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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