Once while listening to an audio lesson on learning Chinese, I learnt that it is not customary for the parents to use the word “ai” (which means 'love' ) while expressing their emotions to the children, they would rather use the word ihuan (spoken as C-kwan) which means ‘to like’. Papa, Mama ihuan Nee ( Father and mother 'like' you). As an Indian, it is hard for me to understand it because I think love is the strongest human emotion and there should not be any restraint in expressing it, unless when expressing it can put you in trouble hahaha e.g. expressing it to the neighbour’s wife, (in his presence).
有一次听一个学习中文的有声教程，我发现中国父母对孩子表达感情时不习惯用“爱”这个词，而是用“喜欢”。“Papa, Mama ihuan Nee”（爸爸妈妈喜欢你）。
作为印度人，这是难以理解的，我觉得爱是最强大的人类情感，表达起来时不应该有任何限制，除非说出来会让你陷入麻烦，哈哈，比如对邻居的妻子说（在邻居在场的情况下）
以下是讨论：
译文来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com/2015070301.html
M.V. Balaji
Navneet you probably don't see cats and dogs because they are probably on the menu of some restaurant.Are you sure that you have not inadvertantly eaten any of them while dining in a restaurant. Because at least as far as Chinese restaurants in India go, many dishes on the menu have enigmatic names but I don't think any of the "exotic" stuff is really served here. If the nomenclature of dishes are like that there too someone might have been deceived into eating "unusual" meats.( I am sure you don't spot live snakes in colonies either)/
你没有看到猫和狗，也许已经被端上餐桌了吧。
你确定在外面吃饭就没有吃到吗？
至少在印度的中餐馆里，菜单上很多谜一样的菜名，高深莫测啊，不过应该不会任何外国菜都有提供。
如果菜的命名那么诡异，也许有些人会骗你吃一些“不寻常”的肉。（你在小区里肯定也没看到蛇）navneet
Hahaha- yes I know and I/we worry whenever we eat outside but asking them is useless anyway, so we prefer not to eat outside but sometimes it can't be helped e.g. we are invited to the parties.
哈哈，是的，每次出去吃饭都担心，问了也没用。
所以我们宁愿不出去吃饭，有时候没办法，比如受邀出席聚会。
ron humphries
Thanks Navneet for the continuation of your series. I find all this information, particularly the relationship of events and the glimpses of history you provide, most informative and interesting.
Anyone planning on staying in China, would be well advised to read this series to see how the day to day common events of a traveler are conducted. The pictures are all well done as well. I was surprised at the multitude of colors, one may find in urban areas there.
感谢分享这一系列。
我发现信息很丰富，很有趣。
建议要去中国的朋友认真阅读本系列文章，了解别人的日常生活是如何过的。
图片很不错，令人我吃惊的是城市地区也能寻觅到如何丰富的颜色。navneet
Thanks Ron,I am happy from the feedback I get because it inspires me to write more about this unexplored part of the world. Chinese have remained largely cut-off because of the government's policies and the intrinsic nature of their community. They live in a world of their own, which is quite different from ours.
谢谢
很高兴收到你的反馈，这激励我撰写更多有待探索的世界。
政府的政策，以及他们群体的内在天性，使得中国人很大程度上被隔离开来。
他们生活在一个自我的世界，一个与我们相当不同的世界。
vijays desk
Dear NAVNEET
There is one Chinese term I can use for all your blogs on China-ihuan , which as per your blog means 'to like' is it not!!See I am learning Chinese thanks to you!!
Andrew seems to have become a great fan of yours, and he has now roped in Unicorn and Sunny.At this rate you will have a very large fan club!!
I wish we could learn from the Chinese how to eliminate stray dogs, as this has become a menace in most cities.Dont they have the equivalent of Maneka Gandhi type animal activists there!I was surprised there are no birds there in your colony despite so many trees- how come???
Look forward to your next edition on China experiences.
