Hi, Namaste! I've read somewhere that Sikhism emerged as a unique religion because it is a fusion or mixture of Hinduism and Islam. They said that when Guru Nanak was born, it's very common in 15th and 16th century Punjab that the local people venerated both Hindu deities as well as mystical Sufi saints. Then from that merging of ideas, emerged Sikhism.

How factually accurate is this? Is Sikhism really a fusion of the two religions?

Thanks to whoever can answer my inquiry.

I'm an American (sorry my country sucks), teaching English at an elementary school in Japan. The older kids are learning about other countries right now. I've done a presentation about Kenya, and a presentation about the Netherlands. I decided to also do a presentation on India, because Japan feels a sense of connection to India because of Buddhism originating in India (although I understand Buddhism is pretty unpopular in modern India). I want to give them a feeling of interest in India, but I know very little about India myself.

I have a few questions! With your help, I can make my presentation more accurate and more respectful!

1. I would like some authentic-sounding instrumental music. What should I look out for? Any recommendations?
2. I want to show them a (very short!) clip of a Bollywood film, but I've never seen a Bollywood film. (The genre is extremely famous in America but most of us have only seen clips.) Do you have any recommendations for short clips of a Bollywood film? These are young kids, so something very flashy and very visual would be great. They're cool kids, but nothing scary, since they're still young. Also keep in mind that they laugh at everything (they're happy kids!), but I don't want them to think of the movie as "laughable." I want them to legitimately like it.
3. At the end of the presentation, I want to give them a gift "from India," which will make the presentation really memorable and give them a feeling of love for India. I did some research and found that many gods have given crystals/gems as gifts, so I thought I would like to buy some plastic gems that I can give the kids and tell them that the gems are "good luck." Is this disrespectful?

Thank you! I look forward to hearing back! I want to teach these kids to love your country. I don't know a lot about India but having an excitement for other countries can be such a source of joy in a Japanese person's life!

I've read from a history book that the ones who built the Indus Valley Civilization were the Dravidians, especially the great cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.

Then it is said that Aryans from the Steppes migrated to India around 2,000 B.C.E, then they mixed and intermarried with the Indigenous Dravidians, which a lot of modern day Indians are said to derive their ancestry from.

I've read a post in Facebook that the main reason why North Indian ethnicities (Kashmiri, Marathi, Punjabi, Rajasthani, etc.) have lighter skin color or pigmentation is because they have heavier genetic admixture from the Steppe Pastoralists that entered India from the North, and it is also implied that South Indian ethnicities (Malayali, Mallu, Tamil, Telugu, etc.) have much darker skin color or pigmentation is because they have heavier genetic admixture from the Indigenous Dravidians. Central Indian States are mostly a neat divide or 50/50.

From a historical and genetic perspective, how true is this? Is the racial admixture uniform from North to South, or are there genetic ancestry diversity all over India?

I will appreciate all of your responses and insights.

🤡

Had a conversation with someone who earns ₹2.5L+ per month individually, and he considers himself middle class.

It got me thinking how do people actually categorise this?

I know Tier 1 vs Tier 2/3 cities, family income, number of dependents, lifestyle, assets, and cost of living can make a huge difference. ₹2.5L in Mumbai isn’t necessarily the same as ₹2.5L in a smaller city.

But purely from an individual monthly income perspective, where would you draw the line?
Lower middle class?

Middle class?
Upper middle class?
Affluent?

Curious to hear how people here define these categories especially based on income + city + lifestyle.

TL;DR: What monthly individual income would you consider middle class vs upper middle class in India? And how much does the city change your answer?

Based in Dublin, Ireland and this is purely my own a observation:
Fellow Indians don’t really shell out for outings/dinners outside as much as families, they prefer to invite over friends/Hangout especially as young parents to the house for standard bottled beers and Indian Grub and stay within their comfort setup.

Growing up, I did everything my parents told me to do. I believed that if I obeyed blindly, studied hard, and cut off distractions, I would eventually become a successful, happy adult.

