Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Acceptance Research Paper - 3

Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Acceptance - Research Paper Example Hinduism is the religion followed by Indian people, however, they are very well known for their tolerance and respect for other religions and hence, people from different religions like Sikhism, Muslim, Jainism, Christianity etc., are important part of Indian culture (Fenton, 1998, p.156). The open approach to other cultures has helped Indian people to assimilate easily with other cultures. When they migrate to other counties, they adopt their customs easily but at the same time, follow their own ethics and traditions in their private lives (Fenton, 1998, p.43). Indian values are shaped mostly by their religious beliefs and teachings and they value the oneness of God even if in their culture, God is manifested in different forms and deities (Shah, 2002, p.26). Values Even in today’s modern times, rituals related to God and scriptures are very much practiced and followed by Indian people (Muesse, 2011, p.144). The two great epics that are revered by Indian people are ‘Ram ayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ (Muesse, 2011, p.144). ... The rituals and beliefs of Hindu religion are given in the sacred texts of ‘Vedas’, which are composed of hymns and songs (Winternitz, 1998, p.106). People follow the rituals given in the sacred texts religiously and with complete devotion (Muesse, 2011, p.102). Food The culture, identity and history of India is linked and represented strongly in their food and habits (Henderson, 2002, 99). Indian people value vegetarian system of food and most of the Indian people, who follow their religion sincerely, follow vegetarian diet (Henderson, 2002, 102). Cow is a symbol of sacredness and hence, killing cow for food purpose is considered a sin (Henderson, 2002, 102). At the same time, the fast food which is sold on street side and is full of different spices, is also enjoyed and loved by Indian people. Moreover, Indian culture, being an assimilation of different cultures, is full of variety of different cuisines and food customs. Hence, Indian culture is rich in tradition, spir ituality, customs and variety. Mexican Culture Religion People of Mexico follow a Roman Catholic faith and follow the Catholic Church as the religious authority (Huck, 2008, p.54). Important family events like â€Å"baptism, communion, confirmation, marriage, and novenas†, are carried out in religious traditional way by Mexican people (Kittler& Sucher, 2008, p.238). Hence, people from Mexico can be called religious as they still follow traditions sincerely. Values People from Mexican culture are family centered by nature and value family bonding (Kittler& Sucher, 2008, p.248). They value the ancient sayings, called ‘Dichos’, which give an insight into their traditional, religious and cultural beliefs (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2009, p.260). From the sayings, it is evident