After spending 10 horrible hours in a crowded Chennai airport, my flight was finally ready for boarding. I couldn’t wait to get back home and get some proper sleep. I was a bit grumpy but was looking forward to getting home, so my mood was a whole lot better than it was the entire night.
When I got in line to board the aircraft, there was this well dressed gentleman standing ahead of me in a suit and reading a newspaper. When I joined him in the line, he turned to look at me. I saw him and smiled and said “Good Morning.! How’s it going…? “- a seemingly normal greeting at six in the morning I thought. But then he gave me this cold stare and went back to reading his paper with a kind of frown. Yes, I did look grumpy in Jeans and Tee, just like anyone else would look if they had not slept in more than a day; but I definitely did not deserve that stare. I didn’t have much time to think about what had happened and was soon trying very hard to sleep on a cramped economy class seat.
A few days later, upon reaching office, I experienced a similar reaction from a guy in the elevator. This time, it was not a cold stare, but rather a confused look. It was as if my lift companion was trying to remember from where he knew me. Sadly for him, he didn’t realize this was the first time we had met. That was when it struck me that the problem was with me. I was greeting complete strangers, a habit I had picked up while I was abroad. I realized this was not something we are used to back home.
Smiling and acknowledging someone we meet on the streets is a strict No No in our cities and I am okay with that. But the more I thought about it, I realized that smiling was something that is reserved only for our dear ones. Even if I walk into an upmarket store, seldom do the staff smile. How difficult can it be for a shopkeeper to smile and say ‘Thank you’ when I purchase something from them? I do understand that it is not the case everywhere… Once in a blue moon, I would happen upon a place with a friendly staff or a budding entrepreneur who understands the concept of customer service. But like I said, it is once in a blue moon.
Whenever someone asks about any culture shock that I experienced in a new country, I am left searching for incidents that I could classify as culture shock. In all honesty, I haven’t been able to find any incident worth mentioning. But whenever this discussion pops up, I am reminded of that cold stare. A reminder to be a Roman in Rome.
Re-posted from my blog.