Culture Differences: Indian Practice

Culture Differences Name Institutional Affiliation Culture Differences One of the most challenging cultural differences for me to understand is the Indian practice of touching the feet of one’s elders. According to Hindu Vedas, touching the feet of one’s elders is a means of getting blessings, showing respect, and opening oneself to learning from the individual (Ganeri, 2013). This cultural practice and difference in how he elderly are treated is difficult to understand because it assumes that the elderly are perfect, without fault, and only capable of conveying blessings. In essence, it is difficult to understand because this practice is applied to the elderly in general and not only to family members and relatives. In preparing to work with individuals from this culture, I would work well to understand the do’s and don’ts when it comes to interactions with the elderly. While I do not believe I would kneel as the custom dictates, I would seek alternative ways of showing respect, such as being respectful in speech and when addres...