I greatly enjoyed the presentations about different cultures. Especially as a Bangladeshi, it was particularly interesting to see the presentations of Fatima and Nirshiee, who talked about Pakistani and Indian culture. Bangladesh has a history which is intertwined with Pakistan and India and has been a sovereign country for 43 years. As a result, we generally take pride in its sovereignty and like to think of it as being very culturally different from Pakistan and India. However, looking at the presentations made me realize that there are large similarities in culture.
Firstly, the way guests are treated in Pakistan and Bangladesh are almost the same. We also show the guests around the house and take them to each and every room. As a result, a lot of effort is put in the preparation and cleaning of the house before the guests come. Although I have always resented the amount of work we had to do whenever we invited someone to our house, I never thought that it was strange to take guests to bedrooms. However, after Fatima’s presentation, there were some questions about why people would want to take guests to somewhere as personal as the bedroom. This led me to look at my own culture from a different perspective. It made want to find out the reason that we do that and it led me to ask myself several questions. For instance, does it show that people want to appear more open and approachable to their guests? Is it a sign of respect to their guests?
On the other hand, Nirshiee’s presentation demonstrated how people in India have a preference for fair complexion even though it is common for people in India to have darker complexions. In fact the case is not very different in Bangladesh. For instance, when looking for brides one of the first requirements is fair complexion. It is very interesting because frequently a double standard exists in society regarding skin color. Parents almost always look for fair complexioned brides for their sons even though their own daughters have a dark complexion. The preference of lighter complexion is present but not equally prevalent when looking for grooms. This fact has always baffled me as I have seen my own family do it. It made me think if there are any historic implications of this problem.
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