For Americans visiting or moving to India, the culture shock can be both amusing and eye-opening. Kristen Fischer, a US citizen who first travelled to India in 2017 and now lives in New Delhi, captures this experience well. A mother of three who describes herself as "Very Videshi," Fischer regularly shares insights on cultural quirks between the US and India on social media. In a recent video uploaded to Instagram, she highlighted the differences in seasoning food - where salt and pepper suffice in the US, while Indian dishes call for a medley of spices like aamchur (dried mango powder), dhaniya powder (coriander powder), haldi (turmeric), chilli powder, garam masala (a blend of spices), jeera powder (cumin powder), and kaali mirch (black pepper).
She also showcases contrasting meal times: a typical US dinner might start as early as 5 pm, while in India, it's common to dine around 10 pm. Next, Kristen highlights coffee and tea culture - Americans often prefer large to-go coffee cups, but in India, small cups of chai are meant to be sipped slowly and enjoyed at the moment. Fischer even touches on dining etiquette, noting that while Americans usually use a fork, eating with one's hands is common and culturally embraced in India.
The video has gone viral and social media users flocked to the comments section.
One user wrote, "USA: Cold coffee, India: Hot coffee, USA: Chai tea latte in Starbucks India: Chai," while another commented, "Somethings in the USA are good like early dinner which was followed in India too but later due to industrialisation dinner was late which is not ideal for kids especially."
One user said, "My mom always brings back cute coffee sets from India since she loves the perfect size cups."
A user humorously asked her, "Excellent, so which one do you prefer now, you are ready for Indian citizenship now," and one comment read, "You are more Indian than most Indians in India."
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