Learning India

Making sense of the subcontinent

  • Start Here
    • 8 Common Causes of Death in India
      • #ChaosBeatsLogic
      • #CustomerisAlwaysThere
      • #GreyIsWhite
      • #IndiasNotIndia
      • #PowerPlays
      • #See1See100
      • #ThinSkinned
      • #TimeIsEternal
    • Circles of Obligation
  • Daily Living
    • Cultural Adaptation
    • Be Prepared
    • Transportation
  • Into India
    • Indias By…
    • Politics
    • Hinduism
    • Book Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Mark Twain on India
  • On The Job
    • Parent Leadership
    • Communication
    • Team Management
  • Podcasts
  • References
    • People You Should Know
    • Indian English Dictionary and Indianisms
    • Common Indian Acronyms
    • Indian Name Decoder
  • About

Neil Miller March 29, 2015 Filed Under: Cultural Adaptation, Mark Twain

Mark Twain on Cultural Adaptation

Zenana

 

A good lesson in trying to use our own cultural rules to judge someone else’s. In this story, Twain recounts how some Europeans tried to ‘liberate’ some women in India who were used to going around fully covered.

 

[Taken from The Complete Works of Mark Twain: Following the Equator, Volume 2, Harper and Brothers: New York, 1925.]

 

While we were in India some good-hearted Europeans in one of the cities proposed to restrict a large park to the use of zenana ladies, so that they could go there and in assured privacy go about unveiled and enjoy the sunshine and air as they had never enjoyed them before. The good intentions back of the proposition were recognized, and sincere thanks returned for it, but the proposition itself met with a prompt declination at the hands of those who were authorized to speak for the zenana ladies. Apparently, the idea was shocking to the ladies–indeed, it was quite manifestly shocking. Was that proposition the equivalent of inviting European ladies to assemble scantily and scandalously clothed in the seclusion of a private park? It seemed to be about that.

Without doubt modesty is nothing less than a holy feeling; and without doubt the person whose rule of modesty has been transgressed feels the same sort of wound that he would feel if something made holy to him by his religion had suffered a desecration. I say “rule of modesty” because there are about a million rules in the world, and this makes a million standards to be looked out for. Major Sleeman mentions the case of some high-caste veiled ladies who were profoundly scandalized when some English young ladies passed by with faces bare to the world; so scandalized that they spoke out with strong indignation and wondered that people could be so shameless as to expose their persons like that. And yet “the legs of the objectors were naked to mid-thigh.” Both parties were clean-minded and irreproachably modest, while abiding by their separate rules, but they couldn’t have traded rules for a change without suffering considerable discomfort. All human rules are more or less idiotic, I suppose. It is best so, no doubt. The way it is now, the asylums can hold the sane people, but if we tried to shut up the insane we should run out of building materials. (154-155)

 

Click here for all of the Mark Twain Selections on India.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Value Rankings, #GreyIsWhite, and Anne Frank Put Your Value Ranking Skills to Work! Why You Should Embrace Cultural Generalizations, Not Stereotypes Episode 10: Sven and Charlotta

Get a FREE copy of How to Avoid Dying in India + new articles!

1,469 happy subscribers

Trending Posts

  • Popular
  • Latest
  • Today Week Month All
  • Jetpack plugin with Stats module needs to be enabled.
  • What To Do If You Are In A Car Accident in India What To Do If You Are In A Car Accident in India
  • 10 Ways to Create an Ego-Friendly Workplace 10 Ways to Create an Ego-Friendly Workplace
  • How to Develop Leaders in India How to Develop Leaders in India
  • What Kind of Leader Are You Developing? What Kind of Leader Are You Developing?
  • Is India Safe? Is India Safe?
Ajax spinner

Archives

Recent Posts

  • What To Do If You Are In A Car Accident in India
  • 10 Ways to Create an Ego-Friendly Workplace
  • How to Develop Leaders in India
  • What Kind of Leader Are You Developing?
  • Is India Safe?
  • The Overwhelmingly Complete Guide to Packing for India

Get a FREE copy of How to Avoid Dying in India + new articles!



1,469 happy subscribers

Copyright Notice

© Neil A. Miller, LearningIndia.in, and Madras Media Marketing LLC 2013-2015. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given.