Aesthetics

One of the things that I'm learning here is how different the Indian view of aesthetics is when compared with the American view. (To clear up any misunderstanding right off, aesthetics: a particular theory or conception of beauty or art : a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses and especially sight.) One of the first examples that I had of this was when we first arranged our living room. At first, we had the typical arrangement of the sofa opposite the TV, flanked by two chairs. The "coffee table" that we were provided with was more of the size that I would use as an end table, but it was in the middle of the arrangement. However, once we receieved all of our furniture, Liz and I decided to be a little bit creative with the arrangement. We decided to leave the sofa opposite the TV but put the two chairs separated by the table on the perpendicular wall and leave their opposite open to the room. We liked the open feeling that it gave to the room. We also figured that a rug would tie the whole room together nicely. (Well, we still figure that, we just haven't purchased one yet. :) ) It was interesting to see the Indians react to our arrangment though. Our maid was the most concerned, trying to convince us to move one of the chairs back to the opposite side. Everyone else reacted with quizzical looks at the arrangement or the grudging comments of "I guess this arrangement is pretty ok."

The other instance where I've noticed this discrepancy is in shopping for clothing. I recently purchased a new salwar suit (pants, top and dupatta [scarf]) at Naidu Hall. When I went to try everything on, they handed me the pants and the top, but not the dupatta. I didn't think much of it since I figured that it wouldn't need to be altered like the other pieces. However, AFTER I had given them for tailoring, I noticed the dupatta and thought to myself "I don't think those colors really match." But I went ahead and purchased it anyway and took it home to ask Liz' opinon. She quickly agreed that it didn't match, so I, feeling better about my sense of color, decided to purchase material for one that I thought matched. Then the people at the matching center store [Indian] kept telling me that the colors on the original dupatta were "correct" and I didn't need to find another one. Interesting.

I guess this discrepancy may explain why I was unsuccessful in purchasing material to have another salwar suit made for me. For me, the problems were not only color, but also shapes ("No, the triangles on the top don't match with the paisley print on the pants!" or "Squares and circles just don't go together!") Is this proof that the American aesthetic is completely different than the Indian aesthetic? Or am I just too picky? :)