Wondering about the cultural differences between india and usa

The polite way for children to refer to elders is "Sir" or "Ma'am". Or, if they know a person's last name is Smith, they can address the person as "Mr. Smith" or "Ms. Smith" or if the lady is married, "Mrs. Smith"

Yes, finger pointing is considered rude here, please ask your daughter not to do this.

 

1. Yes, children don't call uncle ,aunty to everyone. They address them as
Mr. 'last name ' or Mrs.....
For Indian couples children can call uncle,aunty.
2. Yes, it's rude to point . But she is a child so immediately tell her please don't point. She will get the message.

 

1) If you know the last name of the person,then it would be Mr. Jones(say) or Ms.Jones(as one might not know current status - single,married,divorced!).If you don't know the name and are directly addressing the person,one could just use "Sir","'Ma'am" as the case may be. Thats how people here address others.I know it seems a bit formal by Indian standards,but thats what is considered polite .Once you get used to it,it will come out without thinking! I think its quite a nice practice.

2) Pointing fingers is considered rude anywhere.We indians are bindaas,so we don't take it seriously if a child says/does anything.But here one needs to be careful. When my daughter used to point,I just told her that it is considered rude,and just like she gets upset if someone says/does something she doesn't like,others also feel the same. She understood and stopped doing it. Kids are very understanding and smart,they get the message-like Foundlove says.

 

Yes, referring to someone your daughter asks about as "that man" or "that lady", then describing their actions, is acceptable if you do not know who they are. Regarding pointing, it is not considered polite, but most will not comment until your child is older, so teaching her it is impolite to point at someone while she is still young is good.