The following post is not to be used as indicator to understand Gujarati perfectly. I decided to post this just to increase the awareness of Gujarati.
Recently, a friend asked me if I’m Punjabi. I told him that I’m Gujarati and not Punjabi. He knows little about Gujarati and he was confused. In fact, a few of my close friends still think I’m Punjabi. I’ve explained to them over and over about Gujarati, yet, they still keep on asking me if I’m Punjabi.
Of course, you can learn more about Gujarati by visiting all the Gujarati-related articles in Wikipedia or doing a quick Google search. This post is to answer top 10 questions that I always respond to. I’m not the authority figure on Gujarati knowledge. This is an attempt to answer FAQ that I always get. If you feel any part of these answers are wrong, feel free to correct me. If you have any other Gujarati related questions, feel free to ask me as well. I’ll try my best to answer them in a timely manner.
1. Who are Gujarati?
Gujarati are people from the state of Gujarat of India. Just like people from Kelantan are Kelatanese and folks from Penang are Penangites, people from the state of Gujarat are Gujarati. Gujarati are Indians, just like Kelantanese and Penangites are Malaysians. Light heartedly, they are also known as Gujju.
2. Are Gujarati, Hindu?
Not necessarily. Being Gujarati doesn’t mean that they are of Hindu religion by default. Gujarati can be Islam too. Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was Gujarati of Islam religion. Even Ben Kingsley who portrayed Mahatma Gandhi (who is Gujarati) in the movie Gandhi, is of Muslim Gujarati descent.
3. Which temple do Gujarati go to? Which God do they pray to?
If they are Gujarati of Islam religion, they do not go temple – they go to mosques. However, if they are Gujarati of Hindu religion, they may go to any Indian temples. Gujarati’s set of Gods are the same of Hindu religion – because they are Hindu. It is just that, we know Them with different names – for example, Lord Shiva is known as Bholenath, Lord Vigneswara is known as Ganesh etc. Same God, different name; same temple different devotees – get it?
4. Are Gujarati vegetarians?
Again, it depends. They can be Gujarati of Hindu faith and choose to be vegetarian or not. It also depends on what faith of Hindu religion they are. For example, Jains are vegetarian but Surti Patels are not. Generally, most Gujarati are vegetarians. Thanks to modernizations, I’m semi-vegetarian (if such thing exist) – I only eat chicken (no mutton, seafood, egg etc). Rest of my family members are vegetarian though.
5. What language do they speak – Hindi?
No. They speak the Gujarati language. They have their own set of Gujarati alphabets. I would say that about 60% of Gujarati language sounds like Hindi. All Gujarati can understand and speak Hindi language known for 2 reasons – Hindi is the national language of India and – you guessed it – Bollywood! Also, Gujarati language have a lot of dialects which are based on their region in the state of Gujarat. I do not know what dialect I speak – as long as my family members understand what I’m jabbering in Gujarati – it works for me.
6. How about culture?
Just like any other race / ethnic in the world – Gujarati has its own set of culture. Take saree for example, there are different ways of saree drapping and there is such thing called Gujarati style. I can’t list all of the culture here. It will be too long. You can read yourself here, if you wish to.
7. Do you guys celebrate Deepavali?
Yes we do. Deepavali or Diwali is a 2 days event. On the first day – Lord Ram won the war by defeating Ravan. On the second day, he returned and became the King of Ayodhya. We, the Gujarati, celebrate on day 2 which also happened to be the New Year of Gujarati calendar. If you have Gujarati friend, feel free to wish him or her Happy Diwali and Happy New Year – together. Other festival that are celebrated by Gujarati in general are, Navratri, Raksha Bandhan and Krishna Janmashtami.
8. How about Gujarati food?
Again, this is vast subject – you can read in details here. But some of the prominent Gujarati dishes are thepala, daal dhokli, dhokla, kadhi, daal, kichdi and chhaass. Chhaass is similar to South Indian’s moru – but without the onion, garlic, curry leaves etc.
9. Gujarati in Malaysia?
I do not have the exact number of Gujarati in Malaysia. Most of them resides in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Melaka. To learn more, you may head to their official website here. Kamdar, Udani Carpets and Shalani Carpets along the Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur belongs to Gujarati people. In fact, Kamdar, Udani and Shalani are their surname. Doshi, Gandhi and Patel are other example of Gujarati surnames.
10. Famous Gujarati people?
I’ll list down some famous Gujarati people here to assist you understand Gujaratis contribution to the world. Can’t help myself from bragging here – thousand apologies in advance.
I hope this help you to understand the Gujjus better. Once again, I would like to emphasize that this post is an attempt to answer FAQ that I always get in regards to Gujarati. This is definitely not a definite guide about Gujarati. If you feel any part of these answer are wrong or incorrect, feel free to correct me.If you have any other Gujarati related questions, feel free to ask. I’ll try my best to answer them in timely manner.
All About Gujarati
The following post is not to be used as indicator to understand Gujarati perfectly. I decided to post this just to increase the awareness of Gujarati.
