It’s so hot here!!!

“Can you get me one pack of yogurt?” he asked to the boy in the dairy product shop. That boy was never confused in his entire life as he is now. He would not have surprised so much, if any new customer would have asked him. This gentle man is his old and regular customer. Only thing worth noting is that he was away from home for last 4 weeks. But talking in strange language is little too much for this digest. Then to confuse him more this gentleman added “It is too hot here!!” at 7:00 AM in the morning when the temperature is most pleasant. He was wearing a shorts and tee. Another thing worth mentioning that, he used to wear vest and lungi earlier. First of all this was a Monday and 7:00 AM in the morning. This boy was struggling to keep his eyes open and on top of that, this kind of strange behavior of a known customer made him feel like crying. He controlled his emotions and asked “What you want?”. Then the gentleman immediately thought for few second and said “Ohh I am sorry, I mean, I need curd”. He said “OKAY” and got him that. Then the gentleman clarified “I completely forgot that we call it curd here. I had been to Boston and stayed there for a month. We used to call curd as yogurt there, so I got confused”. This boy immediately related this incidence to the radio show “Vadodara Ma NRG” where a man who behaves in similar fashion and gets a Lapha (One big tight slap) at the end. His intentions were to end this exactly the same way but he controlled his emotions once again and continued his work.

It is not easy to change ourselves to fit to one new environment. Your etiquettes, behavior and mannerism is very much there in your blood. If you go to a different country or state and find that you are expected to behave differently then you try really hard to change yourself but when you come back to your own place you find it really easy to get back to original. This is what I believe. Hence, I really find it difficult to believe that one person finds it so difficult to come back to his original self.  People who forget their real self, is only if they try to do so. It is not possible to forget what you practiced for several decades in few months unless you intentionally do so.

I agree that you may feel little different when you first come back but I do not think it can stay longer than couple of hours. Some significant differences which catch your eye in first few minutes.

People maintain a good amount of personal space around them in some countries and if anybody has to intrude then they publicly apologize and do so. That’s not the case in many other countries  and everybody is perfectly fine with that. There is nothing wrong with it in my view But you still find it different.

Acknowledging is loud in some countries and silent in some. You do something which you think might cause discomfort to anybody and you apologize loudly, when somebody helps you either directly or indirectly you show your gratitude loudly. Where as, in some other countries people convey these silently through body language. There is a difference but none is wrong.

When friends and colleagues go for lunch or dinner, in some countries it is expected you to order for yourself, and in some other, your friends or colleagues order for you. There is a difference but nothing wrong here as well.

So, we have to understand that, we have lived a great life till date and we respect our life. Your etiquettes, behavior and mannerism is an integral and vital part of your life. You may, or I would say you should, change it to fit to a new circumstance but when you are back to your place, start living the life your way. Respect every culture but most importantly yourself.

-Stray Dog