“Interpreter of Maladies”, by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a collection of short stories all involving individuals with some type of a connection to India. Through these short stories, the reader learns a tremendous amount about India’s cultural aspects and how these aspects define India as a country. By utilizing Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework, one can better understand what exactly creates India’s culture and how it is different from other countries. Hofstede separates these dimensions into numerous categories, Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation and Indulgence. Analyzing each of these categories helps to illustrate what values India’s society appreciates more than others. Relating
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The first dimension, Power Distance, states that individuals are not equal in a society. This dimension attempts to demonstrate how much a country’s lower classes accepts the fact that power is distributed unevenly. India scores quite high in this dimension, with a score of 77. As a result of this, India’s culture is defined by accepting a more hierarchical structure in society and the people, therefore, believe that they should be reliant on their superior for guidance. The short story about Boori Ma, “A Real Durwan”, in “Interpreter of Maladies” gives a societal example of Power Distance in Indian culture. Boori Ma is essentially a groundskeeper at an apartment complex in Calcutta. She is extremely poor and although she does not work for very wealthy people, there are still clear indicators that she accepts the notion that she is below them. When Boori Ma visits her fellow residents, she is aware of their class separation, “Knowing not to sit on the furniture, she crouched, instead, in doorways and hallways…” (45). Boori was aware, and accepting, of the fact that she was lesser than her superiors in society, showing the high amount of respect Indian culture has for Power
The first dimension, Power Distance, states that individuals are not equal in a society. This dimension attempts to demonstrate how much a country’s lower classes accepts the fact that power is distributed unevenly. India scores quite high in this dimension, with a score of 77. As a result of this, India’s culture is defined by accepting a more hierarchical structure in society and the people, therefore, believe that they should be reliant on their superior for guidance. The short story about Boori Ma, “A Real Durwan”, in “Interpreter of Maladies” gives a societal example of Power Distance in Indian culture. Boori Ma is essentially a groundskeeper at an apartment complex in Calcutta. She is extremely poor and although she does not work for very wealthy people, there are still clear indicators that she accepts the notion that she is below them. When Boori Ma visits her fellow residents, she is aware of their class separation, “Knowing not to sit on the furniture, she crouched, instead, in doorways and hallways…” (45). Boori was aware, and accepting, of the fact that she was lesser than her superiors in society, showing the high amount of respect Indian culture has for Power