Learning India

Neil Miller July 13, 2015 Filed Under: Daily Living

How To Avoid Exploding when Eating with an Indian Family

One of the great honors in India is getting invited home for a meal. It is a sincere expression of friendship and a fantastic way to build some high-level relational capital.

But getting invited is just the first step. Now an even bigger challenge awaits you, one that no one has ever conquered before in the India experience.

Eating enough food to make your host happy.

When you eat with an Indian family, and especially when the mother, or woman of the house, has prepared the meal, you want to make her happy. She is very happy when you eat plenty of food.

But this brings up one of the most difficult Catch-22’s I’ve ever encountered. The host is happy when you eat all the food on your plate. But if you eat all the food, you immediately get another full plate. However, if you do not eat all the food, the host is sad because it suggests you don’t like the food.

To make it worse, the host has an extremely short memory. Even if you are working on your fourth plate, and you can’t finish it or your stomach will burst, the host may still think you didn’t like it. The number of plates you eat doesn’t count. The only plate that matters is the one in front of you. If it’s empty, you get more. If it’s not empty, you didn’t like it. (This is an extreme generalization.) [Read more…]

Neil Miller July 6, 2015 Filed Under: Be Prepared

India Vaccinations – Suggestions for Travel

Depending on your personality you will either start worrying about your India vaccinations the moment you think about coming, or three days before you leave.

If you are searching for an authoritative list of vaccinations required for India, there isn’t one. Aside from Yellow Fever (see below), no one will force you to decide which vaccines you need and which ones you can do without.

Here are some tips to help you decide which vaccinations you need before you come to India (even if you are leaving in three days): [Read more…]

Neil Miller June 29, 2015 Filed Under: Mark Twain

The Best of Mark Twain on India

Mark Twain has always been one of my favorite writers and I finally got my hands on a print copy of his India reflections in the book Following the Equator.

I’ve added several posts where I’ve quoted some of my favorite excerpts. Aside from his usual wittiness, I was amazed at how many of his observations are spot on for today’s India even though Twain’s trip was in 1887. All of the selections can be viewed here, but I’ve given a little introduction to each of them along with my favorite quote.

Mark Twain on an Indian Train

A beautiful section on Twain’s first ride on a train and the hospitality he encountered there. A great reason to check out Tips for Train Travel in India!

My favorite quote:

There was plenty of time, hours and hours of it, and the thing that was to happen would happen–there was no hurrying it. [Read more…]

Neil Miller June 22, 2015 Filed Under: #IndiasNotIndia, Daily Living

How to Order Indian Food like a Pro

There may be no more awesome feeling than sitting down at a random South Asian food joint, listing off a string of seemingly unintelligible words and being rewarded with some of the most amazing dishes on the planet.

However, if you have no idea what’s going on, you are stuck watching amazing plates go to everyone else while the waiter brings you a plate of plain rice and bread. What went wrong?

Thankfully, there are Indian restaurants in nearly every corner of the world, so you have plenty of opportunity to practice how to order indian food, even if you don’t stay in the subcontinent. Food is a great way to appreciate the culture, and an even better way to build some relational capital. If you are out with an Indian friend, you should let them order for you, even if you know what you are doing. But if you are on your own, here are some tips to help. [Read more…]

Neil Miller June 15, 2015 Filed Under: #TimeIsEternal, On the Job

When “10 minutes” doesn’t mean 10 minutes

“Sanjay, I need that report in my inbox now.”

“Yes sir, just two minutes.”

Ten minutes later.

“Sanjay, where is that report? You said you would have it to me eight minutes ago? Why can’t you meet your own deadline?”

India’s relationship with time is misunderstood. You might have an image of India where nothing runs on time, promises are broken, and time is completely insignificant.

But that’s not (totally) true. Even though the basic outlook on time is completely different in India, time is still important. Projects have to be completed, trains have to leave, and marriages must be fixed at a particular time.

Yet, time is a persistent struggle for outsiders in India. Why? I think it’s possibly an issue of semantics (among other things). [Read more…]

Neil Miller June 8, 2015 Filed Under: #ChaosBeatsLogic, #PowerPlays, #TimeIsEternal, On the Job, Podcast

Episode 9: Amar Vyas

Sometimes it’s nice to know you aren’t the only one…

When you come to India for the first time, you may wonder if you are the only one who notices the massive differences: the cows on the road, the work culture, the late night dinners. Is it ok to point them out? Can you laugh about them or is that taboo?

It’s always nice when someone else confirms that things are different, hard, and great.

Today’s Working With India podcast is with Amar Vyas. His name has been on a few of the latest posts (NRI: Now Returned to India and the Oterap Principle) and this is a chance to hear more from him.

I really enjoyed this conversation because it comes from someone who understands the inside and the outside.

Amar will share about:

The huge social risk of going to a town and not visiting family there
His initial irritants at moving back to India such as not getting any voicemails
A livable response to working with India’s working class
Why you might want to think twice before ignoring that call from a colleague on a Sunday
Why patience in India is the best skill you can have

Here are some of the links mentioned in the podcast:

The Return to India Club: r2iclubforums.com
Amar’s book on Amazon: Amazon.in or Amazon.com
Amar’s author website: Amarvyas.in

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Neil Miller June 1, 2015 Filed Under: #CustomerIsAlwaysThere, #PowerPlays, Cultural Adaptation, Daily Living

How To Negotiate With Someone Who Earns Less In A Year Than You Do In A Month

Some of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet come from the working class of India. They often work long hours with no days off. They house their family, educate their children, and put rice on the table, all with a budget that you probably couldn’t last a few weeks on.

The working class of India is inspiring, but is also daunting for many outsiders to deal with, especially when you are face-to-face, trying to negotiate the price of an auto rickshaw ride, or a monthly salary for washing your car.

Overall, I’ve had a tremendous experience with this group of people. At least in Chennai, we’ve found them to be hardworking, friendly, and welcoming to us as foreigners. We can almost always trust the person to do a good job and quote a reasonable rate.

But what is reasonable? How do you know if you are paying the right amount? And what if the right amount seems absurdly low to you? When should you negotiate a better price, and when should you accept your privilege in life as a means to help others?

These aren’t easy questions to deal with, but everyone here has to do it at some point. [Read more…]

Amar Vyas May 25, 2015 Filed Under: #ChaosBeatsLogic, #CustomerIsAlwaysThere, Daily Living, On the Job

The 80/20 Rule in India

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Amar Vyas, the author of NRI: Now, Returned to India

The Pareto Principle, commonly known as the 80:20 rule, says, “for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” This principle applies to most parts of the world.

But not to India.

In my experience, 20% of the work takes up 80% of your time here. The Pareto principle in India should be referred to as the Oterap principle (that’s Pareto reversed). Not surprisingly, this 20% of work is dependent on others: plumbers, electricians, or maybe even your tax consultant.

Let me give you an example. [Read more…]