Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wikipedia says Patel means "chief" but it does also mean "farmer," or at least "tenant of land."
"Indian" can be thought of as a meta-culture, in the same way that the descriptor "European" is used. There are many many ethnic groups within India, including Gujaratis, Bengalis, Marathis, etc etc I could go on and on. There is vast cultural diversity in India that often gets overlooked because it is one country rather than being split into individual nation-states as Europe is.
Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi are not cultures or sub-cultures. Rather they are states (like NJ, NY, PA) and have unique language and culture. Most Indian states have a different languages which are further broken down into hundreds of dialects. If you speak Hindi and English, you can comfortably travel urban areas but you might have a real tough time in rural villages.
Some more interesting facts:
Every state has unique food (i.e. use of spices, food grains, etc); so if you travel to Southern India you will see heavy use of rice where as Western and Northern India has heavy use of wheat and corn.
Based on the last name of the person, you can guess 90% of the time which region/state they belong to. Example - 90% of Patel and Shah are from Gujarat State. If the last name ends in "kar" they are from Maharashtra State (Mumbai is in Maharashtra).
About Patels - it used to be primarily a farming community who owned large parcels of land. Over time, farming became less lucrative so they sold part of their land and invested in business. It is a community with very strong social ties so one will help another whenever and however needed. This is evident in the way they have shared and spread their know-how and wealth within the hotel and fast food industry.
Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi are not cultures or sub-cultures. Rather they are states (like NJ, NY, PA) and have unique language and culture. Most Indian states have a different languages which are further broken down into hundreds of dialects. If you speak Hindi and English, you can comfortably travel urban areas but you might have a real tough time in rural villages.
Some more interesting facts:
Every state has unique food (i.e. use of spices, food grains, etc); so if you travel to Southern India you will see heavy use of rice where as Western and Northern India has heavy use of wheat and corn.
Based on the last name of the person, you can guess 90% of the time which region/state they belong to. Example - 90% of Patel and Shah are from Gujarat State. If the last name ends in "kar" they are from Maharashtra State (Mumbai is in Maharashtra).
About Patels - it used to be primarily a farming community who owned large parcels of land. Over time, farming became less lucrative so they sold part of their land and invested in business. It is a community with very strong social ties so one will help another whenever and however needed. This is evident in the way they have shared and spread their know-how and wealth within the hotel and fast food industry.
Thank you very much for the explanation. I don't have the best memory, but this is very interesting. I know a 'kar' from Mumbai.
I/we would love to visit India, but a trip that took in both south and north. There are some airline tours and some by rail.
Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi are not cultures or sub-cultures. Rather they are states (like NJ, NY, PA) and have unique language and culture. Most Indian states have a different languages which are further broken down into hundreds of dialects. If you speak Hindi and English, you can comfortably travel urban areas but you might have a real tough time in rural villages.
Some more interesting facts:
Every state has unique food (i.e. use of spices, food grains, etc); so if you travel to Southern India you will see heavy use of rice where as Western and Northern India has heavy use of wheat and corn.
Based on the last name of the person, you can guess 90% of the time which region/state they belong to. Example - 90% of Patel and Shah are from Gujarat State. If the last name ends in "kar" they are from Maharashtra State (Mumbai is in Maharashtra).
About Patels - it used to be primarily a farming community who owned large parcels of land. Over time, farming became less lucrative so they sold part of their land and invested in business. It is a community with very strong social ties so one will help another whenever and however needed. This is evident in the way they have shared and spread their know-how and wealth within the hotel and fast food industry.
Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi are not cultures or sub-cultures. Rather they are states (like NJ, NY, PA) and have unique language and culture. Most Indian states have a different languages which are further broken down into hundreds of dialects. If you speak Hindi and English, you can comfortably travel urban areas but you might have a real tough time in rural villages.
Some more interesting facts:
Every state has unique food (i.e. use of spices, food grains, etc); so if you travel to Southern India you will see heavy use of rice where as Western and Northern India has heavy use of wheat and corn.
