Unveil the Culture differences in the movie of Outsourced

Unveil the Culture differences in the movie of Outsourced Unveil the Culture Differences In the Movie of Outsourced Abstract As globalization has become the norm rather than the exception, some countries will thrive because they can deliver services cheaper. But culture shock always exists. So we need to understand their culture and how people from different countries live, communicate and perceive the world around. The movie Outsourced represents many culture differences between America and India. This paper unveiled the culture differences from four aspects: religions, customs, traditional food and languages. The purpose is to help people know the importance of understanding others’ culture in both business and daily life and to make the intercultural communication more effective. Key words: Outsourced; culture differences; India culture; American culture Introduction As the whole world becomes a small village and the intercultural communication becomes more and more important of a country’s society and economy, challenges come together. The first thing we need to do is to know the culture of the country and to know the culture differences between different countries. The movie is adapted from the book The World is flat by Thomas Laure iFriedman and it’s the best image representative of Thomas Friedman’s Theory: the world is flat. It is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. It’s also alludes to the perceptual shift required for countries, companies and individuals to remain competitive in a global market where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant. In some developed countries, providing service over the telephone, such as call centers, will be moved to developing countries like India or China because of the lower costs. In this movie, it is said that the cost of hire a man in America equals to eight times that of in India. This essay is about the culture differences between India and America based on the movie of Outsourced. India culture differs from American culture in many aspects. The author selected four integral parts to tell the difference: religions, customs, traditional food and languages. 1. The plot of the movie Outsourced When Todd Anderson's job and entire department are outsourced, he reluctantly travels to India to train his replacement. Arriving in India, he experiences culture shock: he is confused by everything from catching a train to hiring a taxi. Through his team of quirky Indian call center workers, Todd soon realizes that he also has a lot to learn, not only about India culture but also about himself. Todd's objective is to reduce the time needed to complete the average call from 12 minutes to six. If his team can not achieve this, his boss won't let him go home. iiOne day Todd gets caught in Holi festival, a celebration of colors. He initially tries to run away from the people throwing colored powders and water balloons at him, but he finally joins in the celebration and has fun. He then submerges himself in the village lake and then emerges, emphasizing his acceptance of the culture. Todd once asked Asha why people put the statue of the god of destruction everywhere. Asha told him that sometimes destruction is a good thing because she ends on circle and the new one can begin. Day after day, Todd has finally engaged in the India culture. But good times do not last long. Todd's boss, David, suddenly arrives. When he comes to check on the progress, which was previously just over six minutes per call, he told Todd that the company will be outsourcing to China for a much cheaper price. All the employees have lost their jobs and he expects Todd to travel to China and train his replacement once again. But, Todd refused and got back to America. 2. The culture differences between India and America The India culture is very different from American culture and huge culture gap is between them. A culture gap is any systematic difference between two cultures which hinders mutual understanding or relations. Such differences include the religions, beliefs, customs, traditions, languages, ceremonies, arts, values and the way of life. Mutual misunderstandings and incomprehension have aroused between people from differing backgrounds and experiences. 2.1 Religions Throughout its history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture. Religious diversity and religious tolerance are both established in the country by law and custom. In the movie Outsourced, Todd found a statue everywhere: in his room, in the car, in the office and he was very confused because he did not know who she is. Actually, she is the god of destruction and she ends the old circles so the new one can begin. If we want to know her story, we need to know more about the religions in India. 2.1.1 The religion of India India is the birthplace of four of the world's major religious traditions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Others include Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. The Hinduism accounts for the biggest proportion of the India religions. A mass of gods and goddess are worshipped in India. In Hinduism alone there are estimates in the millions for the number of Indian gods and goddesses. For example, according to Hinduism, three Lords rule the world. Brahma: the creator; Vishnu: the preserver and Shiva: the destroyer. Lord Vishnu did his job of preserving the world by incarnating himself in different forms at times of crisis. The three Lords that rule the world have consorts and they are goddesses. Consort of Brahma is Sarasvati; goddess of learning. Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi; goddess of wealth and prosperity. Shiva's consort is Parvati who is worshipped as Kali or Durga. A vast majority of Indians associate themselves with a religion. The Constitution of India declares the nation to be a secular republic that must uphold the right of citizens to freely worship and propagate any religion or faith and also declares the right to freedom of religion as a fundamental right. Each of the religions in India has an extensive history and native tradition attached to it—even those with a different birthplace. These have all woven themselves into the very culture and language of India and its people. 2.1.2 The religion of America An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid. See the chart 1.1 below 1.1 Major religious traditions in the U.S For this pie chart, we can see that 78.4% of American adults are Christian. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Central to the Christian faith is the gospel, the teaching that humans have hope for salvation through the message and work of Jesus, and particularly, his atoning death on the cross. Christians also believe Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the iiiHebrew Bible. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity ("tri-unity"), a description of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This includes the vast majority of churches in Christianity, although minorities are Non-trinitarians. 2.2 Customs Customs is a very import part of culture. Custom is habit, individual or collective’s tradition, inheritance, etiquette and fashion. 2.2.1 Attitude toward privacy India people like to inquire about other people’s personal information to show their personal information to show their friendship and intimacy. They usually talk about age, money or marriage, and so on. Such as: ―How old are you?‖, ―Are you married?‖, ―How much do you make?‖ Americans value individualism and the sense of privacy a lot. They talk about weather and some other things. Their topic includes travel, movie, places and culture. Such as:‖It is fine, isn’t it?‖,‖It’s raining hard, isn’t it?‖,‖Your dress is so nice!‖,‖What do you think of spider-man‖, ―Have you been to Being? It’s a good place‖. Just as what the movie has presented, Todd was asked about a lot of privacy ivquestions by Puro’s Mother when they first met. It made Todd very confused and uncomfortable. Actually, she just wants to show her friendship. The reason of this embarrassment is that they have no knowledge of each other’s culture. 2.2.2 Festival With the development of globalization, many festivals become popular all over the world. However, there still have some festivals that are unique in Indian. Such as vviviiHoli, Yugadi, Teej festival, Bandi Festival and so on. If you want to integrate into a different culture, learn to know the history of the festival and to celebrate it is definitely a good way. 2.2.3 Clothing Style In the movie, Todd changed his cloth after he had good fun in the Holi festival. What’s more, it is a traditional India cloth. We are very familiar with American clothing now, but clothing in India is every special. Traditional clothing in India varies with region, religion and community. Formal business attire is fairly uniform across the country, and similar to western clothing. Women's clothing in India varies widely and is closely related to local culture, religion and climate. The traditional style of clothing in India varies with male or female distinctions. This is still followed in the rural areas, though is changing in the urban areas. Girls before puberty wear a long skirt (called langa/paawada in Andhra) and a short blouse, called a choli, above it. Teenage girls wear half-sarees, a three piece set consisting of a langa, a choli and a stole wrapped over it like a saree. Women usually wear full sarees. viiiixTraditional Indian clothing for women are saris or gaghra cholis. They are considered beautiful clothes depending on the occasion. For men, traditional clothes xare the kurta Dhoti/Pajama. In south India men wear long, white sheets of cloth. In north Indian languages like Hindi, Marathi and Oriya these are called dhothi, while in Telugu they are called Pancha and in Tamil they are called veshti. Over the dhoti, men wear shirts. 2.2.4 Toilet habits If you want to do a good business with Indians, you would better know their special toilet habits. The first day Todd went to Puro’s home, they bought some snacks for him. He used his left hand to eat and do not know that it’s impolite in Indians eyes. After Todd sensed something weird, he asked them and they told him that the left hand is considered to be unclean. The reason Indians consider the left hand to be unclean is that there are no toilet papers in Indian. They use their left hand instead. As a consequence, there are many things you need to pay attention to your left hand in India. Indians use their right hand directly to eat and absolutely no one will eat with the left hand. If you are eating with Indians, you’d better not put your left on the table. What’s more, shaking Indians hands with you left hand will make them feel insulted. 2.3 Traditional Food and Eating habits The eating habits in the Indian culture are largely based on religion and tradition. A high-vegetable diet with no beef and generally no pork comes from the Hindu religion. Other things like caste restrictions, weather, and geography have also affected the eating habits of Indians. What and how they eat can be considered from the following discussion. Three meals are taken by Indians like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Snacks are also enjoyed within tea time in early evening. Two main groups of people are in India that is different in their eating habits and choice of foods. They are vegetarians and Vishnu. Vegetarians have their own beliefs to skip eating meat in their lives. According to their religious beliefs, they think that eating meat of animals is not right for human between they consider them pious creatures of God and worship them. Eating habits of India vary according to different regions and provinces of India. Most of the Indians eat almost all food items like fruits, vegetables, fish, dairy products and grain foods. Wine is foremost part of Indian’s lives and they include it in their meal. What’s more, Indians like to eat food with their right hand while Americans use knives and forks. And especially Chinese use chopsticks. 