IndianMaze

This was a usual mail that I received nth time on the differences between East and West. I am not a great researcher who claims to have done extensive studies on either or both. However, this question keeps coming back especially when we are in business discussions that keeps many completely foxed. I recall an evening with my English boss and South African white senior discussing the frustrations of living/working in India. My boss just could not understand the meaning of completion of work "जल्दी ही " or "soon". He always said that the outcome could be from a few seconds to a few months. So how does one understand the word "soon"? South African senior would give two answers - a white man's answer and a black man's answer. And I, being typical Indian, would agree with all that would frustrate my boss even further. DEEKAY, how could all contrarian thoughts be agreeable by you? Therein lies the difference. Indians are used to living in a multi prong...

Sex, greed, dishonesty, lies,superstitions.........DEATH We got to talking of difficult situations arising out of children's' behaviour. My colleague, Panks, narrated a (horror) story. On accompanying his father to a family bereavement, this child asked as a matter of fact what happened. On getting an answer that grandpa's younger brother died, he shouted in the presence of the whole group "That's not right. Grandpa is older and should have been dead first." Normal outcome - shut the child by hook or crook (a spank here and there), shut the mouth with one hand, lift with another and evacuate faster than hurricane evacuation. On another occassion, I was chatting with my South African boss during a long journey in the serene mountainous drive through the Scottish Highlands and the discussion arrived at Indian culture and social behaviour. As usual, provoking is the name of the game in such scenarios. He got on to the journey of testing my limits of mental toler...