From international student to professor, Tripathi Mani shares his thoughts on Chinese and Indian cultures and the beneficial exchanges between them. 

Tripathi Mani and his students after their graduation. 

Tripathi Vivek Mani first learned about China from bedtime stories told by his father, a Sanskrit teacher in rural Bihar, a state in east India. Many of the stories were about the Chinese monk Xuanzang’s adventures during his long journey to India to find Buddhist scriptures. They kindled the young boy’s interest in China and the desire to visit it one day.

After entering college, Mani chose Chinese literature as his major, against his father’s wishes for him to learn Sanskrit in the family tradition. Mani’s dream, however, was to eventually study Chinese language and culture in the country itself. This dream came true in 2011, when he received a Chinese government scholarship and enrolled in the postgraduate program for Chinese as a foreign language in Shenyang Normal University (SNU), Liaoning Province in northeast China.

"Learning Chinese is not only about getting a job, but gaining a good understanding of Chinese culture and promoting cultural exchanges between India and China,” said Mani.

After graduation from SNU, he decided to pursue a career in education in China. Since 2015, he has worked as a Hindi teacher at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, where he went on to get his Ph.D. and is now Associate Professor in Indology there.

During the 13 years of living in China, Mani has developed a deep bond with the country. "When I first arrived in the northeast part of China, the bitterly cold weather of -10 degrees Celsius was an unprecedented challenge for me, a person who grew up in the tropics. I was also dazzled by the diversity of Chinese foods. The Sichuan cuisine is fiercely spicy and the Chongqing cuisine is mouth-numbing. Now I have developed a penchant for Cantonese food, which has a light, fresh flavor. My taste has been changing and adapting over the years," he said.

He is deeply impressed by the hospitality of Chinese people through small gestures of kindness, such as a stranger’s help when he was lost, and the support of his Chinese professors and friends when he encountered difficulties. Mani also mentioned the punctuality of Chinese people.

From a student to an assistant professor, he is grateful that China has offered him the opportunities to achieve career development and academic success.

Tripathi Mani in a TV show. 

Similarities and Disparities

China and India are both ancient civilizations, connected by mountains and waters and culturally intertwined. Their cultures and societies share many similarities. For instance, Confucius of China and Sakyamuni of India both put forward the concepts of peace and fairness 2,500 years ago, which have profoundly influenced the two countries, said Mani.

In the sphere of culture, China and India also have much in common. Both countries have high esteem for teachers. In India, there is a saying, "If you meet two people at the door, and one is your friend and the other is your mentor, you should greet your mentor first." So it is the India tradition to "put teachers before friends." Similarly, China also has the tradition of honoring teachers and education. In addition, both India and China attach great importance to family values. It is the custom of both to remember ancestors and deceased family members on a particular day of the year, and to have multi-generational families living together. Mani also noted the strong sense of responsibility toward one’s family and society shared by Chinese and Indians, who believe that one lives not only for themselves, but also for their loved ones and country.

The two countries are however markedly different in other ways. "Diet is a notable example. Indians prefer vegetables, while China has a wider variety of non-vegetarian dishes. This difference stems from their different geography and climatic conditions. China is a vast country with relatively less farmland and more mountainous terrain, so the Chinese need to rely more on a variety of ingredients to sustain their lives. India, as a tropical country, has more farmland and a climate suitable for the growth of crops, making it easier for Indians to obtain food and leading to a diet that favors vegetables," Mani explained.

China and India have a long history of cultural exchange. Buddhism originated in India, but has been widely spread and adapted in China, fostering a Buddhist culture with Chinese characteristics. This two-way exchange not only enriches the culture of the two sides, but also increases the cultural diversity of the entire world.

Tripathi Mani is now a Hindi teacher at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. 

Language Teaching Helps Mutual Understanding

Mani is aware that culture is the soul of a country, and language is a bridge that connects peoples’ hearts. He hopes to be a bridge builder between China and India.

Remarkable progress has been made in cooperation in language education between the two countries over the past years. “A decade ago, only a few universities in India had Chinese language programs, now the number exceeds 30. This growth signifies the increasing attention India pays to Chinese education and the expanding cooperation in education between the two countries,” said Mani.

He noticed that 18 universities in China now offer Hindi courses, which serve as an important window for Chinese students to learn about Indian culture.

Meanwhile, the two governments have launched a joint translation program for classic works of their own. Mani welcomes the move, saying that it will further promote literary exchanges and deepen the two peoples' understanding of each other's cultures.

However, despite the fact that both China and India have invested more in each other's language education, there are still gaps and challenges to be addressed. Some Indian students who have studied Chinese or visited China have found that the culture they experience firsthand in China is different from what they learn through the media; likewise, Chinese students have similar feelings about Indian culture.

To solve these challenges, Mani calls on the two countries to strengthen literary exchanges and encourage young people to gain more knowledge of the other country through studying each other's language and literature, and to study in the other country.

Since ancient times, China and India have learned from and influenced each other. For example, the 10 tones of the Chinese language, four in Mandarin and six in Cantonese, have been shaped by Sanskrit, and many Chinese words were also borrowed from Sanskrit. Conversely, Chinese culture has also had a profound impact on India. For example, after the method of making white sugar was imported from India to China, the Chinese renovated it to produce higher-quality sugar, which was then passed back to India. And after Chinese tea was introduced to India, the beverage became an indispensable part of Indian people's daily life and India is now the second largest producer of tea in the world, second only to China.

Mani said the current generation of both peoples has the responsibility to continue this tradition of cultural exchange. From his side, he wants to dedicate himself to this cause, hoping to help more Indians see the real China and more Chinese people better understand India.