Most Canadians pride themselves on being polite, open minded travelers. Perhaps it’s vanity or a superiority complex. Perhaps it’s simply the result of living in one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world.

However open we consider ourselves to be, there are always some things that are more difficult to adjust to – food, daily activities, cultural limitations, etc.

While most of the following observations may not fit the accepted norm for the term culture shock, I found myself surprised (both pleasantly and otherwise) and interested in my surroundings and the people of India.

• Growing up in New Brunswick, I was fortunate to have been enrolled in the immersion language program in school and continued my studies of French in university. When I first came to work for Convergys, I spent the bulk of my first year working in both official languages – predominantly French. Add to that a smattering of Spanish language training, and I’ve never had difficulty communicating with most North Americans. While in airports, I was not surprised to learn that most of the employees spoke multiple languages – often without a noticeable accent. In Amsterdam, the coffee shop employees and security personnel spoke Dutch, German, English, Hindi, French and a few other languages I wasn’t familiar enough with to identify. In Mumbai (Bombay), most of the airport employees spoke English, and similar to a flight originating in Canada, all onboard passenger instructions were provided in a minimum of 2 languages – English always included. I’ll admit one of my greatest concerns about coming to India wasn’t safety or the risk of disease, it was the ability to communicate. I wasn’t able to find any ‘learn to speak…’ language training guides in Hindi, etc. and hadn’t had time to enroll in a basic language course at the university in Edmonton prior to coming to India. While I knew that English was taught in many schools, I was still amazed at how well and frequently English is spoken in Mumbai and Bangalore.
• As the Walkerton, ON ecoli tragedy has taught many Canadians, we take our supply of drinking water for granted. At home, I drink 3 – 6 liters of water a day (Bottled or filtered tap water). In the hotel, there are 3 500 ml complimentary bottles of water. Manish, one of the managers at the India location, spent time reminding me that under no circumstances was I to drink any water unless it was from a sealed bottle. The water coolers throughout the building do not contain water from a ‘trusted’ source and are to be avoided at all costs. As Rajesh put it – he can drink the water because he’s had over 30 years to get use to it and his stomache can handle anything. They both suggested bringing as many of the complimentary water bottles as possible from the hotel, to avoid having to pay for bottled water in the center. However, I expect I’ll be paying for a large number of bottles of water over the upcoming weeks, just to maintain my normal drinking habits. In the Times of India newspaper (09/22/03, 09/23/03), a number of articles focus on obtaining and maintaining safe supplies of drinking water for Indians.
• In the Times of India (English language newspaper – 09/23/03), there is an interview with the CM’s wife. In the article, she touches on the issue of stray dogs in Bangalore. While she makes an excellent point – who will ultimately be held responsible for any bites people may receive from the animals – her other comments on the issue surprised me greatly. She suggests moving all stray dogs to a plot of land outside of the city, where they can then continue to fend for themselves. I found this approach fascinating, considering the health nurse at the Travel Center who insisted I was vaccinated for rabies advised me that India has one of the highest animal to human transfer rate for the disease in the world.
• In North America, we round up stray animals via the SPCA or Animal Control. Ideally, we’d be able to find suitable homes for healthy animals, and only those too ill to survive would be euthanized. Of course, we know that this isn’t always the case, and that healthy animals for whom we can find no home are euthanized. However, in North America, strays are not allowed to roam free.
• Traffic congestion is everywhere. Construction here means that the only available roads are torn up for improvement while people are still using them to drive on. Pedestrians walk the wrong way down the middle of the road. Cows and horses pulling carts saunter in the middle of the street. I doubt if I can adequately describe what driving is like in Bangalore. The closest thing I can think of is the Memphis FedEx Hub at 1am – with tugs driving every which way, drivers honking to communicate, and everyone seemingly knowing just when to stop and go. There are no designated (painted) driving lanes, few traffic signals, and fewer drivers who pay attention to the signals. Motorcyclists rarely wear helmets and drive on the sidewalk if the road becomes too busy – forcing pedestrians onto the roadways for safety! Parents hold infants in their hands as they putter along on mopeds and motorcycles… Manish informs me that there is a method to the madness and that every driver knows exactly where to stop and how to handle their vehicles. The cars and trucks are smaller – more maneuverable – and squeeze in where ever there is room. Despite the haphazard driving, Manish and Faisal both assure me that there are few accidents on the roadways and it is extremely rare for serious injuries to occur due to accidents. In August, Faranak attempted to describe driving in India and Iran to me. I have new found respect for her driving skills since experiencing travel as a passenger in India. I can’t imagine driving in this country and am very thankful that I have a personal chauffeur for the duration of my visit… and to think, I was concerned about arriving in Edmonton in the middle of winter and having to drive in the snow again!
• Many of the restaurants are open air and small open buildings where people gather to eat have giant Hotel signs in front of them. This represents an eating establishment. People don’t go to Hotels to sleep for the night (many of these Hotels don’t have rooms). Instead, they go to Hotels to eat.
• People are so polite here. Canadians always think they’ve got the market cornered on politeness, but we’re down right rude when compared to the Indians in Bangalore.
• In Canada, a cover charge is an admission fee you pay in order to go into a nightclub or bar. Once inside, you then have to pay the full cost of anything you drink in the establishment. In India, a ‘Cover Charge’ at a nightclub in Bangalore includes the cost of admission and covers the cost of any drinks you may have, up to the amount of the charge on the form. The cover charge can’t be used against the cost of food if you eat at the nightclub. What we would consider a cover charge back home is called an ‘Admission Charge’ in Bangalore.
• Nursing Homes are small hospitals or clinics. They often specialize in providing set services and advertise those services on a sign at the front of the building. Back home, a Nursing Home (or Residential Care Home) is a specialized care facility for the elderly. In India, they are known as ‘Old Age Homes’.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.