A culture of hospitality, but missing common courtesy

Indian culture has traditionally been known for its hospitality. As you step into airports, train stations or inter-city bus stations, posters of Incredible India, pictures of the traditional folded hands – the “namaste” greet passengers. However, these symbols of hospitality seem to be relegated to hoardings and Indian tourism propaganda.

For a culture that prides itself on its hospitality, majority of the population seems to be lacking common courtesy. Anyone who has seen the traffic in India (in effect this means anyone who has set foot outside any port on Indian soil) will agree when I say that traffic here is congested and chaotic. Courteous driving seems to be an alien and unheard of concept. Traffic rules are merely considered as guidelines and not always followed.

With the advent of the tech boom, a young and educated workforce now has the means to enjoy the latest gadgets and gizmos while indulging their tastes for food, clothing and consumables from around the world. This has led to a spurt of malls carrying high-end luxury brands from around the world, all-in-one grocery stores aka Safeway, Marks & Spencer, Whole Foods mainly catering to the reasonably well to do, and based on their economic status, a literate and educated strata of society.

A recent visit to one of these stores was an eye-opener. This store was stocked with the latest electronic goods and gadgets, groceries, packaged foods, fresh fruit and vegetables and was spread well over 30,000 square ft. Some areas of the store expectedly were busier than others. However, the sheer lack of politeness and courtesy among the shoppers was appalling. People were pushing and shoving each other to select abundantly available onions and potatoes. When I held out a bag for the shopper next to me (yes, some of you may call me an idiot for this), she grabbed it without so much as an acknowledgement in my direction and went on to elbow me in her rush to bag her choice of vegetables.

In other parts of the store, I noticed younger presumably college going shoppers, bumping into or pushing the elderly to get ahead. I understand that people can be in a hurry and most of us have schedules to keep, but is it so difficult to excuse ourselves as we pass another?

Have we become a nation of that is merely literate but uncultured? Of people who have the money in their pockets to buy whatever catches their fancy but lacking the courtesy and politeness that form the core of being human?

Cricket fever ...

Being in the Indian sub-continent during cricket season is exciting, but being here during the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament, is an experience not to be missed. India is a cricket crazy nation, and having sent in a team that is winning matches has exponentially increased the interest and following for the "Men in Blue", the nickname for the Indian cricket team. The cricket matches have resulted in roads being rather empty and in some cases, offices declaring a half day holiday to enable people to enjoy the matches!

Back in India ... three years later ...

Bags packed, boarding pass in hand, I made my way to the aircraft that would take me from Chicago to New Delhi non-stop. The flight was smooth and uneventful except for me needing an extra copy of the Indian Disembarkation form since I interchanged the day and month of my birthdate. (Yes, I know – lame!) But I did find myself wondering – why can’t governments use a standard DD-Mon-YYYY format in all their documentation? Like we create common standards for internet access and telecommunications, why not have them for governments across the world? Wouldn’t it make life easier for everyone? But then I think – Was the concept of government created to make anything easier for anyone? Oh well…

All was smooth until it was time for me to retrieve my bags from the baggage claim. For those used to announcements indicating the baggage claim when they are disembarking from the plane, forget it. All that was announced was that the baggage would be available in the baggage claim area (as if you were expecting it outside the plane, or delivered to your seat). Locating the baggage claim was simple thanks to a map of the terminal posted in the arrival area. As I hauled my bags off the conveyor belt, one of the baggage “helpers” approached me and asked if they were my bags. Not quite understanding the context, I indicated that they were. The next set of actions was a reality check. He went on to tell me that the customs officers were inspecting each bag through the x-ray screener. Not having anything to hide, I shrugged it off. He then went onto to say that iPads, cameras and LED TVs were on the “hot” item list and if had any of these and wanted to clear the terminal without waiting for the next 2 hours and paying the customs duty amounting to thousands of rupees, I could pay him $50 and walk out. After 18+ hours of travel and being jet lagged – I opted for the easy way out. I negotiated the $50 demand to $20 – and walked out in the next 5 minutes. It was a harsh welcome to reality.

As I write this, I wonder – why did I opt to pay that money? Self-preservation? Did I value 2 hours of my time more than the $20 in my pocket? Or did it simply awaken the dormant but inherent trait to work around the system?