2.4 Languages The languages of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages (spoken by 72% of Indians) and the Dravidian languages (spoken by 25% of Indians). Other languages spoken in India belong to the Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and a few minor language families and isolates. The principal official language of the Republic of India is Standard Hindi, while English is the secondary official language. As we all know, Americans native language is English. The language barriers of Americans and Indians are another problem in interactive communication. In the movie, although the staffs of the call centers are university graduates, misunderstandings still exist. They want to say ―eraser‖, but instead, they call it‖rubber‖. However,‖ rubber‖ actually means ―condom‖ in American’s eyes. Conclusion Based on the movie of Outsourced, we discussed the culture differences between America and India from four aspects, namely religion, custom, language and traditional food. India culture differs from American culture in many aspects. In order to promote the effectively of the international communication, understanding of each other’s culture in depth is necessary. Culture influences the person in all their aspects. To know their culture is the first thing you need to do when you make contact with foreigners. Otherwise not only many embarrassing things will happen, but also we cannot build good relations with them and do our business well. Notes i Thomas Lauren Friedman: (born July 20, 1953) is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times. ii Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month by people throwing scented powder and perfume at each other. On the day of the Holi, people (men and women) irrespective of caste and creed mingle together and exchange colors. The celebrations can get wild and rowdy -- it is one of the few occasions of the year that the sexes are allowed to mix freely. People use tools and tricks to spray, paint and drown friends and relatives in color as the accompanying picture exhibit will demonstrate. iii Hebrew Bible: a term that refers to the Tanakh (Jewish canon) in relation to the many Christian biblical canons. In its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. iv Purohit Narsimacharya Virajinarianan: Man’s name, an Indian. He is one of the main character in the movie Outsourced and the manager of the outsourced call center. v Yugadi: A festival of India. The first day of the Hindu calendar (first day of the first month, the Chaitra).In some parts of India, the tender leaves of neem mixed with jaggery are distributed on the occasion. The neem, extremely bitter in taste, and the sweet and delicious jaggery, signifies the two conflicting aspects of human life -- joy and sorrow. The combination is exchanged between friends to symbolize renewed warmth and love overcoming the difficulties of life. It is also an occasion to forgive old debts and forget old disputes. vi Teej festival: Observed in parts of Rajasthan celebrates the arrival of Monsoons in June-July. Idols of goddess Parvati are decorated and parades in the streets accompanied by singing, music, and dancing. The festival glorifies a married woman coming home to visit her parents, and many women visit their parents on the occasion of this festival. vii Bandi or Bhandi festivals: ("Bandi Habba") are pre-harvest rituals observed by farmers asking for a good crops. Bandi festivals are observed in northern parts of Karnataka, and they also glorify the women who committed the Sati suicide sacrifice. The festival lasts about a week, climaxing on the last day when the people go into trance chanting local Goddess's (or Mahasati's) glory. It is accompanied by bird sacrifices and fire-walking. viii Sari : A strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles.[1][2][3] It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff. ix Gagra choli: Which is also known as Lehenga choli, is the traditional clothing of women in Rajasthan and Gujarat Chaniya choli is another term commonly used to refer it. It is a combination outfit of a Lehenga, tight Choli and a Dupatta. x kurta :A traditional item of clothing . It is a loose shirt falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer, and is worn by both men and women. Bibliography [1] Bickerman, Elias J. (April, 1949). "The Name of Christians". The Harvard Theological Review 42 (2): 109–124. [2] Boroian, Michael; Poix, Alix de. (2008). India by Design: The Pursuit of Luxury and Fashion. ISBN 0-470-82396-8. [3] Chart 1.1 From ―Muslin Americans‖: Middle class and Mostly Mainstream‖. Pew Research Center,2007. [4] D K Havanoor (17 March 2012). "The endangered sari". Deccan Herald,from the World Wide Web: Retrieved 18 March 2012. [5] Eating Habits in the Indian Culture. from the world wide web : [6] Gordon, Melton, J. Encyclopedia of American Religions (7th ed. Thomson, 2003) 1408pp [7] India Eating Habits, from the world wide web : [8] History of Religions in India.[2008-01-01], from the world wide web : www.indohistory.com. [9] Languages of India, from the world wide web : #People [10] Queen, Edward L. et al. eds, Encyclopedia of American Religious History (3rd ed. 3 vol, Facts on File, 2009) [11] Sharma B. N., Festivals of India, Abhinav Publications 1978. [12] US Religious Landscape Survey (2008), from the world wide web : #. Retrieved 2012-05-13.