In this article we look at the cross cultural understanding between different cultures around the world on how they treat and respect animals. Is it really necessary to examine different cultures to conduct businesses or international relations. Let us find out.
I have been following the videos of this gora Youtuber for a while now. I watched his vide
os on occasions and found it interesting. Karl Rock is the guy who has managed to captivate the Indian audience by his ability to speak Hindi fluently. In his videos he documents his travel vlogs which are quite popular among the audience.
The impish reactions of local Indians is delightful to watch. People break out in broad smiles and are mesmerised at the sight of white man speaking Hindi. To be honest it is refreshing to see a white guy speaking in Hindi or for that matter any foreign person speaking a regional dialect of the country he or she moves in.
His vlogs also depicts the troubles a foreigner has to go through when local sellers in order to make quick bucks try to sell things at higher price and exploiting tactics used by people to dupe tourists. It has received a warm response among the audience as Indians know how hectic it can get when it comes to going to a different state or a tourist spot where people are trying to sell everything from a bottle of water to a hotel room at hiked prices. As Indians, not only are we aware of it but we can relate to it.
However this positive crusade against the anti social elements have recently turned sour since this theme of scornful Indians has actually is crafted as the main story line of his videos. Adding up the heat, they are now being labelled as intolerant for a culture that reveres cows. A learned man like Karl thinks this reverence for cows nothing more than a ploy to bash minorities. In his vlog where Karl is travelling in Himachal Pradesh, he crosses a bridge where cows sit nonchalantly on either sides of the bridge, this makes Karl anxious about accidentally hitting the cows for which he think he can be thrashed or worse killed.
This lessons of intolerance has been echoed across the media newsrooms as well who don't understand the dynamics of how people attribute cows to good fortune and all giving. It is said that in a society where a cow can roam without a fear of being harmed is a society that can induce minimum violence to themselves and the nature that preserves them. People share an organically deep relation with cows in India, like we can see in USA and UK dogs and cats are adored for their cuteness.
On the other hand, dogs are perceived as dirty in Islam and are advised to not be touched. There is a great debate among the Islamic scholars where Dogs are worthy of being domesticated or not. The Muslims will therefore avoid touching dogs. If you go to Arab, it's highly unlikely that you will find a dog at someone's house because they don't cherish the same western traditions.
Lets take another example to understand the cross cultural understanding, consider a man from China who relishes eating dog meat enters USA and he wishes to eat dog meat. Would the Americans be labelled intolerant for not submitting to his or her demands. NO! they come from a culture where it is prohibited. If you are from a foreign culture and you enter the host country you respect the values and ideals of that country. USA, a first world country can reject anything they find unfit and not be worried about the media tampering that comes with the repercussions.
It is quite opposite with India that comes with baggage of cow, curry and caste stereotypes. A country that has a long history of agricultural background of economic activities. The domestic animals in India are treated with special care and that includes cattle. This was long recognised by the founding fathers of Indian constitution that added Article 48 prohibiting the slaughter of cattle. Similarly, in Turkey, if you walk on the streets of Istanbull you can see so many cats roaming around who are fed by locals. These felines are well fed and cleaned even though they live on streets.
Now not everyone in China eats cats and dogs or partakes in festivities like Yulin Dog festival where dogs are skinned and cooked for meals. Very much like India, where not everyone considers eating cattle meat as disgusting and tabboo. Despite of it the cultural values of a country can't be wiped off as unreasonable. Now in some traditions, people will find Indian tribes of Bishnois to be mad because they gave up their life for resisting the cutting of tress. Were they simply intolerant of the demands of the aggressors? No it is prohibited in their culture and they chose to lay down their life then accept trees to be chopped down.
On the flip side, there are issues where India has taken to the top spot in beef export. It shows the lack of empathy of the successive governments and the poor state of law and order that allows the sale and slaughter of cattle for meat. When Mc'Donalds came to India they made of conscious decision of not adding Big Mac in their menu because that's the kind of business decisions you need to take if you want the business to sustain in a foreign country. This is the level of cross cultural understanding one needs to put in whether they are going to a country for leisure trip, business deal or establishing cultural relations.
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