Some Thoughts

I have a few things that I would like to explain for you: the head bobble, coffee shops, SMS, the mall(s), sales calls to cell phones, longer work hours, separation of work/personal lives, extra formalities, bargaining.

The head bobble. Oh the head bobble.  It is the number one most noticeable body language gesture that everyone does. It is also the most confusing thing you can try to understand. The basic movement is the top of the head moving shoulder-to-shoulder, with a little bit of a no head shake and a touch of a yes nod. It means everything and anything but “No”.  It can mean: “I understand”, “I think we should do something else”, “What are you saying?”, “OK”, “I don’t want to do that, but ok, I will”, “Hello”, “Good-Bye”, “How is your day going?”, “*I don’t have anything to say to you, so I am just going to smile and bobble my head*”, “No, I do not have anything in my bag, my laptop is upstairs at my desk, do you still want to look in my bag?” and the reciprocating head bobble from the security guard “Ok, no that is not necessary, have a nice day”.  Speaking of which, I really like the security guard in my building, he is really nice and always greets me with a smile. And on top of it all, he has the most amazing name in the whole world - Mr. Panda.   Enough said.

Coffee shops are big here, and the best part is the coffee and tea here is great!  I usually do not drink too much coffee, but it’s really good, so I do.  There are coffee shops popping up all over the place here.  Sorry, it’s not Starbucks; it’s called Cafe Coffee Day.  They serve coffee! Not all the other crazy stuff that people drink.  Well, they did have a nice menu of drinks, just nothing ridiculous. I also saw they had chicken dogs for sale at one.  So, if you get hungry, well, you might want to go eat somewhere else.  Or, look over at the pastries.  I really like the coffee and tea and hot chocolate at work, because it’s free! I am really curious how they make it; it’s so strong and robust! When you get coffee, they serve it in a small cup, maybe 100ml (~3.5 oz).  The guy fills about 15ml (0.5 oz) of coffee, and then the rest is hot milk.  Yet, the flavor is still very strong.  I wonder what the pure coffee would taste like….

SMS is one of the biggest things to hit Bangalore in my opinion.  It is also very cheap! A local sms is 25 paises ($0.005 - yes, half a penny!) and a national sms is only 1 rupee ($0.02).  So, a lot of people send text messages to each other.  Even most of the businesses are using this.  Most advertisements include a phone number to call, and a 5 digit number to send an SMS to.  Why not? It’s so cheap.  And unlike the US, once you send a message to the company you are you automatically enrolled in a pay per month plan that is really expensive.  At least, I have not found anything to say otherwise.

Sales calls to cell phones are common; at least I hear them a lot.  As I said before, cell phones are cheap.  Almost everyone has a cell phone and most people use it instead of a land line.  So, it is common for sales calls to be directed at cell phones.  It would drive me nuts if my cell never stopped ringing.  I frequently head a guy a few desks away from me talking loudly, I am not interested in your product! Please do not ask me again.

The mall is the place to be.  It is where all the (upper) middle class people hang out.  It is the new scene in India.  It is where all the latest fashions are, it is the place to be.  But, it is also expensive! Expensive is a relative term, the prices are comparable to US prices, but you could go elsewhere in the city and find the same thing for much cheaper.  But, people still go to the mall(s) to hang out and walk around and meet people.  It is always in groups too.  I have not found anyone who goes by themselves.  It is a social event.

It is not uncommon to stay at work for a long time here, past when you normally go home. The people will stay until the work is done. If that takes them into the late hours, they will do it. At first, you may cringe at the thought of staying at work, but how many times have you brought work home with you?  How much do your two lives merge into one? That is one that that does not happen here.  After you leave work, you leave work behind. There is a big separation between the professional life and personal life.

Everyone is very polite.  I am greeted every morning by three guys at the hotel desk “Good Morning Sir” then on my way out the door the security guard greets me.  I get to work and Mr. Panda greets me with a smile.  Every time Sandesh send me a message, it always starts out “Sir”.  Everyone here has a much higher regard for other people than I am used to.  It could be because I am white, but I see it everywhere and to everyone.

Bargaining is a way of life here.  You have to do it, no question.  If you do not try to bargain with the person, he might take it as an insult.  It is a way for people to interact and share time together.  You can’t bargain at the movie theater or a coffee shop, but you definitely need to bargain with a rickshaw driver and someone on the street trying to sell something.

Ok, now that you have read some of the peculiarities, I want you to try the head bobble.  Seriously.  You’re at your desk and no one is looking at you.  Move the top of your head shoulder-to-shoulder. Now try to mix in a “no” in it and then a “yes”.  Picture a baseball bobble head you may have had when you were younger.  Now make sure you are smiling when doing it.  And now go have a conversation with someone and see what they think of you.

Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional Valid CSS! PHP Apache Linux