Fish out of water

Sometimes, I feel very 'different', very 'alien' in India. I grew up in the US so I thought I knew what it meant to live and work in a society with different cultures, languages, etc. Apparently not. There are inefficiencies everywhere and I sometimes just cannot understand how some people think and operate here. When I ask people to do work, they do not follow deadlines. Only excuses and justifications. When I expect people to follow instructions, they do everything other than follow instructions. Some people just fail to show up at work. After tracking them down, I find out that they decided to quit their jobs without any prior notice. After a long day of work (or more precisely after a day long battle to understand India), I come back home with no running water. And this has been an ongoing problem for several days now at home… then the mosquito attacks, and the ants crawling on our food, and the constant worry for clean water (maybe not ‘worry’ but more ‘suspicion’ about water quality due to occasional stomach problems), and the dirty feet (due to dust and dirt in the apartment), etc, etc… Don’t get me wrong. I like the country and its people very much. I also like the lifestyle here too. But sometimes, things get to me. Sometimes I can’t act nonchalant at the people who stare at me and so I stare back. I don’t raise my voice but I sometimes loose patience. I guess I am just going through a cultural shock. I guess I’ve only known how to live in a more comfortable, more privileged environment.

I am glad Arvind is here with me. He understands everything – where I am coming from and how I am doing my best to deal with this drastic environmental change. Let’s see how I manage to figure my way through this pretty chaotic environment.