Group Blog (Little India)

     When we were at Little India, we interviewed many Indian people to find out more about their culture and traditions.
     
     One interesting fact that we found out was that Indians not only celebrate Deepavali, but also many other festivals like Holi and Navratri. Also known as the festivals of colours, Holi is one of the most famous festivals in India. On the day of Holi, people gather in open areas and apply dry and wet colours of multiple hues to each other, with some carrying water guns and coloured water filled balloons. Holi signifies the victory of good over evil and the arrival of spring. During Navratri, people are dressed in colorful traditional clothes and the environment is very youthful. We did not know anything about Holi and Navratri so this experience is certainly an eye opener for us!

     As we walked along the shops, we also saw many shops selling Indian traditional costumes. The costumes were all of different colours and thus they made the whole shop looked very colorful and beautiful. We went into the shop to find out more about Indian traditional costumes from the shop owner and learnt that there are actually many different Indian traditional attires and all of them belong to a different Indian community.  For example, there was the sari, which belong to the south Indian women. Another example is the Paithani, which belongs to Western India. Initially, we have to admit that we do not know much about the Indian costumes although we often see indians wearing those costumes. It is partially because we did not really interact and ask them about what they wear during different occasions. 

(Photo below shows the traditional sari that Indians normally wear)

     

     Apart from this, we also saw many different types of food such as desserts and spices. We got the chance to interview a few stall vendors for a deeper understanding of the Indian culture and learnt that in Indian food, they use spices to make their food tastier and healthier. Also, a stall vendor gave a further explanation and told us that spices helped to prevent food spoilage and that Indians are so accustomed to spicy food that spices are very commonly used in their food. We think that this is a unique concept that perhaps the Chinese or the Malays could also include in their cuisines. We also learnt that Indians are forbidden to eat beef, but some of them are also not allowed to eat pork. Hence, we have to be careful of this concept when Indian friends come to visit us.

(Photo below shows desserts that Indians eat)

   
     Later on we went to Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which was a few minutes walk from the street. Inside the temple, we saw people having unique prayers such as lying down on the floor. This is very different from our culture but we learnt that we should not give rude comments and just appreciate the culture. We had a chance to go to Indian heritage centre and Little India Arcade. There, many stall vendors sells souvenirs of Little India and Singapore, such as henna. There were not many deep explanations behind this, but one main one that we have found out is that in Indian culture, they love jewellery and tattoos. Henna is a great substitution for permanent tattoos as some may dislike it. The design of the henna are mostly creative and modern-like, thus attracting people to get it. 

(Photo below shows Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which devotees go to pray)

    
     Despite the differences between the Indian culture and our culture, we have learnt to appreciate the differences and other people's culture. Unity in diversity is what we learnt during Enc week, and we should respect different cultures to maintain a harmonious society.