Based on the last name of the person, you can guess 90% of the time which region/state they belong to. Example - 90% of Patel and Shah are from Gujarat State. If the last name ends in "kar" they are from Maharashtra State (Mumbai is in Maharashtra).
I am confused, are you saying you don't believe that the people of each state comprise their own ethnic group? By your own examples, the people of each state have their own unique language, culture, cuisine, and types of names. Even in terms of religion (at least in the case of Hinduism), many ethnicities show devotion to a distinct set of deities as compared to other groups. These are all the key characteristics that literally define an ethnic group. Obviously in the 21st Century, the big cities are very cosmopolitan. But that does not diminish the the importance of India's individual ethnic groups. I understand that the government of India is trying its hardest to create a pure national identity which transcends the state identities, but that is a long long way off, if ever. The state boundaries have been reformed several times since independence to more accurately reflect ethno-linguistic boundaries, and this is a process that I predict will continue happening.
Edit: since you seem to be referring to Patels as a community on their own, I should also add that the system of castes and jatis (sub-castes) adds a rich and complex layer to the identity of the individual Indian person, for those interested.
Funny points in this thread: the trolling by Peter, NJBest calling people ignorant and calling out their spelling or grammatical errors, but he can't seem to use the correct your/you're him(or her)self.
Anyways, as the many links have shown and my own personal experience, it is a part of their culture. You also want to avoid using the left hand when interacting with Indians, because you wipe your you-know-what with it... and it is seen as disrespectful.
I am confused, are you saying you don't believe that the people of each state comprise their own ethnic group? By your own examples, the people of each state have their own unique language, culture, cuisine, and types of names. Even in terms of religion (at least in the case of Hinduism), many ethnicities show devotion to a distinct set of deities as compared to other groups. These are all the key characteristics that literally define an ethnic group. Obviously in the 21st Century, the big cities are very cosmopolitan. But that does not diminish the the importance of India's individual ethnic groups. I understand that the government of India is trying its hardest to create a pure national identity which transcends the state identities, but that is a long long way off, if ever. The state boundaries have been reformed several times since independence to more accurately reflect ethno-linguistic boundaries, and this is a process that I predict will continue happening.
Edit: since you seem to be referring to Patels as a community on their own, I should also add that the system of castes and jatis (sub-castes) adds a rich and complex layer to the identity of the individual Indian person, for those interested.
Not debating the concept or definition of what defines an ethnic group. I was just clarifying that "Gujarati", "Bengali", etc words are more appropriate to be used to define people of a specific geographical location (i.e. Gujarat, Bengal States).
Funny points in this thread: the trolling by Peter, NJBest calling people ignorant and calling out their spelling or grammatical errors, but he can't seem to use the correct your/you're him(or her)self.
I don't think anyone is trying to humiliate anyone in calling them out for misspelling or misusing words. I appreciate it when people correct my English. It only helps me to do better. It is not something that is insulting, except to perhaps a lazy person who does not really give a heck and hates to have this aspect of his personality brought to everyone's attention.
More people should be correcting faux pas. It's a GOOD thing. My husband often corrects my usage and he certainly means me no harm.
I don't think anyone is trying to humiliate anyone in calling them out for misspelling or misusing words. I appreciate it when people correct my English. It only helps me to do better. It is not something that is insulting, except to perhaps a lazy person who does not really give a heck and hates to have this aspect of his personality brought to everyone's attention.
More people should be correcting faux pas. It's a GOOD thing. My husband often corrects my usage and he certainly means me no harm.
The "holier than thou" attitude pretty obvious here in reply to the wrong "exception":
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
I can't tell if you're really that ignorant or you're just being silly now. It's no 'acception' or even 'exception' that Indians have dogs.
And here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
Wow, you're really clueless. I've already provided anecdotal evidence that you're theory is incorrect.
The "holier than thou" attitude pretty obvious here in reply to the wrong "exception":
And here:
Note the "you're" where "your" should be.
Just sayin'.
Thanks for the correction. My fingers get ahead of me from time to time. I was picking on peter because he's obviously trolling or truly ignorant. I didn't want others to be under the impression he was providing factual information when he wasn't.
And I am damn holy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