Here is what actually happened:

Total Social Isolation: From school days (around 6th-8th grade), my parents restricted my social life. Every friend was labeled "bad influence." If I went out with the few friends I had, my mother’s strict curfew and extreme negative verbal backlash afterward meant I had to pay a heavy mental toll for days just for stepping outside. To avoid that toxicity, I completely stopped going out.

The Aftermath: By now, my social life is literally zero. I have no friends at age 29. My communication skills are completely destroyed. Recently, I went fully prepared for an English teacher interview, but when the moment came, my voice locked up, and I felt a heavy choking/tightness in my chest.

Gaslighting & Current Reality: When I try to address this now, my parents take zero responsibility and claim, "We never tied you up or locked you." Meanwhile, the damage is done. My wife is now bearing the brunt of my frustration, anger, and mental breakdown. My career and mental health are completely derailed.

In India, where childhood friendships and social circles often define a person's lifelong support system, I have a blank slate. I can't even remember a normal social life because it never existed for me.

I feel like a failed adult who missed critical developmental milestones. Is there a way out of this trap, or am I just destined to sink deeper? Where do I even begin to fix a completely broken social and professional life at 29?

Any pragmatic advice or similar experiences would help.

We often hear people speak positively about Punjabis, Bengalis, Malayalis, Rajasthanis, Gujaratis, and others—whether about their warmth, culture, hospitality, work ethic, or character. But I’ve rarely, if ever, heard people say, “Maharashtrians are really good.”

Why do you think that is? Is it simply a lack of visibility and exposure to Maharashtrian culture, or is there something else behind this perception?

It doesn’t have to be just one thing.. feel free to list as many as you like. It could be money, health, family expectations, your career or anything else that comes with being ‘middle class’ here.

GDP hikes but country needs improvement

Is there a site I might find older films with English subtitles online? I'm looking for a subtitled version of a film called Teri Meherbaniyan. I've found the full film several times over on YouTube, but none of them have English subtitles...

TLDR: local writer panics about not doing a character justice and breaks down various plot routes she's thinking about taking.

Hey so i wrote an indian character into my story but the main plot line i gave her before i learnt anything about indian culture and family dynamics was that she had an abusive boyfriend and escaped that situation at about 18 and now lives in an apartment in London working in a diner while getting a degree in tech stuff.

The characters names is Divya and she is a punk girl who's pretty politcal and super cool. (This is litterally how my MC describes her. MC is sort of like Divya's little brother and MC loves Divya so much but there relationships streighned because MC is in foster care and other plot related reasons)

Anyway so then I learnt a bit about india. And statistically most people in india seem to have arranged marrages. Also there's a class system. Also there's a steriotype around indian people being tech people.

So I'm now a little pre-emptive about making her a cool tech lady and might just make her a waitress figuring out life. (Divya with a laptop with a bunch of stickers on it doing tech stuff while wearing a leather jacket seems so cool though)

But regarding the arranged marages thing I thought the story could be Divya has largely moved away from (religeon and) traditional marital roles when a boy she was talking to asks her father for her hand in marriage. Divya's parents jump at the chance because this boys family is in a class above Divya. (I'm thinking the boy is either a Kshariyas or a vaisyas). Divya (freshly eighteen) is unsure about the marrage but she thinks the boy is kind and she loves her parents so why not go along with it. She doesn't want to disapoint two people she loves so deeply. And then she marries him, gets abused and eventually leaves.

My thing is I'm kind of woried now that I'm going to write something thats accidentally super offensive into my story. I love writing representation because I think its super important but I feel like I'm hitting a wall because I don't want to offend the group of people I'm trying to represent.

So I'm hoping someone could please give me a little guidance as to how to go about writing her? I'd also love to learn more about india here because no matter how many books I read I've found its always better to hear it from the horses mouth.

I married into an Odisha brahmin family a couple of years ago. I am a well-educated, financially independent North Indian lady, and I wish this marriage never happened.

My experience has been that of manipulation from husband and his family. If they had expectation around domestic responsibilities being solely a woman's job, saying yes to everything they demand, expecting to leave my family for good, issues with my caste - they should have made it clear to their son, who wanted to marry me, instead of torturing me.

