Comparison between India and Germany

Submitted by

Saniya Khanna

Division A PRN NO. 18010224043 Batch 2018-2023 Class B.B.A.LL.B.

Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA

Symbiosis International(Deemed) University, PUNE

IN

August, 2019

Under the guidance of

Ms. Surbhi Bhatia

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Introduction

The father our nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi said “A nations culture resides in the hearts and in the
soul of the people”. The world has been divided into continent which have further been divided into many
countries.

In common parlance, a country is one which has its own government and a particular geographical region.
However, other than the physical attributes of area, size, population the attribute which distinguishes one
country from another, one native to another is the Culture and the beliefs that the country or the people follow.
It is their ideology that makes ever country unique and different in its perception.

The paper compares India and Germany on various attributes and tries to draw a link between the two.

1. Country Profile :

India:
India is the world's largest democracy. A country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the
second-most populous country. As a rising economic powerhouse and nuclear-armed state, India has emerged
as an important regional power. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the name India is derived from
the Classical Latin India, a reference to South Asia and an uncertain region to its east; and in turn derived
successively from: Hellenistic Greek India ,ancient Greek Indos , the Sanskrit Sindhu, or "river," but especially
the Indus river and, by implication, its well-settled southern basin. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians
as Indoi ,which translates as "The people of the Indus".

India has had some of the world's most ancient surviving civilisations. For instance, the Indus Valley
civilization. The Indian subcontinent ranges from the mountainous Afghan frontier to the jungles of Burma
and the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean is both enormous and varied
in terms of people, language and cultural traditions.

Geographically, India covers 3.1 million square kilometres. India is

bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the
southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land
borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to
the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar
Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

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 India is home to more than a billion people and has an average life expectancy of sixty seven years for men
and seventy years for women. According to UN estimates, its population is expected to overtake China's in
2028 to become the world's most populous nation. The capital of the country is New Delhi, however the
largest city is Mumbai. India has more than twenty languages, the official languages being English and Hindi.

Germany:
Germany is Europe's most industrialised and populous country. Famed for its technological achievements, it
has also produced some of Europe's most celebrated composers, philosophers and poets. The English word
Germany derives from the Latin Germania, came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east
of the Rhine. The German term Deutschland, originally diutisciu land ("the German lands") is derived from
deutsch descended from Old High German diutisc "popular" (i.e. belonging to the diot or diota "people"),
originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants.

Geographically, Germany covers 357,027 square kilometres. It is in Western and Central Europe, with
Denmark bordering to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to
the east, Austria to the southeast, Switzerland to the south-
southwest, France, Luxembourg and Belgium lie to the west, and
the Netherlands to the northwest. Elevation ranges from the
mountains of the Alps in the south to the shores of the North Sea in
the northwest and the Baltic Sea in the northeast. Germany's alpine
glaciers are experiencing deglaciation. Significant natural resources include iron ore, coal, potash, timber,
lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land and water.

Germany has a population of eighty two million people with an average life expectancy of seventy eight years
for men and eighty three years for women. The capital city of the country is Berlin.

2. Food

India: The traditional food of India is widely appreciated for its fabulous use of herbs and spices. The cooking
style varies from region to region and is largely divided into South Indian & North Indian cuisine. The staple
food in India includes wheat, rice and pulses with chana (Bengal Gram) being the most important one.Some
of the famous Indian cuisine are:

a. Bengali cuisine: Known for the use of panchphoron, a term used to refer to the five essential spices, namely
mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin seed, aniseed, and black cumin seed.

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b. Gujarati cuisine: is primarily vegetarian and has a
high nutritional value like Thampla and fafda.

c. Punjabi cuisine: The food is filled with ghee and

butter. The most prominent dish of this cuisine is the
parathas and butter chicken, lassi, chaas and many
more.

d. Rajasthani Cuisine: it is primarily vegetarian .The spice content is quite high in comparison to other Indian
cuisines. Rajasthanis use ghee for cooking most of the dishes. Rajasthani food is well known for its spicy
curries and delicious sweets. For eg. Getta ki sabzi (Bessan), Bebdi puri and so on.

e. South Indian cuisine: The cuisine of South India is known for its light, low calorie appetizing dishes. The
traditional food of South India is mainly rice based. The cuisine is famous for its wonderful mixing of rice
and lentils to prepare yummy lip smacking dosas, vadas, idlis and uttapams.

