East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. — Rudyard Kipling

The global village cliché makes its way into just about everything these days, doesn’t it? Though western attire may be the ultimate style statement in the East and eastern cuisine may be the new delicacy in the West, we are, essentially, as divided as ever could be. What beats me is not the division of lifestyles or even mindsets, it’s something far less consequential and yet not to be missed — our different perceptions. Yes, how we see the world is in stark contrast with how the people in the West see it. As in, we see white what they see black and we see blue what they see red. It is this very difference in perception that sets apart the East from the West, and guarantees that, in the words of Rudyard Kipling, ‘never the twain shall meet’.

If all of this sounds like hogwash, just take the owl for instance. A perfectly harmless, wise old bird in the West, it symbolises wisdom, knowledge and foresight. A number of institutions choose to incorporate the owl in their logos due to these very characteristics. Toys and kids-wear manufacturers find it irresistibly cute with its big, innocent eyes. We in the East, however, would find it unbelievable that any bird, least of all an owl, should be held in such high esteem because in our part of the world the owl is actually agreed upon, hands down, to be a symbol of foolishness! Anyone committing an act of stupidity is duly bestowed with the label of ‘owl’. Also, an owl perched near someone’s residence is considered an ill omen. For those who swear by the so-called ‘fusion’, may we present ‘the silly wise owl’!

Weather, too, holds different meanings for dwellers of East and West primarily owing to geographical separation. While rains are generally welcomed by us with much fervour and joy, heralding freshness, fertility and a new start on life, they hold quite a different meaning in the West. There, rainy weather is generally described in literature as ‘cold’, ‘dark’, ‘bleak’, ‘grey’, ‘dull’, etc. and is used to symbolise these very things. Quite a lot of their songs and poetry use rain as a metaphor for melancholy.

The case of the full moon is no different. We usually associate positive things with the full moon, sing songs and compose couplets in its praise and correlate it with beauty while on the other side of the world the full moon is mostly a sign of foreboding and imminent evil. The sun and consequently summer in our part of the world mostly stand for hot, humid weather and stuffy, sweaty conditions but signify life and vitality in the West. This duly explains why the sunny weather forecast is met with apprehension here and zealous picnicking there. Autumn is much glorified in western literature due to the brilliant colours it lends to the atmosphere but in the East it is still very much a symbol of sorrow, decay and fading youth.Winter in the West is long, dark and dreary for most and winter blues are not uncommon there but we who have been roasted and toasted by the sweltering summer sun welcome it with much relief and respite and readily associate it with the pleasure of munching on nuts.

The symbolism of days of the week is pretty well-known. In our case, Friday is the ultimate ‘best’ day of the week owing to religious connotations but Friday the Thirteenth is considered highly unlucky in the West. Colours hold their own different meanings. White is the accepted colour of mourning in the East but it is the very colour that western brides wear on their big day. So much for the fusion of cultures. Another odd perception is the colour of the eye. Black eyes are traditionally associated with feminine beauty and mystery in the East. In the West, however, black eyes signify evil.

Of course, if one were to carry out even a perfunctory search on the net for the different symbolic undertones that animals, seasons, days and colours hold for mankind in the eastern and western halves of the world, one would surely come across a dozen more examples of the great divide. However, these should do for the time being to convince you that Rudyard Kipling knew best!