Beyond borders, we understand countries not only through politics and headlines, but through the people, stories, art, literature and encounters that allow cultures to meet.
There’s power and there’s soft power. For eons, people have discovered each other through their lifestyles, habits, meals, arts, and shared ideologies. Where power acts as a deterrent, soft power integrates. This is what we call culture.
However, culture can be defined as a community or society’s ‘operating system’ as well. It is the community’s shared blueprint of beliefs, behaviors, values, customs, and artifacts that they use to understand the world and communicate with each other.
Anthropologists have divided it into visible and invisible culture.
1. Visible Culture (The Surface)
- Language & Communication: Spoken dialects, idioms, body language, and gestures.
- The Arts: Music, literature, dance, folklore, and cinema.
- Daily Life: Food, traditional clothing, architecture, and festivals.
2. Invisible Culture (The Deep Foundation)
- Core Values: Concepts of right vs. wrong, justice, and personal freedom.
- Social Norms: Rules regarding politeness, family dynamics, manners, and eye contact.
- Worldviews: Beliefs about religion, time, gender roles, authority, and the meaning of life.
Why Culture Matters
Culture gives individuals a sense of identity and belonging. However, culture is not a genetic phenomenon, it is learned. The dynamic nature of culture reflects in the ways societies interact, migrate, and adapt to new technologies.
My understanding of cultures comes a lot through viewing arts, meeting people for events, and reading varied literature.
Bridges Beyond Borders
National reading
Reading Poland in India: Ambassador Piotr Świtalski on Literature, Identity and Connection
Dr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador of Poland to India, a prolific reader and writer says reading requires time, effort and concentration. A habit that expands the imagination and connects tribes.
CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS
Finding Colours of Ukraine & Poland in India
An exploration of how Ukrainian and Polish heritage, art and traditions find new expressions in India, fostering mutual respect between Eastern Europe and South Asia.
PEOPLE & COURAGE
Miraculous Rescue on Mt Annapurna: The Story of Anurag Maloo, Adam Bielecki & Mariusz Hatala
A gripping story of high-altitude survival and cross-border solidarity on Mt Annapurna, proving human empathy transcends national borders.
STORIES ACROSS BORDERS
Kathakar International Storytellers’ Festival: Magical Oral Traditions
How the Kathakar Festival in Delhi unites global oral performers to preserve ancient memory and intangible cultural heritage.
CULTURAL EXCHANGE
The Global Stage: International Artists & Cultural Exchange in Delhi
Where the world’s performance traditions converge on Delhi’s stages to weave new stories of cross-cultural dialogue.
ARTISTS & EXPLORERS
Who Was Robert Lee Eskridge? Artist, Adventurer, Chronicler of a Vanishing World
Uncover the legacy of American artist and explorer Robert Lee Eskridge, who built historical bridges by chronicling the vanishing world of the South Pacific.
LITERATURE & Gastrodiplomacy
National Reading Day: Adam Mickiewicz & Nocturne Cheesecake
Discover a unique blend of gastrodiplomacy pairing Poland’s national poet Adam Mickiewicz with an unexpected Nocturne Cheesecake.
Ambica Gulati wears many hats: independent journalist, editor, multimedia storyteller, author and fiction writer. Her work moves between global affairs, conscious travel, the environment, culture and the intuitive arts, while her fiction explores the territories where nature, memory, mystery and imagination converge.
She is available for reported features, interviews, analysis, profiles and multimedia stories on international affairs, India and beyond.
Beyond the laptop, she nourishes her creative practice through meditation, birding, reading, journaling, oracle cards, and yoga.
From the Archives
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