Germany:

Germans used and still use old world techniques of food preservation through salting, smoking, curing, or pickling
is still a common way of preparing fish, meats, and vegetables. The earliest spices in German cuisine were
parsley, celery, and dill, which are still used today.. Germans still fall back on their rich heritage, serving wild
game, lamb, pork, and beef with old and new ways of preparing them and their side dishes. Popular spices are
mustard, horseradish, and juniper berries, which are found, for instance, in the Luneburg Heath.

The german food can be categorised on the basis of region which hav influenced the eating habits of the area.
They are as follows:

a. Baden-Württemberg : Special plant crops such as tobacco, wine, fruit and horticulture are of supranational
importance and offer the inhabitants. Asparagus and chestnuts are as skillfully used in the kitchen as tripe
and escargot and a variety of fruity desserts and pastries is provided for the traditional German "Kaffee und
Kuchen" ( "coffee and cake”).
b. Bavaria:The Bavarian dukes, especially the Wittelsbach family, developed Bavarian cuisine and refined it
to be presentable to the royal court. This cuisine has belonged to wealthy households, especially in cities,
since the 19th century. The (old) Bavarian cuisine is closely connected to Czech cuisine and Austrian
cuisine A Bavarian speciality is the Brotzeit, a savoury snack, which would originally be eaten between
breakfast and lunch. The region is located at higher elevations, and is known for yielding beet and potato
crops and also for the production of fine beers.
c. Hamburg:Until the 20th century, it was predominantly characterized by the extensive choice of different
kinds of fish from the river Elbe and the quick access to both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, both being
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 roughly 100 kilometers away from the city center. The neighboring regions did supply the city state with
fresh vegetables, fruit came mainly from a region called Altes Land just southwest of Hamburg and until
industrialization, the neighbourhood of Wilhelmsburg was considered the ‘milk isle’ of Hamburg.
d. Hesse: Traditional food here is Frankfurter Rippchen, a spiked pork cutlet, which is often served with
sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Also from Hessen comes the Frankfurt green sauce ("Grüne Sauce”). One
of the best-known specialties from Hesse is the Frankfurter Kranz, a buttercream cake whose shape is
reminiscent of a crown; a reminiscence of Frankfurt as the historical coronation city of the German
emperors. In the historic district Sachsenhausen there is the so-called Cider Quarter ("Äppelwoiviertel"),
where there are numerous taverns that offer cider, especially in the summer months. In the cider taverns,
"Handkäs mit Musik" is offered as a snack, a sour milk cheese served in a marinade of onions, vinegar and
spices.
e. Thuringia :Thuringian cuisine is mainly marinated cutlet of pork (Rostbrätel) with pan fried potatoes.
Wheat, grapes, sugarbeets, and barley grow well, along with a variety of vegetables, which grow near
Erfurt, the state's capital. Tomatoes, lettuce, broad beans,
onions, and cucumbers are grown in the region.Mostly the
area is covered with forest and thus has a wide variety of
edible mushrooms, such as chestnut mushrooms, porcini,
and chanterelles, along with wild berries, such as
blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and blackberries,
which are all traditional accompaniments to game
dishes.The most famous foods from Thuringia are
Thuringian sausages and Thuringian dumplings.
f. Saxony : In general the cuisine is very hearty and features many peculiarities of central Germany such as a
great variety of sauces which accompany the main dish and the fashion to serve Klöße or Knödel as a side
dish instead of potatoes, pasta or rice. Also much freshwater fish is used in Saxon cuisine, particularly carp
and trout as is the case throughout Eastern Europe.

During the holiday season in Christian German culture the traditional food is Würstchen mit Kartoffelsalat,
sausage (mostly Wiener Würstchen) with potato salad, which usually is served on Christmas Eve.

3. Lifestyle: The topic of lifestyle has the categories of eating habits, work routine, shopping and family
setup etc.
India:
The Indian lifestyle is very different from the way in which people live all around the world. Thus it is unique.

