Holding the door open for others
Everybody is used to doing this abroad as a habit. And it automatically creates a bond of good behaviour between you and that person. Just imagine how good it will be that when you’re coming out of a meeting or from a supermarket, the person behind you or in ahead of holds the door open. Sounds good na! And it’s just a basic courtesy to make sure that you do the same for the person who might be behind you. Whereas, we Indians just slam the door on their faces.
Respect for lower income group
Foreigners give extreme respect to people who might not be earning as much as they do. You might see a CEO of a big multinational talking humbly to a taxi driver or a cleaner or to a sweepers at the super market. But we Indians, really don’t care. Indian bosses don’t even acknowledge their presence.
Greeting strangers
More often than not, people abroad greet others. If you walk into an elevator or you cross someone on the road, people would smile and greet you with a ‘Good Morning’ or a ‘Good Evening’. And you really feel good about it as you’ll see smiles around since the day begins. And in India this is much more easier, as there are so many people on the roads, in the office, in the markets.
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Cycling – quintessentially Dutch
Dutch people are good at cycling and everything related to them. Cycling is in the blood of each Dutch. You’ll find a 3-year-old kid to a 80-year-old grandma easily riding bicycles. In our country, people riding bicycles are looked down upon.
If you think carrying groceries on a bicycle is little difficult. Think again!!
How would you carry toddlers on a bicycle? Like this…
Also read: Annoying Things We Indians Should Stop Doing RIGHT NOW!
And of course, in all probability you will never see a pic like this in India.
They don’t judge you
Indians, in general, are VERY judgmental. Every individual at every point in his/her life is constantly under the scanner for the decisions he/she makes and the worst part is that questions are not asked assertively, rather the individual is directly judged/labelled as something.
Ask questions & seek explanations
Indians are mostly fine with the existing scheme of things. They will not question their elders out of respect. They will not question authorities for not doing something. They will not even question people who jump queues. They would prefer back biting instead of pointing it out.
Use of ‘little magic words’
Use of phrases like ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘sorry’, ‘excuse me’, ‘I beg your pardon’ is a habit. But very uncommon in context of Indians. Or should I say that it takes a lot of effort to inculcate this habit, especially in adults. These words are obviously taught in school, but as children grow, they forget their usage.
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Practical approach
Indians are strong at theory. They know ‘what’ & ‘why’ which is obviously good but most of the times, they do not know how. This means they are lacking the practical part.
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But we know that all fingers can’t be the same, so these things are not applicable to every Indian. But we know ourselves better than anyone else. So, if you feel you are already doing these, it’s very good. But if you think something is new than you can always adopt it as a habit. It will create a good impression not only for your own self but also for your country.
