrible there.  I know several family members that paid their way out of high school.  But school is the least of the corruption problems in india.

b-Do a lot of people get a chance to attend college in your country?

a-I think the chance to attend school is very much easier here than in india.  Here, even if you don't get into a well known university, there are so many other smaller schools, technical schools and even community college.  And If you dont want to do that, you can do online school.  There are a lot of schools in india, but in some areas, pre university education is to poor to allow them a chance for college.

b-who gets to attend college?

a-Anybody can attend college if they work hard, and have a moderate amount of money.

b-What are the top three social pastimes?

a-Spending time with family is a big thing, but there is always just hanging out with friends.  Sports are big thing with my circle too.  Some days we would just play soccer all day long. 

b-What are the different religions your country? And what is the predominant religion?

a-There are to main religions, Hinduism and Islam.  There are also a great number of Sikhs as well.  There's some Christians too, but they usually are just in their missions and running catholic schools. 

b-What are some holidays that you celebrate in ________ and how do you celebrate them?

a-Some big holidays that you might have heard of are Divali and Holi.  Divali is the festival of lights and can be one of the most beautiful times of the year.  Holi is the festival of colors and it is one of the best days of the year.  This is also the celebration of a new spring.  We do this by playing a game where we throw handfuls of powdered colors at each other.  It is very fun and exciting.

b-does the caste system still play a huge role in your country?

a-The caste system is still a very big deal to some people, and that's kinda sad.  You still cannot marry out of your caste and some caste members are looked down upon.  Even here, I had a woman tell me that doing something charitable for a brahman, me, is the most important thing you can do.  I felt like that was so backwards and ridiculous. 

b-well thank you for your time and you gave me good insight into the country of india

a-im glad i could help you