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 a. Family: India as a country believes in the concept of having joint families and big families where one
can find generations living together. Family bonding and kinship is one such valued tradition that is
given utmost importance in India. Usually, the oldest male member is the head in the joint Indian
family system. He mostly makes all important decisions and rules, and other family members are likely
to abide by them. However, this ideology is changing and women are given the same status mostly in
urban areas. Arranged marriages have long been the norm in Indian society. Even today, the majority
of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family-members. Great
importance is given to family values, practices and traditions that are followed. Any deviation from
the family culture is highly opposed.

b. Eating Habits: In India there is no set time for eating. In India people eat when they want, and what
they want to. In the country, breakfast traditionally involves eating chappatis and aloo and puri which
is usually eaten around eith to ten o’ clock. However, now Indians also eat bread and eggs in the
morning. Lunch is comprises of pulses and vegetable or some non vegetarian dish. Like, Egglpant or
chicken curry. It is eaten between two to three o’clock. Typical dinner in India is usually the same as
lunch but more heavy .People in India first indulge in their luxury of
drinking and then sit to eat around ten o clock. During the day, as a snack
people are fond of drinking the famous Indian tea which has ginger and some
spice in it with mainly fried food like pakodas.

c. Working Habits: The working life of Indians is very different. In India

work starts around nine o’clock and the day ends varies from office to
office from five o’clock to seven o’clock.

d. Clothing: Every culture has its own attire hence there are a variety of clothing styles worn in India.
Some of the traditional clothing worn in India includes churidar, salwar kameez, sarees, lehenga, etc.,
which are worn by women, and kurta-pyjama, sherwani, dhoti etc., worn by men. Though simple
versions are adopted for day to day life, more lavish styles are worn on special occasions like during
festivals and weddings. Accessories and jewellery are also an important part of styling, and often have
religious or cultural significance. In addition to Indian outfits, Western fashion is also popular,
especially amongst the younger generation in major cities. Skirts, tops, t-shirts and pants are widely
available and worn by a large number of Indians.

Germany:

a. Family : Many young academics in particular put off starting a family – they first want to complete
their university studies and then start a career. As a result, on average mothers are already almost
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 30 and fathers 35 years old when their first child is born. This is also a reason for the small average
number of children per family. Germany needs more children; it is the country with the oldest
population after Japan. Although, at 1.5 children per woman, the birth rate is at the highest level
since reunification, it is still lower than the EU average of 1.58. This is why there are a large number
of state aids aimed at promoting families. The most important are child allowance, parental
allowance, tax incentives, and subsidies for pregnant women and families whose income is too low
to meet their children's basic needs. School education is free. Despite such support, single parents
are among the population groups with the highest risk of poverty if the other parent refuses to pay
maintenance for his or her child.

b. Eating Habits: Germans are known to be very systematic and

disciplines and therefore so is their lives. The breakfast in
Germany is usually said to be between 6:30 am and 7 am . Lunch
takes place between twelve o’clock and one o’clock. Unlike,
Indians Germans eat their meal first and then indulge in their
fancies. Thus, in Germany dinner is between 6:30 pm and 7:30
pm.

c. Working Habits: Germans are very meticulous and are often said to be perfectionists. They prioritise
their work to a great extent. In Germany, work starts for a common man around seven and half past
seven in the morning. The working day usually lasts till four o’clock. Thus it can be very clearly
seen that in Germany the working hours are shorter and start early in the morning as compared t o
India where the hours are long and the day start late.

d. Clothing : Today, the average German dress is typically western. Both men and women wear dark
simple suits and shirts in business context. However, each region of the country have their own
traditional costumes, which differ a bit from one another. For example, in the state of Bavaria, the
traditional costume for men is leather trousers that end just above the knee, while for women it is a
dress that incorporates a bodice, blouse, full skirt and an apron. You can see people wearing these
costumes, especially during carnivals or festivals.

4. Sports :

India:

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The history of sports in India dates back to the Vedic era. Physical culture in ancient India was fed by a
powerful fuel--religious rites. There were some well-defined values like the mantra in the Atharva-Veda,
saying," Duty is in my right hand and the fruits of victory in my left". In India, dehvada or the body-way is
defined as "one of the ways to full realisation." In the day and age of the Rig-Veda, Ramayana and
Mahabharata men of stature and circumstance were expected to be competent in chariot-racing, archery,
horsemanship, military tactics, wrestling, weight-lifting, swimming and huntingThe guru-shishya (teacher-
pupil) relationship has always been an integral part of Indian sport from time immemorial. Indian sport reached
a peak of excellence when Buddhism held sway here. In Villas Mani Majra, Tiruvedacharya describes many
fascinating games, namely, archery, equitation, hammer-throwing and chariot-racing. In Manas Olhas (1135
A.D.), Someshwar writes about bhrashram (weight-lifting), bhramanshram (walking) and also about Mall-
Stambha (wrestling).

