Many of the educated elite took to the lifestyle of the British with respect to food habits, dressing, customs, mannerisms, attitudes, beliefs, language, sports, and entertainment, etc. Eminent Indian sociologist, M. N. Srinivas referred to this process of imitation of the British, as ‘Westerisation’.
The impact of Western culture has been classified into four types by Alatas. They are :
- eliminative changes (i.e., fading out of cultural elements)
- additive changes (i.e., new cultural additions)
- supportive changes (i.e., changes that support existing cultural traits)
- synthetic changes (i.e., the synthesis of old and new culture)
Examples: Drinking tea and coffee, changes in eating habits, using the dining table, crockery, and cutlery, hugging and kissing as a form was adopted universally, western sports like cricket, became popular.