Monday, June 18, 2007

You don't become unique by standing out of the crowd.




Okay, I am just pretending to have returned from the US . Oh yea, I am very much an Indian by birth. But because I happened to live in a country (okay may be for a few months alone), that is the most fantasized about, I couldn’t help changing my behavioral harmones to fit into that of an all-American crowd.

Nevertheless, I now find it ridiculous to get back to the pure Indian self.

A few scenarios , I use the Americanism in…

1. I walk into a pastry shop and after browsing through the stretch of munchies on display, I ask the person at the counter with an indignant look, “ How many calories is this doughnut ? ” .

2. I am driving a long way and stop over to check for my route, with someone
“ Thanks , I appreciate it, Is that going to be a Freeway ?”


3. I feel annoyed when I don’t find toilet rolls in hotel rooms.


4. I vehemently refuse to remove the airline tag from the laptop bag, I carry everyday. (This is not an American attitude, though).

5. I can’t help praising the discipline in American traffic, every time I get to drive.

6. I scowl in disgust at the street beggers.

7. I suddenly seem not to mind using the word fu----- for at least half a dozen statements I make every hour.


Okay, there are more to it. But these were the commonest I have found. It’s a pity that the western influence could get so very contagious on a person who hails from a country that talks so rich of culture !


I insist I am not generalizing this on just any Asian who flies back from the west. There are quite a handful who stay Indian, after coming round the globe.
I mean, because you happen to be a US-returned, walking around the town looking for diet coke and burgers in India , when all that you really want to fill in, is a bowl of steamed rice and dal and salad , Would you mind giving it a break ! !!!

P.S This post is not intended to offend anyone nor is it to brand all those US-returned guys Americanized !

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

poor me! my on-site visits are to weird places

1) damascus(syria).. the lebanese are firing missiles past this country on Israel.

2) angola ( where we human beings stay inside bunks and the liona and tigers move freely in the public)

3) south africa( the worst place of all. they knive you for stealing even your underwear)

4) guangzhou,china( where not a single soul speaks in english, even the IT guys are found wanting in this zone.. guess who speaks good english in china?

ans: the hookers! beware of china!!!

PurpleHeart said...

Hee hee, Chriz, know wht..? U already seem to be a mix of all these Mores !! I mean in a good sense !!

radiantbear said...

The first one was way OVER the board! lol. Do you say ”Cookies” instead of “Biscuits” too?

Cheers,
Ny?

Gomathy S said...

A new post after a long time..Good..
I wonder if the opposite ever happens..a foreigner visiting India will he/she actually carry some habits back!?

PurpleHeart said...

NY?, We do, we do !!! I mean I always hear cookies instead of biscuits and thanks for visting my blog.

Gomathy, I hope what you said does happen. Atleast the foriegners I see are more appreciative of our own place ! :)

Anand said...

well the best part was post script...anyway.. to be little rude i would say...its not Americanization, its called show off(or say s/he is superior/different), that s/he has returned from a foreign trip.. and that tag thing could have happened if s/he could have returned from 'Namibia' or 'kingdom of lesotho'.. he he he
hope chronicwriter can enlighten us over this.. :)

btw abt any foreigner doing this thing after returning to his/her country is a debatable topic.. they do, when it comes to social and spiritual values. :)

PurpleHeart said...

Devil's advocate , Yes, truly debatable indeed ! Thanks for the comment and nice to see you after all this time !

Cotton Tail said...

Oh how many many times have I had the same feeling and how many people I have tried tutoring on not to throw and spread this attitude around....Sadly I discovered that most of them are well past the phase of listening to reason.