Recently, a friend asked me if I’m Punjabi. I told him that I’m Gujarati and not Punjabi. He knows little about Gujarati and he was confused. In fact, a few of my close friends still think I’m Punjabi. I’ve explained to them over and over about Gujarati, yet, they still keep on asking me if I’m Punjabi.
Of course, you can learn more about Gujarati by visiting all the Gujarati-related articles in Wikipedia or doing a quick Google search. This post is to answer top 10 questions that I always respond to. I’m not the authority figure on Gujarati knowledge. This is an attempt to answer FAQ that I always get. If you feel any part of these answers are wrong, feel free to correct me. If you have any other Gujarati related questions, feel free to ask me as well. I’ll try my best to answer them in a timely manner.
Saif Ali Khan portrayed a Gujarati character in Kal Ho Na Ho. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Aishwarya Rai too portrayed a Gujarati character.
1. Who are Gujarati?
Gujarati are people from the state of Gujarat of India. Just like people from Kelantan are Kelatanese and folks from Penang are Penangites, people from the state of Gujarat are Gujarati. Gujarati are Indians, just like Kelantanese and Penangites are Malaysians. Light heartedly, they are also known as Gujju.
2. Are Gujarati, Hindu?
Not necessarily. Being Gujarati doesn’t mean that they are of Hindu religion by default. Gujarati can be Islam too. Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was Gujarati of Islam religion. Even Ben Kingsley who portrayed Mahatma Gandhi (who is Gujarati) in the movie Gandhi, is of Muslim Gujarati descent.
3. Which temple do Gujarati go to? Which God do they pray to?
If they are Gujarati of Islam religion, they do not go temple – they go to mosques. However, if they are Gujarati of Hindu religion, they may go to any Indian temples. Gujarati’s set of Gods are the same of Hindu religion – because they are Hindu. It is just that, we know Them with different names – for example, Lord Shiva is known as Bholenath, Lord Vigneswara is known as Ganesh etc. Same God, different name; same temple different devotees – get it?
4. Are Gujarati vegetarians?
Again, it depends. They can be Gujarati of Hindu faith and choose to be vegetarian or not. It also depends on what faith of Hindu religion they are. For example, Jains are vegetarian but Surti Patels are not. Generally, most Gujarati are vegetarians. Thanks to modernizations, I’m semi-vegetarian (if such thing exist) – I only eat chicken (no mutton, seafood, egg etc). Rest of my family members are vegetarian though.
5. What language do they speak – Hindi?
No. They speak the Gujarati language. They have their own set of Gujarati alphabets. I would say that about 60% of Gujarati language sounds like Hindi. All Gujarati can understand and speak Hindi language known for 2 reasons – Hindi is the national language of India and – you guessed it – Bollywood! Also, Gujarati language have a lot of dialects which are based on their region in the state of Gujarat. I do not know what dialect I speak – as long as my family members understand what I’m jabbering in Gujarati – it works for me.
6. How about culture?
Just like any other race / ethnic in the world – Gujarati has its own set of culture. Take saree for example, there are different ways of saree drapping and there is such thing called Gujarati style. I can’t list all of the culture here. It will be too long. You can read yourself here, if you wish to.
7. Do you guys celebrate Deepavali?
Yes we do. Deepavali or Diwali is a 2 days event. On the first day – Lord Ram won the war by defeating Ravan. On the second day, he returned and became the King of Ayodhya. We, the Gujarati, celebrate on day 2 which also happened to be the New Year of Gujarati calendar. If you have Gujarati friend, feel free to wish him or her Happy Diwali and Happy New Year – together. Other festival that are celebrated by Gujarati in general are, Navratri, Raksha Bandhan and Krishna Janmashtami.
8. How about Gujarati food?
Again, this is vast subject – you can read in details here. But some of the prominent Gujarati dishes are thepala, daal dhokli, dhokla, kadhi, daal, kichdi and chhaass. Chhaass is similar to South Indian’s moru – but without the onion, garlic, curry leaves etc.
9. Gujarati in Malaysia?
I do not have the exact number of Gujarati in Malaysia. Most of them resides in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Melaka. To learn more, you may head to their official website here. Kamdar, Udani Carpets and Shalani Carpets along the Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur belongs to Gujarati people. In fact, Kamdar, Udani and Shalani are their surname. Doshi, Gandhi and Patel are other example of Gujarati surnames.
10. Famous Gujarati people?
I’ll list down some famous Gujarati people here to assist you understand Gujaratis contribution to the world. Can’t help myself from bragging here – thousand apologies in advance.
Kings of Kings
The Business World
The Hollywood Connection
and of course…
The Bollywood Connection.
I hope this help you to understand the Gujjus better. Once again, I would like to emphasize that this post is an attempt to answer FAQ that I always get in regards to Gujarati. This is definitely not a definite guide about Gujarati. If you feel any part of these answer are wrong or incorrect, feel free to correct me.If you have any other Gujarati related questions, feel free to ask. I’ll try my best to answer them in timely manner.
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