Indian culture , life, Religion & Caste system

Religion & CasteMost Indians (83%) practice Hinduism, 12% are Muslims, and the rest comprise Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsees and other faiths. There are thousands of castes in India (social classes to which people belong at birth). People generally marry within their own caste. There are no particular castes linked to the modern professions of bank clerk, postal worker, teacher, and lawyer.CultureA majority of marriages in India are arranged, and almost all arranged marriages occur between people of the same caste. Only a few young people select their partners (called ?love marriage?) across caste lines, and many suffer socially when they do so.The life of Indians is centered around the family. Two or more adult generations often live together, what they call the extended family. The children are expected to live along with their parents and look after them in their old age. ClothingThe basic clothing for most Indians, men and women, is still a simple draped cloth. (By the way, the pajama came from India). Men in northern India may wear a pants-and-shirt outfit called the pajama-kurta. While his Southern Indian counterpart wears a white wraparound cloth called Mundu and angavastram, a shawl. Women wear the sari. In Punjab, women wear a baggy pants-and-shirt outfit known as the salwar-kameez, and in the south, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra it is Davani, a piece of sheer cloth tucked into a long-skirt.Western-style clothing has almost replaced traditional dress for men, especially in urban India.CustomsWhen you enter temples or private houses it is a custom to take your footwear off. There is another custom of handing or accepting something with the right hand only. The left hand is considered to be not clean. It?s also bad manners there to touch your face with the left hand.Women usually don?t shake hands with men. Instead they greet you with folded hands. Hello in India is "Namaste" or "Namskaram".