Regards
有一个词可以用来形容我对你写的中国文章的感觉，那就是“喜欢”。
瞧，我也在学习中文了，谢谢你！
Andrew似乎已经是你的一个铁杆粉丝，他又把Unicorn和Sunny拉进来了。照这样下去，你会有一大群粉丝的。
我希望我们能学习中国人消灭流浪狗的方式。
目前，流浪狗成为了印度大多数城市的一大威胁。他们是否也有莫妮卡·甘地那样的动物保护人士！
令我吃惊的是，你住的小区有那么多树，却看不到鸟儿。怎么会这样？
期待你的下一集有关中国的经历navneet
Hello Vijay, The translation for " I like China" is 我喜欢中国 Wǒ xǐhuān zhōngguó spoken as Wao c-qwan chungkwa. Now I think you can understand why reading transliterated Chinese text can be such a daunting task. I am sure they have animal rights activists but who perhaps make noise after “hogging” Hahaha. They are very practical people. We have to be realistic. Monkey menace and dog menace has reached such an alarming level that it is threatening the lives of the poor, innocent people. Recently a girl in Chandigarh died of rabies. In Punjab University it is difficult to have a peaceful walk because of the monkeys. My cousin in Jaipur was attacked by a monkey when she went on the terrace for meditating. Does anyone care whether the victim lives or dies? I am sure if anything like that happens in China, the authorities will take the gun and shoot them all- but well that is another extreme. As regards the birds, you can see some but not as many as you see in India. One reason for that is rapid construction of high rise building all around. Chinese in all probability will trap and eat pigeons and Mynas but I don’t know why I don’t see any crows and eagles either here
I like China翻译过来就是“我喜欢中国”
你现在明白阅读翻译过来的中文是一项艰巨的任务。
他们肯定也有动物保护人士
他们非常实际。我们也得现实些。
流浪猴和流浪狗的威胁已经非常严重了，甚至威胁到穷人的生命，危及无辜者的生命。
最近，昌迪加尔就有一位女孩死于狂犬病。旁遮普大学的猴子让你在校园内散步变得烦人。我在斋普尔的一位堂妹在阳台上冥想时就被一只猴子攻击。人们是否会关心受害者的死活？
如果是在中国，当局肯定会拿枪把它们消灭掉，不过这也是另一个极端。
至于鸟儿嘛，可以看到一些，就是没有印度那么多。其中一个原因是周围的高楼大厦如雨后春笋般拔地而起。中国人多半会吃鸽子和八哥，就是不知道为什么也看不到乌鸦和老鹰。
Raghava Reddy Gongidi
Navneetji
A candid write up on Chinese friendship and hospitality. As you said, the caste system got deeply embedded and became social problem in India. Well, lot have been said and written on caste system scourge in India as against Chinese social order. The pictures you presented are fabulously impressive. As I said earlier I learnt a lot on life style and socio economic conditions of this fast surging forward country. You are a profound thinker and writer as I have personally known you.
关于中国友谊和好客的坦诚表达。
正如你说的，种姓制度已经根深蒂固，已经成为了印度的社会问题。
你贴的图片令人难以置信，给人留下深刻印象。navneet
It's a pleasure and an inspiration to get a comment from you. I would love to meet you again and again to get your blessings because I believe that it's because of these blessings that I can write, otherwise I have neither the knowledge nor the ability to write.
你的留言激励着我，给我带来荣幸。
喜欢一次又一次看到你的祝福。我相信，正是这些祝福激励着我继续写下去。
Chuan
I see you gradually formed a profound understanding of China and its people and the process is still on the way and may never reach the end but any thought that came up on this way should be shared with us. I found you are quite right to notice that Chinese people do not over express the courtesy and this is actually my first general feelings when i moved abroad. You might even be surpised that Chinese parents and their Child (or Children) may never or reraly hug to each other due to the same reason you mentioned above. Though this is not my case since i hug my mom all the time but not with my dad (a little bit sad here haha but my dad doesnt care at all and definitely would feel uncomfortable when i hug him. I can just imagine this).
我发现你逐渐形成了对中国和对中国人民的深刻理解，且这一过程仍然在继续，也许永远不会结束。
有任何想法，应该拿出来与我们一起分享。
你是对的，注意到中国人并不过度表达礼节用语，实际上这也是我出国后的第一个感觉。
也许更让你吃惊的是，中国父母和孩子从来不拥抱，原因也是你上面提到的。
不过我就不会了，我常常拥抱妈妈，就是不与爸爸拥抱（有点伤心，哈哈，但是我爸爸不介意啦，我拥抱他时他会感觉不舒服。想想就知道了）。navneet
Thanks Chuan- I write what I see. I have indeed never seen anyone hug another here but hugging is more intimate expression and an outsider may not notice the absence of which. Some Chinese suggested to me that open hugging among males in China is unheard off because people take it as a gesture among gays. I found it strange because in India everyone openly hugs everyone. Will keep writing, all what I see and what I notice, what I learn :)
谢谢。我写我所看而已。
我确实没有在这里看到有人拥抱的。
拥抱是更为亲密的表达，外来者也许注意不到其存在。
有些中国人说，在中国，男性公开拥抱是闻所未闻的，人们会认为是同性恋。
我就觉得奇怪，在印度可是人人公开拥抱。
我会继续写我的所见所闻。