Field hockey was considered to be the national game of India. Cricket is considered the most popular sport in
India. Football is popular in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Chess is commonly believed to have originated in northwestern India. Other games which originated in India
and continue to remain popular in wide parts of northern India include Kabaddi, Gilli-danda, and Kho kho.
Traditional southern Indian games include Snake boat race and
Kuttiyum kolum. The modern game of polo is derived from
Manipur, India, where the game was known as 'Sagol Kangjei',
'Kanjai-bazee', or 'Pulu'. It was the anglicised form of the last,
referring to the wooden ball that was used, which was adopted by the
sport in its slow spread to the west. The first polo club was
established in the town of Silchar in Assam, India, in 1833.

Germany:

Sports are very popular in Germany, with about forty million Germans either a member of a sports club or
pursuing sports individually. Football is the most popular sport and indeed Germany are one of the
superpowers of the sport internationally. Jogging and Nordic walking are followed by winter sports such as
skiing and ice-skating.

Motor sports is also very popular in Germany and is one of the leading country in the sport. With teams like
BMW, Mercedes and Porsche participating in such matches. The popular sports in Germany include Football
(Soccer), Rugby Union, Cycling, gymnastics, tennis, shooting, athletics, handball, Motorsport, Field Hockey.
Whereas the traditional German sports were Klootschieten — German sport in which participants throw a ball
as far as they can and Kegel - a German nine-pin bowling game played in Australia

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 5. Culture: The category of culture has been further divided into Religion and festivals

India:

a. Religion : Indian-origin religions Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism,

and Sikhism,[3] all of which are based on the concept of dharma
and karma. Ahimsa, a philosophy of nonviolence, is an
important aspect of native Indian faiths whose most well known
proponent was Mahatma Gandhi who through civil
disobedience brought India together against the British Raj. he Indian culture, often labelled as an
amalgamation of several various cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced
and shaped by a history that is several thousand years old. here are six schools of orthodox Hindu
philosophy—Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta—and four heterodox schools—
Jain, Buddhist, Ājīvika and Cārvāka – last two are also schools of Hinduism
b. Festivals: India, being a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, celebrates holidays
and festivals of various religions. The three national holidays in India, the Independence Day, the
Republic Day and the Gandhi Jayanti, are celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm across India. In addition,
many Indian states and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic
demographics. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Navratri, Janmashtami,
Diwali, Maha Shivratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, Holi, Rath Yatra, Ugadi, Rakshabandhan, and
Dussehra. Several harvest festivals such as Makar Sankranti, Pusnâ, Hornbill, Pongal and Raja
sankaranti swinging festival are also fairly popular.

Indian New Year festival are celebrated in different part of India with unique style in different times.
Ugadi, Bihu, Gudhi Padwa, Puthandu, Vaisakhi, Pohela Boishakh, Vishu and Vishuva Sankranti are
the New Year festival of different part of India.

Germany

a. Religion: In Germany a percentage of 65 to 70 of people recognize themselves as Christians, 29% of

which as Catholics. There is also a Muslim minority of 4.4%. A number as high as 36% do not identify
themselves as having any religion or belong to another than Christianity or Muslim. Some of the most
famous philosophers were born and lived in Germany, as Immanuel Kant, who played a central role in
the history of philosophy, and he was inspired by German philosopher Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
who spent their whole lives in Germany. On the other hand the developers of the communist theory
Marx and Engels were also Germans.

b. Festivals: Though the Germans are known as very bureaucratic people, they too know how to have fun
and enjoy life. The widely attended carnivals and festivals prove this statement best. Both types of
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 events are a joyful period of the year in which whole cities engage in all-out parties and colorful
celebrations. The Carnivals have a long history in Catholicism, while today they are celebrated by
street parades of people wearing costumes and masks. There is a variety of carnivals and festivals
celebrating all spheres of life and joy.

 The weddings are very special. It is a tradition for the bride to carry bread and salt with her as
an omen for food harvest. On the other hand, the groom is supposed to carry grain for good
luck and wealth.

 Bach Fest is the world-class music festival in Leipzig commemorates the life and work of the
city's most famous resident, Johann Sebastian Bach.

