Customs and festivals
Society in practice, The year in colour. 10 min read.
Society in practice
05 Culture, customs & etiquetteGreetings · Dress · Hosting · Business norms · Family · Gifts
First Impressions
Small gestures, big goodwill.
India is warm, curious and forgiving with foreigners, but a handful of customs go a remarkably long way. None of these are difficult. All of them are noticed.
Namaste (palms pressed together at chest, slight bow) is the universal Indian greeting. Always appreciated, especially with elders, in religious places and when meeting traditional clients. A handshake is standard in modern business.
Touching feet is a sign of deep respect for elders, you do not need to initiate this, but accept it gracefully if a younger person offers it to you (place your hand on their head in blessing).
Business is conservative-smart, suits and shirts in the north, lighter linens in the south. Women: knee-length or longer skirts, modest necklines. Shoulders covered at religious sites; head covered at Sikh and many Muslim sites.
India loves colour, embrace it. Festival dress and weddings are not the place for muted tones.
Personal space in India runs about half what it does in the West. Queues are looser. Crowds in markets, transport and religious sites are dense by design. This is not rudeness, it's a different baseline.
Public displays of affection are uncommon. Same-gender hand-holding and arm-linking among friends is normal and platonic.
The cultural cheat-sheet
Two columns. Memorise both before week one.
✓ Do
- Remove shoes before entering any home, temple or many small offices. Watch what the host does.
- Greet with namaste, especially with elders. Most professionals will still offer a handshake.
- Eat with the right hand, or with cutlery. Bread (roti, naan) is for picking up curry, not for plating.
- Accept tea, water or food when offered. Refusing outright reads as cold. Say "thoda hi, please" (just a little) if you can't manage more.
- Use both hands, or the right hand, when giving and receiving money, business cards, gifts or food.
- Bring sweets, fruit or flowers when invited to an Indian home. Alcohol (wine or whiskey) only if you know the host drinks.
- Ask before photographing people, religious ceremonies or military sites.
- Address professionals with their title and surname, Mr. Sharma, Dr. Patel. Sir and Madam are universally respectful.
- Bargain warmly in bazaars and markets. Smile. It's a social ritual, not a confrontation.
- Tip generously where it matters, building staff, drivers, helpers, hotel housekeepers. Small amounts, frequently.
✕ Don't
- Point with your feet or touch books, food or shrines with your shoes or feet. Feet are ritually low.
- Use your left hand for eating, giving or receiving, particularly with elders or in religious settings.
- Order beef in most Hindu-majority states (it is restricted or banned in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, UP and others).
- Display affection publicly. Kissing on the cheek in greeting is uncommon and may cause discomfort.
- Wear shorts, sleeveless tops or short skirts to religious sites. Some sites lend shawls; many don't.
- Touch anyone's head, including children's, without consent. The head is ritually pure.
- Drink tap water. Drink only bottled, filtered or boiled water for the first 3 to 6 months at least.
- Refuse prasad (blessed food/sweet from a temple). Take it with the right hand and consume a little.
- Bargain in malls, branded stores, supermarkets or restaurants, only in bazaars and with auto-rickshaws (where you should agree fare first).
- Lose patience visibly. India runs on relationships and warmth; visible anger seldom speeds anything up.
Relationships first. Indian business runs on trust, repeated meetings and long lunches. Expect the first meeting to be exploratory; substance arrives in meeting two or three. Patience reads as seriousness; rushed transaction reads as suspicious.
Hierarchy matters. Decisions cascade from the senior-most person in the room. Address them first; let them speak first; eye-contact deferentially.
Time is elastic. Meetings rarely start on time and often run long. Indian Stretchable Time: ±20 minutes is normal, ±60 minutes not unusual in informal settings. Professional and corporate environments are increasingly punctual.
Business cards: exchange with the right hand, study briefly before pocketing. Title and degree letters matter and are usually printed.
An invitation to an Indian home is a small honour, treat it as one. Arrive 15 to 30 minutes after the stated time. Remove shoes at the door. Bring a small gift: sweets (mithai), good chocolate, fresh flowers, or a bottle if you know the host drinks.
Dinner often arrives 9 to 10pm. Compliment the cook; expect to be served seconds whether you ask or not. A clean plate is good manners.
Many homes have a puja (prayer) room. Treat it like a small temple, step in only if invited, and never with shoes on.
Sweets (Indian or imported), chocolates, dry-fruits boxes around Diwali, flowers (avoid white, funereal), books, single-malt for whisky-drinking hosts. Avoid leather for vegetarian families.
Restaurants: 5 to 10% if no service charge already added. Drivers: ₹50 to 200/day plus ₹500 to 1,000 on long trips. Hotel housekeeping: ₹100 to 200/day. Bellhops: ₹50 to 100/bag. Salon: 10%. Building security and lift operators around festivals: ₹500 to 2,000.
Joint families remain common. Expect colleagues to ask about your spouse and children early, this is warmth, not intrusion. Children are universally welcomed in restaurants, weddings and most events.
The year in colour
06 Festivals & celebrationsA festival every fortnight · Public holidays · How to participate
Year-Round
India is, at any moment, somewhere mid-celebration.
Festivals are the rhythm of Indian life. They shape what's open, what's cooked, what's worn, how cities feel and even how traffic flows. Engaging with them, even as an observer, is the fastest way to feel at home.
A regional festival guide
Many major festivals are observed as state or restricted (optional) holidays rather than nationwide, but the intensity of celebration is regional. Where you live changes which festival you'll see lived most fully on your street.
- Lohri, bonfires, harvest, peanuts & sesame sweets (13 Jan)
- Holi, the loudest and most colourful festival of the year (Mar)
- Eid al-Fitr / al-Adha, spectacular in Old Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad
- Karva Chauth, observed across the Hindi belt (Oct/Nov)
- Diwali, the year's biggest celebration in the north
- Ganesh Chaturthi, Mumbai & Pune virtually shut down for 10 days (Aug/Sep)
- Navratri / Garba, nine nights of dancing across Gujarat (Sep/Oct)
- Gudi Padwa, Maharashtrian New Year (Mar/Apr)
- Carnival, Goa's pre-Lent parade and float festival (Feb/Mar)
- Durga Puja, Kolkata becomes a five-day open-air gallery (Sep/Oct)
- Chhath Puja, sun worship on the Ganges & Yamuna (Oct/Nov)
- Rath Yatra, Puri's chariot festival, Odisha (Jun/Jul)
- Bihu, three Assamese harvest festivals across the year
- Pongal, four-day harvest festival across Tamil Nadu (Jan)
- Onam, Kerala's grand 10-day festival of boats and flower carpets (Aug/Sep)
- Ugadi, New Year for Telugu & Kannada families (Mar/Apr)
- Vishu, Kerala New Year (mid-April)
- Bonalu, Telangana's monsoon festival (Jul/Aug)
The headline festivals every family should know
India is one of very few countries where you'll find state holidays for festivals of every major world religion celebrated in the country: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain. The 10 below are the ones to know.
The full year of Indian festivals
Dates shift annually because most Indian festivals follow lunar calendars. Below are typical windows, your IKAN consultant will confirm exact dates for your assignment year.
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