CROSS CULTURAL LIVING AND FUNCTIONING





Three years he lived in USA and back in India, got a chance to go to the same place and also to the same house for stay on a month's duty after a year. Yet there was no excitement in the youngster and he finished the trip mechanically and officially.

I was in a similar situation three decades ago to visit Baroda, after one year of leaving Gujarat after eight years of stay in Gujarat. Right from the time I was assigned the job, I planned my travel/meeting/events other than official to relive my happy days. With the advantage of not having telephone or easy communication like email my visit was a pleasant surprise to many.

When I look back and compare the two I wonder what is so different then. It is one syllable word 'Technology'. While the distance travelled by youngsters are too long today they still do not feel the separation from home due to Google talk, Skype, email and other communication facilities. Above all there is no compulsion to be cut off from home or culture as there are hundreds who have moved out and social groups of same language or even caste can be formed easily in distant countries. In the process the individual opts to be aloof from the local society and the locals too do not embrace the outsider socially or emotionally.

Though the absence of day to day communication with my native was the reason for my mingling with the locals freely and getting immersed in their culture, the locals too get the credit for accepting and admitting me into their society so much that I felt as one among them till I left. While this is more of an unintended benefit for me, today it is necessary to intentionally mingle with the locals when you are away from your country as one is duty bound to also represent the country positively by not giving an impressions to the locals that we come to earn and pack up.

 I could differentiate the Parsi accent of Gujarathi apart from Surti and Saurashtra accents.  While my ability to speak Gujarathi was moderate, I was too familiar with their food, seasonal food like Ghari and Ponk and the manner in which it used to be eaten on moonlit terrace. Cultural shows like Garba and Utran kite flying too were familiar not to talk of Diwali and Janmashtami.

Personal understanding of the local culture helps in official discharge of duties more so if one has to handle people directly. Appreciating a Bihari's urge for leave during Holi festival and a Tamil for Pongal the outsider can mingle better with the locals even if on higher strata. Today we have Koreans, Japanese and the American community in India who live in a cluster of fellow countrymen and have them for cultural and social needs, yet in office they do blend cultures with locals mutually respecting societal sensibilities.

An article in a Tamil magazine reflected as to how Indians who are about four million strong in the US, even in business prefer non locals and the manner in which the underprivileged locals expressed angry sentiments over this. How authentic it is, is debatable yet there are lessons to be learnt by the growing number of youngsters who run after visas to appreciate that career focus cannot take the view out of societal responsibility more so when one is obliged to the local rules for existence, sustenance and above all personal growth.

  Even the rich in India as they grow invariably ensure growth of the immediate and close range support staff as that sustains growth on a perennial and cost effective basis also benefiting the overall business. Before venturing out of the country the youngsters do well to understand this perspective and the elders teach focus on real values of life when they want their children to go overseas and make a living and career.


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