 The highlight of our German festival calendar: Oktoberfest in Bavaria. Every September and
October, over 6 million visitors from around the world come to Munich to celebrate Bavarian
cuisine, music, and traditions. There are many colourful parades, open-air concerts, and fun
rides to enjoy for the whole family.

 Just outside of Stuttgart every fall, the largest pumpkin festival in the world takes place. On the
grounds of the spectacular Schloss Ludwigsburg, over 450,000 pumpkins are on display.

6. Industries

India: India is known for the following industries all around the world.

 Textile Industry :This industry covers a wide range of activities ranging from generation of raw
materials such as jute, wool, silk and cotton to greater value
added goods such as ready made garments prepared from
different types of man made or natural fibres. Textile industry
provides job opportunity to over 35 million individuals thus
playing a major role in the nation's economy.

 Food Processing Industry :In terms of global food business, India

accounts less than 1.5% inspite of being one of the key food producing nations worldwide. Food
Processing Industry provides job opportunities to 1.6 million people and it is estimated to expand by
37 million by 2025.
 Cement Industry: India has 10 large cement plants governed by the different State governments.
Besides this India have 115 cement plants and around 300 small cement plants. This totals the capacity

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 of Indian cement industry at 159.38 million tonnes. Ambuja cement, J K Cement, Aditya Cement and
L & T Cement are some of the major steel companies in India.
 Steel and mining Industry: Indian Steel Industry is a 400 years old. The key players in Steel Industry
are Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Bokaro Steel Plant, Rourkela Steel Plant, Durgapur Steel Plant
and Bbilai Steel Plant.
 Software Industry: Software Industry registered a massive expansion in the last 10 years. This industry
signifies India's position as the knowledge based economy with a Compounded Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) of 42.3%.
 Petroleum Industry: Petroleum industry started its operations in the year 1867 and is considered as the
oldest Indian industry. India is one of the most flourishing oil markets in the world and in the last few
decades has witnessed the expansion of top national companies like ONGC, HPCL, BPCL and IOC.

Germany:

 Machinery, Automotive, And Aviation Industry:The machinery and equipment sector drives the high-
tech nation and leads in innovations like robotics. Germany has a proven engineering tradition and
continues to offer modern manufacturing solutions. Worldwide, people appreciate German products
like Bayerische Motorenwerke (BMW), Daimler-Benz, and Volkswagen for excellent engineering,
innovation, safety, and designs. The aviation sector in Germany has been on a constant rise, especially
over the last two decade.

 Chemical And Medical Industry :The German chemical industry leads in Europe in terms of sales
within Europe and exports to other continents. Germany has well-developed chemical research and
development infrastructure. The country’s education system also produces quality graduates ready to
work and offers investors a fertile and market ready environment for chemical products. Medical
equipment and pharmaceutical goods are among the top German exports and give the country billions
of dollars. The commodities include medical supplies, life-saving machinery, and other hospital
equipment.

 Mittelstand companies :In Germany, Mittelstand companies are family owned companies with
emotional attachments, they display generational continuity, are independent, are nimble, flexible,
have lean hierarchies, long-term focus, customer oriented, innovative, socially responsible, invests on
the workforce, and have strong regional ties. Mittelstand companies employ less than 500 workers
each and in total, they employ 80% of the country’s workforce and exports a significant number of
products.

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  Beer: Germans are the second largest beer consumers in Europe, after
the Czech. It is estimated that the average German consumes around
140 liters of beer per year. Germans do not only love to drink beer, but
they also love to brew it. There are around 1300 German breweries
and 5000 brew brands that produce around 115 hectoliters of beer per
year. It is estimated that if you decide to taste every day another
different type of beer in Germany, you would need 15 years to taste
all of them.There is also a more than 500-hundred-year old law on beer that is called Reinheitgebot
and states that only barley, hops and water shall be used in the brewing of beer.

Conclusion:

From the above points, it is evident that Germany and India are very different from each other. For instance,
in Germany food is categorised on the basis of region and the weather there whereas in India food is essentially
categorised on the basis of religion. German has one main religion and that is Catholics whereas India is
predominately Hindu but caters to more than twenty different cultures.

However, one cannot deny the fact that India and Germany have similarities. Both the countries have been
survivors of wars whether it is the Nazi rule or the British Raj. Both countries have victoriously risen to new
heights. Further, both countries inherently believe in having big and joint family set ups. Lastly, both countries
have their official languages however they also have region specific languages which in a way are native to
their part or area.

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