Cultural Integration: Experiences of a Mexican in India | Julian Vera Aguilar | TEDxYouth@DAIS

Traveling, studying or working in a new country? Your preconceived notions of a foreign culture can be an obstacle or an opportunity for cultural integration. It depends on your mindset. In his talk, Mr. Julian Vera Aguilar shares life lessons he learned from his experiences as a Mexican in India. His message for those venturing into life in a new country: "Let go of the concept of normalcy and embrace differences." Mr. Julian Vera Aguilar has been a Spanish teacher in India for the past seven years and is a beloved member of our school’s faculty. He was born and raised in Mexico and moved to India for his further education in 2008. He did a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mathematics from St. Stephen's College and an M.A. in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from UNIR, Spain. He is an avid reader and is passionate about understanding different communities, especially Hispanic and Indian cultures. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@robvera]

So much learning! I really appreciate the advice to avoid judging everything from your perspective of normality

[@mariathomas5859]

Great to hear you, Julian. A meaningful talk. Proud of you.

[@julianveraguilar]

Thank you very much, Maria ma'am. I'm really glad that you watched it, means a lot. I hope you are doing well.

[@miguelaguayo9612]

Very useful advice! Thank you Julián

[@julianveraguilar]

Thank you, Miguel. I'm glad you found it useful.

[@charlesaphrem9276]

Amazing talk Julian! Very insightful learnings. Can’t believe it’s been 14 years!!

[@jahelmorga]

¡¡Excelente charla, mil felicidades y grandes reflexiones!! Un orgullo 🙏🏼

[@julianveraguilar]

Muchísimas gracias, Jahel. ¡Qué bueno que te haya gustado!

[@Zulanaa]

Gracias Muy bien Felicidades😚

[@alejandraportillo1320]

Many congratulations! Thank you for sharing us that great experience in India. No doubt, traveling and living together with other cultures give us the opportunity to be better human beings.

[@julianveraguilar]

Muchas gracias, @Zulanaa. Qué bueno que te gustó.

[@julianveraguilar]

@@alejandraportillo1320 Yes, traveling helps a lot to broaden one's horizons and to come out of our bubble.

[@samuellobo4882]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Julian

[@julianveraguilar]

Thanks for listening, Samuel. I'm glad you liked it.

[@madhviyadav8802]

Great, ambassador of good will.

[@DamianGinebra]

Congratulations! The world is of the bold!

[@julianveraguilar]

Thank you, Damián

[@musafirsadhu]

Señor eres una persona muy elegante y inteligente… 🙏🏼

[@julianveraguilar]

Muchas gracias.

[@abinjose5981]

Good talk Julian!

[@julianveraguilar]

Thank you, Abin

[@Admireofnature]

It's interesting

[@julianveraguilar]

Thank you

[@kalakritistudios]

Instead of Offense, Opportunity... hmmmmnnn....... How? Maybe don't be so fearful of Offence. It's like: You hit on head of someone with a hammer. And they cry and get angry. Then you ask, wait, you liked it, I heard. Well, things change. Expected reactions. But how harmful are they in real life? Until millions of one country come in atleast online contact of another country, they won't know about each other. Now, what would inspire that? For so many years, nothing kept coming, feels like Schrodinger's Cat, and when suddenly something comes, it's negative. I think news papers have a responsibility, atleast people who make others aware should themselves be aware first, one little research online won't hurt someone. Better than being searched online only to get hate.

[@julianveraguilar]

This is a great observation: it actually came up in the Q&A after the talk. What I meant to say is that most of the time people don't actually intend to offend and, by getting angry and retaliating, we actually miss the opportunity to get to know each other's culture better and, instead, we reinforce the stereotypes. I agree, though, that in the particular example used in the talk, the newspaper should have been more professional and do the research before publishing something like that.