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When Hollywood actor Richard Gere publicly kissed Bollywood
actress Shilpa Shetty, people made a hue and cry over the
scene and on the issue across India. Neither was Richard
Gere wrong in kissing nor was Shilpa Shetty wrong in allowing
to be kissed, but the culture and country in which this
scene happened drew public as well as media attention. Although
their intentions were not wrong, their actions were misunderstood
and were criticized by the public. It was just a case of
cultural differences between two people from two different
countries and backgrounds.
Every community has its own values, norms, customs, and
culture and cherishes all these. In case any member of another
culture interferes or intervenes and insults then there
will undoubtedly be cultural conflict. The rapidly growing
technology and media has made the globe smaller and people
are learning to respect various cultures across the world.
Culture is a broad term to define and it can be defined
precisely as the love for one's own values, norms, mores,
values, customs, language in which one is born. To be born
in a particular culture is not a choice, but destiny. However,
if there is an aptitude and attitude to know about other
cultures it is always possible to have cultural fluency,
cultural competence and cultural tolerance and adjustment.
Ramu was born in a hamlet where there was not even a primary
school. As a child he played in the paddy fields and swam
in a nearby pond along with his friends in his childhood.
When his father moved to a small town, he found it very
difficult to get along with the town people. It is basically
because of the cultural conflict. There was difference in
the dialect, new environment and new people. He decided
to go back to the hamlet where he used to play in the green
fields with his friends. He found it very difficult to start
his primary education in town. He failed to get along with
his semi-urban background. The parents understood Ramu's
problem and gave him emotional and moral support. They encouraged
Ramu to go to school so that he could make new friends there.
Ramu faced some difficulty for a while to get adjusted because
of the cultural differences. But, slowly and steadily he
began liking the semi-urban culture. This is the process
of cultural adjustment of Ramu merely shifting from hamlet
to a nearby small town. This was one leg of his life.
He completed his graduation in the same town and subsequently
joined the defence corps as an officer. Since day one, Ramu
began feeling suffocated because he came from a small town
and he had to adjust with the trainees of other states,
and other cultural backgrounds. The food he ate at home
and the habits he developed at home, the language he spoke
at home, the style and accent he developed at home needed
a drastic change in defence. People coming from different
cultural backgrounds, different food habits, different ways
of attire and different intelligence levels were brought
on one national track. Initially, there were a lot of bottlenecks
and cultural conflicts, but over a period of time and training
all the trainees adopted one national culture. For Ramu,
joining the defence forces was a rebirth.
It is the study of physical distance which is supposed
to be maintained among the individuals during conversation.
It deals basically about distance which is supposed to be
maintained amongst the known people and unknown people.
Intimate zone can be maintained if there is close relation
between the people. That means people come physically close
and communicate. There is no fixed formula of maintaining
the physical distance as it depends again on the cultural
background of the people. It differs from country to country
and from culture to culture.
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