Vivek Vaidya

What is the book about?:
Why do Indians...? is book of short stories about inscrutable Indian customs, traditions and likings. Indians still practice arranged marriage in a big way, they are crazy about cricket and movies, many Indians are staunch vegetarians, those who eat meat may avoid beef...so and so forth. All these typical Indian things are puzzling for rest of the world.
In last 10 years I travelled extensively across Asia and Europe and realized that there is genuine curiosity about these typical Indian practices. They do ask these questions to fellow Indians.
When such questions are asked two things may happen
1. The Indian may duck the question or ignore it, thus appearing defensive
or
2. The response may not stand the scrutiny posed by inquisitive minds, thus appearing illogical
It is a loose-loose situation for all fellow Indians. I spoke to many of them and they confessed that such situations are quite common.
Thats when I decided to take these question head on. Try to find answers, reasons, logic behind such practices. Why do Indians...? is a book that summarizes my perspective on these issues. It tries to answer all these questions about Indians like vegeterianism, abstinence from beef, love for cricket and movies in a rational manner.
This is light hearted, candid and humorous take on all these issues.

Who should read this book?:
Any Indian who is likely to come in touch with any foreign culture for work, travel, vacation, education should read this book. It will help them to be sensitive to other cultures and would help them to be assertive about their own culture and practices. This will make their interaction with foreigners on these topics more enriching and entertaining.
Any foreigner who is curious about Indian customs and traditions, those who need to work with Indians or live in India or Indians for a considerable time would also find this book interesting since it explain the psyche of an Indian when such questions are posed to them. This book will also be useful for those who are genuinely curious about Indians.

What is the key message of this book:
This book delivers a positive message for both Indians and foreigners.
For Foreigners the message is These typical practices by Indians may be difficult to understand for rest of the world but they still have their own merits and reasoning. The world should accept them wholeheartedly and be culturally sensitive to Indians.
For Indians the message is : When you step into foreign lands or interact with other cultures, your most closely held beliefs may come under scrutiny. Its is better to take them on rationally and calmly and answer them. These practices are not devoid of logic, if you think hard enough you would find strong reasoning behind them. Its best to be candid and open about the discussions and you would win friends in foreign lands and other cultures.