The term ‘culture’ has been a source of perennial interest to scholars and writers alike. Matthew Arnold in his Culture and Anarchy defines it as “not a being and a resting but a growing and a becoming.” Raymond Williams’s Culture and Society , T.S. Eliot’s Notes towards a Definition of Culture , and Edward Said’s Culture and Imperialism , to name a few, have all been social studies, relating the term culture to a larger context of society as a whole unit. Ramesh Rao and Avinash Thombre’s Intercultural Communication examines the diversified cultural moorings in India and discusses how intercultural communication among people of this vast multilingual, multicultural Indian subcontinent can be learnt and promoted. In a sense this is a self-help book.
The authors begin with a contestable hypothesis that humanity had its origins in Africa and human beings over a period of 100,000 years have developed a variety of cultural traditions. These traditions integrate a range of observations about the nature of the world we live in, the cosmos we inhabit.
According to the authors, Indian civilisation originated on the banks of the Saraswati — now non-existent and associated with myriad myths — some 75,000 years ago. But, from the very beginning, the Saraswati civilisation was neither monolithic nor homogeneous, but pluralistic capable of an accommodative synthesis of several influences from far and near. Many of the characteristics of the present day Indian culture are traceable to its distant, hoary past. There is an unmistakable cultural continuity of this rich ancient culture. The authors summarise social psychologist Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory on the cultural values of Indians. India is a society of collective traits with a preference among the people to belong to a larger social framework. There is a preference for hierarchy in social structure. It is a masculine society. There is an acceptance of imperfection. It has a pragmatic culture with the concept of ‘karma’ dominating its philosophic thought. Time, which is cyclic and non-linear, is not as important as it is to Western societies.
The Indian subcontinent constitutes a variety of diverse social groups, each of which leads its own way of life, follows its own local or regional habits, customs and cultures, and yet stands united bound by one national culture, usually referred to by the phrase ‘unity amidst diversity’. Local loyalty is the first step to develop national loyalty. Such a constellation of cultures, one nourishing the other makes way, all the while, for the emergence of a national culture. There is bound to be some friction among these satellite cultures but that is a healthy sign for enriching the national culture that would synthesise various traditions. The authors, Rao and Thombre, employ unit ideas as self-perception, non-verbal communication, language, worldviews, conflicts, etc., to figure out ways and means of developing competence and knowledge of intercultural communication, which would promote a healthy dialogue among the diverse cultures of India.
The 10 chapters in the book raise the following questions: How is information shared across social groups belonging to different regions? What are the different varieties of communication processes for these social groups of different linguistic, religious groups with different educational backgrounds? What is their conceptualisation of the universe we live in? How are messages received, transmitted and interpreted by them? How are we to envisage workable strategies for dealing with wide cultural differences and conflicting views? Customs and manners of different communities, their though patterns are studied in order to understand how they interact with one another.
Intercultural Communication possesses the features of a workbook meant for prescription in educational institutions of higher learning. Each chapter ends with a list of searching discussion questions addressed to the reader, besides a comprehensive bibliography of reference material.
A list of tables and black-and-white illustrations of places and people make the work complete and wholesome. With its matter-of fact-thoroughness, the book covers a lot of ground, offers insights into the central idea of developing intercultural communication. The authors have been teaching this course to students and social groups, in the U.S. Their rich expertise is bound to influence the young Indian minds, business entrepreneurs, diplomats and the general public.
Intercultural Communication - The Indian Context; Ramesh N. Rao and Avinash Thombre, Sage Publications, Rs.1,095.
