May 23, 2005

Desi gyaan for videshis

Had less work today, so was just browsing through some company's internal sites, where I stumbled upon this.

The following are the advices given to the foreign employees before they come to India. Twas quite amusing to read them. Some of the gems are below :)

Behaviour at Office


•Supervisors generally prefer that workers come to them for assistance with tasks rather than completing tasks on their own. Indians are very team-oriented and will often work on tasks as a group, not individually, unless they are given explicit instructions.

•Indians may not acknowledge small favors and may not use words like “sorry,” “excuse me,” or “thank you.” This is not a sign of rudeness – quite the opposite … Indians simply may not be accustomed to the use of these polite phrases in the English language. It also indicates that they feel comfortable being “informal” with you, since Indians reserve such acknowledgements for formal situations and for people who are not friends or colleagues.

•Supervisors and workers generally do not socialize outside of the office unless they have known each other for a long time. There are very few project team parties.

•Office privacy, size and location are symbols of status.

•It is advisable to be punctual to appointments. Indian executives prefer late morning or early afternoon appointments.

• Business lunches are preferred to dinners

• Hospitality, such as tea and small talk is a part of conducting business.

•Offices are reserved for management. The person of highest authority or rank has the largest office. Employees generally work in open spaces. Cubicles are limited to a few.

•It is common for employees to decorate their work space with personal items (plants, photos, artwork, etc.).Indians tend to have less expectation than US natives for personal space in public situations where crowds or groups of people are present. On streets or transportation or in similar environments, some jostling or similar contact should be expected

Language Usage

•Never, ever shout to be understood. Speak humbly and remove hyperboles such as “great,” “fine” and “terrific.”

•Avoid word pictures unless they are literally what you mean (e.g., “run that by me again,” “walk me through this,” etc.).

•Do not use “Baseball English” (e.g., “ballpark figure,” touch base,” “pinch-hit,” “home run,” “off the wall,” etc.).

•Avoid negative/positive questions (e.g., “You aren’t coming are you?” might be answered “Yes (I am not coming),” where you might expect a “No.”).

Other 'gyaan'

•Public displays of affection are not acceptable within any of India’s ethnic groups. You should avoid hand holding, hugging, kissing, or any other physical contact other than a handshake while you are in public. However, you may notice a man with his hands around his male friend’s shoulder. This does not indicate sexual preference.Image hosted by Photobucket.com

•Never touch an Indian (even Indian children) on the head. The head is considered the holiest part of the body

Vaccinations

The following are immunization recommendations when traveling to India:

Hepatitis A – Recommended for all travelers

Hepatitis B – Recommended for all travelers

Japanese Encephalitis – May be recommended if spending more than 30 days in rural areas

Rabies – Recommended for expatriates and long term visitors. This is also recommended if

quality medical care may not be available within 24 hours of being bitten or scratched by an animal.

Typhoid – Recommended for expatriates and long-term visits. Recommended for most travelers.

Yellow Fever – May be required if coming from an infected or endemic country.

Polio – Recommended for all travelers

• Updates recommended for all travelers for Tetanus, diphtheria, measles and varicella (chickenpox).

Have you ever realized that we, Indians are actually immune to all these diseases now Image hosted by Photobucket.com

States I have visited in India


States visited in India

May 03, 2005

Encounter with "firangees"

Working in MNCs like mine, one unique thing a person can experience is the sheer number of foreigners working along side you. I for one never knew that these many foreigners actually existed in Hyderabad, leave alone a single company Image hosted by Photobucket.com I was initially overwhelmed, when I actually spoke to one of them for the first time. However, once you get over the initial jitters, you would realize that they are normal people just like you and me, and the “aura” around the firangees disappeares soon.

Yeah ,we enjoy the way they speak and try to imitate their accents within our peer group. The look of confusion and amazement in their eyes when they see an old person(Amitabh, actually) running around trees Image hosted by Photobucket.com , Sharukh dancing in front of an American flag (Kal ho na Ho), Oye bubbly ads etc on the TV sets at the cafeteria makes one go ROFL Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Most of them are actually a nice bunch of people. They always smile and wish you while traveling in the lift. If you are walking behind them and you approach a door, they actually open it for you and ask you to go through it first Image hosted by Photobucket.com In fact, one of the ladies came to office yesterday wearing a sari Image hosted by Photobucket.com

To top it all, this Image hosted by Photobucket.comImage hosted by Photobucket.com