India Part 3

There are many things in India that make it very unique and quite different from the every day life we know. You see all sorts of differences in everything, from the buildings, the traditions and most of all the people. They are a very special people and have special ways of talking and doing things. From my experience so far they are very friendly and honest and I have felt quite safe, even in some quite dark and dirty areas. It’s very common that their spoken English is quite poor, even with seemingly educated people. I suppose this comes from their constant mixture of English and Indian languages, so they never actually perfect their English. They often speak in shortened sentences, missing out words, which can sometimes make them difficult to understand.It’s also very common that they don’t seem to listen properly to what you say, so you have to repeat things all the time, or they repeat everything you say just to be sure, and these conversations get quite absurd sometimes…like this one I had in a restaurant:

“I’d like this mixed curry please” I say, pointing to one on the menu under the heading Vegetable Curry’s
“You want the mixed curry sir?” says the waiter
“Yes the mixed curry please”
“Yes sir, please sir, this is vegetable curry sir!”
“Yes, I know its vegetable curry, that’s the one I want”
“Yes sir, the vegetable curry sir, you want the vegetable curry?”
“Yes, I want the vegetable curry!”
“Very good sir, the vegetable curry sir!”

At this point I’m not sure the conversation should continue or if it will ever end happily, so I change the subject and try to order a beer, but have much the same sort of exchange with the beer. By this time, Magnus and I are laughing so much, it seems the only thing left to do with a conversation like this.Having these sorts of conversations means everything takes so much more time to get done. I think one of the problems is that Indian people do this to each other all the time as well. Their combination of poor English and a tendency to contradict each other results in the receiver of the instructions being confused, resulting in them having to ask again what’s needed to be sure. Add to this the superior-inferior class relationships that arise, as between guests and waiters for example, and you see that they are visibly worried about doing the wrong thing, and so this makes them unable to make a decision them selves and hence the continuous questions… well that’s my theory anyway.

With the exception of the 5star hotels and some government offices, many of the buildings in India are in a very poor state of repair. It seems odd to me, but apparently the concept of looking after a building or repainting it on the outside is either unpopular or considered unimportant in India. Even the new shopping centre we visited, which was only a few years old, was already looking tatty and the paintwork streaked with dirt. The apparently expensive private apartment we visited was also looking quite run down on the outside. The owner was renovating the inside, but the initial impression was not good.

So after a week and a half in India, I can say I have learnt a lot more about the way they do business, the people and how they live and eat. It’s a fascinating country and I look forward to returning again, and to continue my business in India. Now I’m looking forward to flying home and my stopover in Köln to stay with Caroline for a long weekend and a few days holiday for the Köln Carnival.