Som, yeah, those Harekrishnas must be doing something right. In the name Nimai Pandit, is that where we got the currently trendy English word “pundit” from?

I'll get back to you after watching the Japanese Chicano video....

You mean to say was I ever a hippie or suchlike? Afraid not. But I've seen the Harekrishnas who originated a short distance from where I am, spread across the world. I've seen their troupes in Russia and America, so there must be an attraction that I don't really understand.

It was a philosophical cult started by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Gauranga (the fair one), originally known as Nimai Pandit. This track is the best known devotional song in their repertoire apart from the chant of harekrsna: https://youtu.be/EoM2pxyZEPA

Miriam, I find it convenient to use word "subculture" to mean a culture which is a part of a larger one.

If you meet some of my friends, you will see certain similarities among them which are not shared by "educated people from Moscow" in general. If you compare educated people to less educated, there are going to be differences too.

The differences are going to be drastic, e.g. level of gender segregation. And I need to have a word for this, to explain that what I'm saying about my friends shouldn't be generalized. I use "subculture".

Phil, this one is about <em>pundit</em> plus a few more common Indian origin words: <a href="https://www.italki.com/discussion/217888" target="_blank">https://www.italki.com/discussion/217888</a>;

When I was in high school, my style was influenced a lot by punk, metal, and goth. I was never part of any of those subcultures, though, because we didn’t really have them in Kuwait. My style is still influenced to some extent by them.

When I was in university, I became a raver. This was a few years before EDM became commercialized. I used to be a “kandi kid” and really believed in the spirit of rave culture. I would always bring many glow sticks and glow bracelets with me (sometimes I’d have over a dozen of each) and give them out throughout the night till I only had one left for myself. I’d always leave my group of friends and walk around to dance with and meet everyone around me. I’d be so socially burnt out by the end of the night, but it was so spiritually fulfilling.

I met a lot of people in the scene, and for a while had a “rave girlfriend”. She wasn’t actually my girlfriend, but we liked being together when we were raving. And that pretty much represents how I feel about subcultures: they’re a compartmentalized part of who I am, and I don’t think I’d want to be friends with the people I met there outside of the scene.

I eventually felt that the subculture gave me everything it had to offer and decided to leave. That was around the same time EDM started becoming commercialized, and I felt that a lot of the new people didn’t really get it.

Great times, but I wouldn’t go back. That part of my life is over.