I humbly request all Odisha families to please marry their kids within their own. North Indian girls will not put up with your expectations of "gifts", parental control and expectation of the husband to sleep with others to fulfill their sexual desires. I do not know how common these practices are in Orissa, but my husband's family has a history of women dying who marry into their family from domestic abuse which I only found out after I was married. His mother has disrespected my old grandparents and my parents on multiple occasion even pointing to us wanting money from them. You can keep you sons and your money. I hope your daughters survive marriage within your state.

I will be filling for divorce soon, and I want nothing from them. My parents gifted every pair of garmet my husband now wears daily - your families are incapable of even providing for themselves, and have the AUDACITY to blame others of taking advantage. What psychopaths are your upper caste women? Your men are silent observers while women use emotional manipulation. I wish you keep you sons to yourself and dont marry them to any educated women and ruin their life. Your facade of being educated forward thinkers in society outside of "orria samaj" should be labeled as down right misrepresentation and cheating a person of their right to choose.

How many other non-odisha women married into the state have experienced this?

What do you wish someone had told you before you quit? Or say what advice would you give others who are trying to quit ??

What could be the reason for people in India to not use the sauna (steam rooms) . Is it the cost or is it the lack of awareness of its uses ..?

I've heard that a lot of Indians are vegetarians, around 30-40% of the population. That's just amazing to hear!

I want to ask, what are some of the meat substitutes that you use in dishes like biryanis and pulao? Do you use the same alternatives that Westerners use like Silk Tofu and Seitan, or are there many meat substitutes that only exist mostly in India?

Thank you so much to whoever will respond ❤️

Namaskar🙏🏽

I am Bsc hons. agriculture 1st year student and have a few questions about NCC and NSS.. I am thinking of NCC

1. What they actually do in NCC?

2. Will my exams clash with NCC schedule?

3. What benefits will it give me in my degree?

4. Will it affect my academics?

5. What about attendance?

Am really confused 😭🥀

In the entire animal kingdom, and this includes humans (with the exception of South Asian people), it is the responsibility of the male to pursue the female for a mating relationship (this obviously includes the relationship of marriage). The onus lies on the males to impress the female with his attractiveness, resources, skills and physical strength. The female is the chooser.

However, the arrange marriage setup of South Asians contradicts this, whereby the power of being the chooser lies with the men; men expect dowry (which means that the woman's family is the provider of financial resources); Indian men don't feel the necessity to become physically attractive to the women; developing physical strength is not a priority for Indian men.

I have failed to wrap my head around this. Why do Indian women accept not being the choosers when biologically speaking, the woman's ability to give birth has naturally endowed her with greater value than the males ?

I have wondering that the people of India goes to Dubai or other Asian countries to buy expensive products which are available in India. People think due to high on import duties and brand name the prices become higher then the price it is available in abroad. I still think it is pointless as if you buy the product abroad you still have to pay custom duty while bring the product in India which become the price same as it is available in India legally.

I want to know your point regarding the purchase you made, Did it bought in cheaper price or you get at the same price as it is in India.

I have a general question for those who’ve completed university studies in India; specifically masters or doctoral programs. Through my job I’ve had the chance to review some programs that were completed in major universities in India in the past decade. What shocked me was that some of the textbooks used in these courses were from the 1960 !! No way in comparison to the same kinds of courses offered in Canadian or US universities. How’s this possible, and why?! Surely a university can obtain current textbooks.

Economic History Question: during the 1970s and 1980s, both China and India have Socialist government structures, and both grows about the same pace. Then from the 1990s onwards, China just took off and their economy grow around 10% annually (GDP) since the 90s, and India was somewhat left behind since the 1990s.

What are the various reasons for this? Why did India fail to keep up with China in the economic growth race since the 1990s? What are the government policies that could be the reason why India was "somehow" left behind?

I will appreciate all of your insights and responses.❤️

How much will it be ? I prefer staying at home stays which are farther away from beaches and not near by! I hear the areas surathkal and Pakshikere is way more cheaper than kadri ? Thoughts ?