What America should learn from India?

What America should learn from India? 

By: Nolan Stevenson, Student in India

Following 8 things can America learn from India such as:

1. How to recycle absolutely anything
Indians are the masters of reusing and recycling all forms of paper  products, metals, and plastics. As an American living in India, I threw  out soda bottles, empty paper towel rolls, used plastic bags, and a  plethora of other articles that would promptly be plucked from my  garbage bags and sold in the streets.
It is said that there are four or five layers of recycling in India.  Someone would go through my trash and read my old newspapers, take my  empty bottles, and whatever else they found to be of value. Then three  or four other people would follow them, doing precisely the same thing.
Plastic bags and bottles became containers for screws, while nails  and fabrics were made into decorative ribbons for auto rickshaws.
2. How to street eat
India has some of the best street food in the world, from vegetarian chickpea dishes totandoori shish kabobs to pani puri — one of the most famous street meals, made up of a small wheat shell  filled with a mixture of potato, peas, and spices. The shell is then  dipped in spicy water and eaten 8 to 15 at a time. For breakfast or an  afternoon snack, jalebi is fried to the point of looking like an American funnel cake.
3. How to wear the same outfit in both 120-degree and 40-degree weather
North India is mostly desert, so the temperatures range drastically  from hot to cold. Women wear saris throughout the warm months of March  to October, while men wear light clothing and turban-like headwear.  Saris look deceiving — three layers of clothing and a head wrap — but  they are the coolest thing you could wear because of all the air flow  you get. Winter calls for heavy blankets and scarves made from pashmina.
4. How to celebrate a holiday every day of the year
India celebrates multiple holidays throughout the year and each one is celebrated profusely. Throwing colors and drinking bhang (a drink made from milk, marijuana, and Indian spices) goes with Holi.  Lighting up the cities goes with Diwali. And sweets like barfi (made from sugar and milk) are always given on birthdays.
Because Hindus worship gods of fertility, wealth, heroism and  seasons, there are literally holidays almost every day of the year. The  people take these times to visit their neighbors, make food, and enjoy  life together.
5. How to turn pretty much anything into juice
There are men on every street corner in India with carts brimming  over with fresh pomegranates, oranges, bananas, and pineapples. They use  little blenders for juicing the fruit and serve it in flimsy plastic  cups. When in season, fruit can be bought by the kilo for under the  equivalent of one US dollar. Stopping by for a mango smoothie or some  pomegranate juice is an everyday occurrence for many. Lassi stands are also prevalent, serving up a delicious drink of blended yogurt and spices in clay cups.
6. How to build with so much color
From the Taj Mahal to the many forts and palaces of cities like  Jaipur, India is well known for its architectural masterpieces. Marble  is used in many buildings, adding an air of dignity even to regular  homes. Brilliant blue and green colors are abundant and different cities  are known by names such as the Pink City (Jaipur) or the Blue City  (Jodhpur).
7. How to respect family and elders, and work to make them proud
Family and elders are the most important people in India. Once  educated and married, the children will start taking care of their  parents. The oldest son will marry and move his new family into his  parents’ home in order to take care of the entire family. Family pride  is so important that the children will study as hard as possible in  order to make their parents happy. In India, family relationships are  the only relationships that will last a lifetime.
8. How to roast meat in a clay oven Indians are famous for many dishes: tikka masala with a tomato sauce base, madras curry with chili powder, biryani with rice, meats, and vegetables, and of course tandoori. One of the few foods not eaten in a broth or sauce base, tandoorichicken, goat, and lamb gets roasted in a large clay oven that gives  the food an unforgettable Indian flavor. India is famous for these  beautiful ovens, and rarely are they seen anywhere else in the world.