According to a resource from Depauw University, there is a contrast in Indian culture between the tendency to ask many personal questions (which may be seen as offensive in the US) and the offensiveness of some gestures in India (which may not be offensive at all in the US). For instance, I recall in India that it was very common and even polite for strangers to ask many personal questions at the beginning of a conversation, like whether I am married, what my father does for a living, and how much money my family has. These things are usually not offensive, but there are gestures, such as those of affection or disrespect, that are very offensive in Indian culture that we may not realize. For instance, pointing the soles of your feet to someone is seen as a major sign of disrespect. And in some areas, a woman shaking a man's hand as an introduction may be seen as too forward. It can also be seen as rude not to gesture in some situations, like when greeting an elder or a respected person with a namaste and folding your hands in front of your chest.
The article also explained some interesting gestures that are unique to Indian culture, such as one imitating a woman's bangle around your wrist, signifying that someone else is unmanly or a coward. Another is a gesture of thrusting your hands forward, signifying suicide by jumping off a cliff when you feel embarrassed. I also remember a gesture that signifies being sorry when you bump someone on their shoulder or knee. When this happens, Indians often touch (or nearly touch) the area of the other person that they touched by mistake, then touch the top of their own head, signifying that the part of the other person's body is above or better than even the very top of their own head. Contrastingly, kneeling down to touch someone's feet is a high honor, and we would often do this when greeting the grandparents of our host family.
Another aspect of Indian culture that comes through in language is masculinity. Every noun and adjective has a gender, and the dominance of male words in the language shows how men have historically dominated the social aspects of Indian culture.
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