Culture Today

In her best-selling book, We are Like That Only, Rama Bijapurkar uncovers the complexities of consumer India, arguing that the convergence of cultural and market forces are creating a market unlike anything we have seen before.

Bijapurkar explains,

The contours of India’s cultural future are still unclear because everyday evidence of the surprising ways in which India is changing comes to light and the old theories about inevitable westernization sound simplistic. We can easily see from the evidence at hand the emergence of an Indian culture which is an amalgam of the old and new and on which the traditional labels of ‘Western’ or ‘Oriental’ do not sit comfortably. (Pages 175-176)

Not only do we highly recommend her book for companies seeking to enter the Indian market, we share Bijapurkar’s observations that the cultural forces at work in India do not fit neatly into existing categories and classifications. Our experience leads us to conclude that a surface understanding of Indian culture is more likely to yield frustration and sunk costs than business results. Rather, a deep desire to understand and the ability to continually adapt are required for succeeding in India.