I would assume that the gourami you're reffering to is colisa fasciata. They are known under several common names including both 'indian' and 'striped'. I personaly reffer to them as 'banded' gouramies. You'll also see them as 'rainbow' gouramies occasionaly and, as is the case here, under a combination of common names. Their other, and misleading, common name is 'giant' gourami - I'll get to this in a moment.
These gouramies are very similar to the dwarf gourami (colisa lalia) over-all but they are hardier and larger. However, they are not as large as the common name 'giant' gourami suggests. They only grow to 4" and are simply called 'giant' because they are the largest of their genus (though they are also sometimes placed in the genus trichogaster).
Anyway, males have longer dorsal and anal fins and are more brightly colored. The fins also tend to end in sharper points. Females are 'fatter', wider when viewed from above, and deeper-bodied. Most differences become more obvious as the fish mature.
Like many gouramies, males are territorial fish which spend most of their time guarding an area of the tank near the surface. However, bandeds are less territorial than many of the other gouramies and, IMO anyway, one of the better gouramies for a community tank. A single male will lvie happily on his own but females do better in groups.
What other fish do you have in your tank? Luckily, though bandeds aren't agressive fish, they can handle aggression. That's not to say they'll live happily with aggressive cichlids or nippy tiger barbs - but they can deal with things like territorial sharks and smaller neotropical cichlids. They'll look the best, however, in a peaceful community with lots of tall or floating plants, a weak current and plenty of live and frozen foods. They are not picky fish though - so flake foods are fine as well.
As far as water parameters go, they'll adapt to pretty much anything within reason. The only thing I'd say is to avoid any swings in pH, as well as in temperature, as they can be particularly sensitive to fluctuations.
Keep the water clean as they can, sometimes, be prone to bacterial infections such as finrot.
