Ask ECH: Connecting Through Culture_Indian culture

This is a podcast episode about Indian culture and its significance. The guest, Bawa Singh, talks about his background and the state of Punjab. He discusses the festivals of Diwali and Besakhi and their cultural importance. Bawa also highlights the importance of family values and hospitality in Indian culture, emphasizing that care workers should understand and respect these aspects when supporting Indian clients. He also mentions the presence of prayer rooms in Indian households and the need to remove shoes as a sign of respect. The episode concludes by inviting listeners to suggest topics for future episodes. Welcome to Ask ECH, connecting through culture, a monthly podcast about diverse backgrounds, cultures and communities. I'm Robyn Lierton, the Diversity Manager at ECH. On today's episode, I'm speaking with ECH Finance Officer, Bawa Singh, about his Indian cultural background. Welcome, Bawa. Can you tell us a little about yourself? Yeah. Thanks for having me here, Robyn. My role at ECH is finance officer, and I've been working with ECH from last one and a half years. I was born in northwest part of India in a state called Punjab. It's interesting to note that there is also a Punjab in Pakistan. The two were once part of a single undivided Punjab before India was partitioned in 1947. We have people from different religions who live in Punjab, but dominant religion is Sikh religion. We mainly speak two languages, they're Hindi and Punjabi. The region is famous for its lively festivals, such as Besakhi, which celebrates the harvest season, and Diwali, the festival of lights. It's also famous for its music. Every time a famous Punjabi artist releases its song, it usually makes up in the top charts in the YouTube, even in English speaking countries. That's one of the things which Punjab is really famous for these days. So you talked about Diwali. Some people may have heard about Diwali. Could you tell us a little bit about what Diwali is? In India, we have more than 29 states and union territories, and many states have their own culture and language. There are more than 20 languages spoken in India. One of the main festivals, Diwali, also known as festival of lights, is the most famous festival. It has its roots with both Hindu religion and Sikh religion. In Hindu religion, one of the Hindu gods, he came back to India after defeating the king of Sri Lanka, who kidnapped his wife. When he came back, people celebrated by lighting candles. For Sikh religion, one of the Sikh gurus rescued himself and 52 other kings from the jail of the Mughal ruler at that time. It's celebrated around October or November. The dates are different every year. It depends on the Indian calendar. Other festival that I talked about was Besakhi. It's more popular in states who are primarily agricultural states. This festival is about the harvest season. Usually it comes in the month of April, 13th or 14th of April, and it's to celebrate the harvest season and the farmers, they start harvesting wheat or rice, which is primary crop grown in Punjab, and they celebrate with dance. There are fairs and sweets, a lot of different food items. What are some aspects of your culture that you think would be important for our frontline care workers to understand when supporting Indian clients? One of the things I would like to talk about is the family values. Family plays an incredibly important part in Indian culture. This often extends to interactions with care workers as well, and it's not uncommon for Indian clients to involve their family in discussions, especially when it comes to important discussions or issues. So a care worker should not be surprised if a client wants his family members to be involved. I'll give you an example. There was once a client who had an invoice query who came to UCS reception with their family. I wouldn't be surprised, but the receptionist was, shouldn't be an overwhelming thing if you know about the family respect. Another key aspect is hospitality. In Indian culture, it's very common to offer food and drinks to anyone who visits your house. It's deeply ingrained in the culture, and clients may offer support workers something to eat or drink, sometimes even multiple times, or insist to have this or try that. It's important to understand that these offers just come from a perspective of respect and want, so don't be surprised if you're offered something several times. It's just part of how Indian families show their hospitality. Is it insulting if you say no to hospitality? No, it's totally fine to politely decline. In many Indian households, depending on their religion, you may find a prayer room in each Indian family house. I have one in my house. The room may have, sometimes it may have idols, if someone's from Hindu religion and in Sikh religion, they might have their holy book in their prayer room. And if you are, for example, providing domestic assistance service in an Indian client's house and they have a prayer room, it would be respectful if you remove your shoes before entering into the prayer room, or if the client tells you to remove the shoes, it's totally normal. It's just a sign of respect, and usually no one from Indian households, they don't remove their shoes in prayer room at all. Thank you so much for joining us today, Bawa. I know I learned, and I think we all learned, a lot about Indian culture and how we can best support our Indian clients. Join us again next month when we talk about AUSLAN, to coincide with the International Day of Sign Languages. Do you have a topic about diversity and inclusion that you would like featured in a future episode? Write your comments, suggestions, or questions in the link below. Until next time, this is Robyn Lierton. Take care and keep learning from each other. You've been listening to Ask ECH, Connecting Through Culture, produced by Robyn Lierton for ECH, with music by ECH music therapist, Bec Davies.