Rami Reddy, associate professor of agriculture business at UW-Platteville, spoke Oct. 13 in the Pioneer Student Center about the many different aspects of Indian culture. Some things we all know of, appreciate and use in our everyday life originated in India. These include: Kama Sutra, yoga, astrology, astronomy and mathematics.

Photograph by Stephanie Coren

On Oct. 13 Rami Reddy spoke in the Pioneer Student Center about the different aspects of Indian culture.

India is very culturally diverse, with 22 different languages spoken throughout the country. Their national language is Hindi, but in Andhra Pradesh, where Reddy is from, their language is Telugu.

“It would be like students here going from Platteville to Dubuque, Iowa, and having to speak another language,” Reddy said.

The different languages spoken in India vary as much as the landscape. It ranges from cities to villages, beaches to mountains and prairies to forests. There is a place to visit for everyone’s taste.

“The magical content of India cannot be easily explained, but can be easily experienced,” said an Indian native in a video at the presentation.

In many ways, the Indian culture is similar to that of our own. They love to watch their own film productions along with movies from Hollywood. They may not be quite as fanatic about their professional sports like we are, but they do appreciate a good game of cricket. As far as television is concerned, India has their own version of “The Simpsons.” They find humor in things just like we do, and like to make fun of their government officials.

“It was interesting to see the Indian side of humor in things,” faculty member George Krueger said.

Reddy was born in India, where he graduated from a local university studying agricultural business and business administration. He later traveled to the U.S. and furthered his college education at Kansas State and Texas A&M.

If you would like to learn more about other cultures, the “Through the eyes of a native” series will be continuing on Tuesday, Nov. 10 featuring Cameroon, and Wednesday, Dec. 2 featuring Hungary.