Cultural Communication Differences Between Cuba & India Every culture develops in two ways, first by insular forces which shape the every day interactions between people of the same cultural values, and second by the influences put upon them from outside sources. Two countries with very little proximity to each other, and very little shared interaction, have developed their own unique styles that are radically different than the other. Cuba and India are two countries that have been heavily influenced by outside sources, by the practice of colonization by the European powers. In addition to this, both countries have followed a course of independent thinking in world politics. Cuba is an island nation with a Communist government that has little to do with the massive Asian country of India, with over a billion residents and centuries of unique history and religious practices. India is a country that has always been influenced by cultures around it, the Muslim invaders from the West, the Chinese Buddhists from the East, and the European colonial powers from the Sea. (Difference, 2011) It is the second largest country by population in the world, and has a bustling economy and a liberal democracy for government. Time is fast in India, and getting faster. In cities like Mumbai, where century old neighborhoods are being torn up for new construction, and massive projects are underway to modernize the country, there is a spirit of revival and youth that drives the country
In addition to, some of the differences of the U.S. and Cuba cultures are unambiguous. However, the Americans value plenty of luxuries, where as Cubans do without; nevertheless, one of the moral qualities of happiness cannot be built
The city of Mumbai has seen much growth in the past years. A string of elegant hotels have been set up for travelers and high-class business men. An ever growing, top of the line airport has been built for those coming in and out of the country. From the outside, Mumbai seems to have taken a liking to being internationally integrated with the rest of world, otherwise known as globalization. This is not the case, however; as seen in Katherine Boo’s novel Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. This novel is set in a slum right next to the Mumbai International Airport called
As a first generation Indian-American, I am no stranger to being a part of a distinct community while observing two unique cultures. Traveling to India exposed me to a dynamic population with rich diversity comprising of numerous languages and differing religions. Though these individuals may have had differing customs from their neighbors, there were similar ambitions to conquer grinding poverty. This poverty can be clearly noticed by seeing citizens sleeping on floors of a railway station, or the lack of air conditioning in searing hot weather. The frailty and mortality of the human condition was starkly visible in India. As a fellow human, I was humbled not only by the lack of privilege and opportunity of many citizens, but also by their
The biggest differences between Cuba and the United States are the government and economic status. The United States has a democracy where as Cuba has a dictatorship. Cuba is one of the poorest countries in the world and yet the U.S. is one of the most powerful countries in the world. The U.S. sets the standards for other industrial nations, however Cuba does all that it can with their national resources and aid from other countries.
Although both Cuba and Mexico have Spaniard influence that is the most they have in relation to each other historically. Not much of Cuba is known before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, upon arrival there were no indigenous peoples on the island. Where in Mexico there plenty of indigenous people from Aztecs, Mayans, to Tzotzil. When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1529 there were natives roaming around everywhere. After the arrival of the Spaniards in Cuba, the island was being used as a slave stop before
Cuba, officially known as the Republic of Cuba (which it, most assuredly, is not), is a large island nation located in the northern part of the Caribbean Sea, closer to the United States than Latin America. Historically, Cuba was inhabited by indigenous Americans, of which the Taíno comprised the dominant culture on the island (Dacal Moure and Rivero de la Calle, 1996). From the time of Columbus until 1898, Cuba was governed by Spain, and its agricultural economy relied on the importation of African slaves (Suchlicki, 2002). The people of Cuba are, at this time, an intermixture of these three ethnic groups, though people with lighter colored skin are generally in the higher socioeconomic strata, meaning which in Cuba means either professionals
While it may be easier to persuade yourself that Boo’s published stories are works of fiction, her writings of the slums that surround the luxury hotels of Mumbai’s airport are very, very real. Katherine Boo’s book “Behind the Beautiful Forevers – Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity” does not attempt to solve problems or be an expert on social policy; instead, Boo provides the reader with an objective window into the battles between extremities of wealth and poverty. “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” then, exposes the paucity and corruption prevalent within India.
The government also promises to the poor, better schools and hospitals. Balram’s father died because there was improper medical care in their home town, and the life expectancy in India is only 66.8 years. There are nearly 1,189,172,906 people in India and only 61% of the people living in India are literate. In New Delhi, though, the government does fulfill its promises to the rich. They live unaware and uncaring of the slums surrounding their middle class lives. The government makes promises of better livelihoods to its people that are never fulfilled; causing India’s poor to remain in the slums and the government to have little understanding of the problems poor people face.
Cuba’s colorful history can be documented to before the days of the American Revolution in 1776, but today, American policy directly affects many Cubans’ lifestyles because of a nearly 45-year-old trade embargo that has been placed on the island nation. It is crucial to analyze the development of Cuba and its neighboring island nations in order to discern the reasons for Cuba’s current political situation with the United States. The following paper will discuss the events that shaped Cuba and larger Caribbean nations like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica; next, a detailed description of Cuba’s turbulent history will help in explaining the Cuban transformation into a
Cuba is a unique nation in which it’s culture has been defined as a result of incorporating different customs from various nations over time. Beginning in the 1500s, the Spanish would be the first migrants to inhabit the island. Not only did the Spanish bring their customs along with them, but fifteen years after their arrival they also brought African slaves onto the island. Even through the hardships of slavery and oppression, the African’s maintained practices and preserved aspects of their culture that were eventually incorporated into Cuban culture as a whole. The young nation also saw various nations and ethnicities, such as Haitians and Americans as time progressed. Like their migrant predecessors, these individuals would also
Cuba. Early white Cuban’s and Cuban politicians denied racism in the country as a whole, calling Cuba a nation of Racial Democracy, but the entire social, economical, and political classes were setup with a type of “caste” system based off of racial profiling. Cuba’s desire for being considered elite among nations during the time period led to Cuba losing a lot of its true culture tied to Africa and African culture.
Poverty and oppression is a serious condition that is prevalent even in today’s modern society. Women and children are exposed to poverty and subjected to a life of injustice. One of the countries where such problems still occur is in India. Despite the country’s modernization, there lies an undercity where the disparity of wealth is transparent. These social problems are thoroughly described in movies and literature such as Slumdog Millionaire and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. In the book Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Catherine Boo, the author describes slum life for a set of individuals and the hardship that their social conditions confined them to. Another movie that gave insight to slum life in India is Slumdog Millionaire
Indians many times have been associated with funny accents, believers of caste system, culture that is full of colors and very smart people in math and technology. Indians make up less than 1% of the population of America and yet they are the CEO’s of “PepsiCo and MasterCard” and are presidents and deans of America’s most prestigious colleges and hold high positions in journalism such as Sanjay Gupta and neurosurgeon and media reporter for CNN here in Atlanta and Fareed Zakaria a journalist and author. “They are also dominating fields such as technology, scientific research and medicine; and thriving in industries such as hospitality, transportation and real estate. They have also achieved extraordinary success in government: the governors of two of America’s most conservative states are of Indian origin, as are White House senior
The Cuban people have been under the harsh dictatorship of both Felgenico Batista and Fidel Castro. They both had very strict policies and gave the Cuban people limited or no freedom at all. Batista and Castro were similar but yet different. One major difference that they had was that Batista was friendly with the United States and he had respect for American interest. On the other hand Fidel Castro hasn’t been as friendly with the United States, so the U.S has a trade embargo that restricts and American company to do business with Cuba and also U.S citizens are prohibited from traveling to Cuba unless for special circumstances.
Cuba had partaken in globalization through its interactions with the USSR and the US. Cuba was a developing country and needed support to eventually be able to rely on itself. After the collapse of the USSR, Cuba was one of the only socialist