We Understand

We Indians are a very compassionate race. We are in fact so compassionate that we often understand the plight of total strangers without them saying anything to us.

So what if we have to stand in a long line because the official who was supposed to have come to office by 10 hasn’t come as yet. The poor guy must be stuck in the jam otherwise he must have been on his seat. It is the damn traffic and rains and potholes and what not, which must have cause the guy to be delayed. Definitely no problem with the guy himself. We understand.

Maid took an off without informing and now cleaning and washing all has to be done by self? Surely she must be in some terrible emergency like a broken nail or for that matter an unbroken sleep which is why she had to take a leave. Sometimes these things happen, you know. Anyways, she doesn’t clean too well either. Good thing that I will do it myself today. Hope she didn’t have much serious problem and hope it get resolved by today. We understand.

Watchman didn’t come to wash the car? And after the last 3 hours in the rain and dug up roads of Delhi, your car is a total mess with bits and pieces of mud and god-knows-what stuck to all parts of car. Doesn’t matter. I anyhow need to burn the extra calories of yesterday’s Chhole Bhature. I might as well clean the car and burn up some calories. After all, once in a while even that poor watch man needs bit of shut-eye and enjoy a well deserved break. We understand.

These things, if faced in a foreign country, would be a source of embarrassment for the officials and immediate and strict actions would be taken to ensure that the same does not occur again. In India, though, it is all a part of day’s work for the inhabitants who have gotten so habituated to such acts of utter callousness that nobody really is concerned much about it.

Ever wondered why do we have that attitude? I feel that it is because we tend to have no expectations from others. And since we don’t have any expectations, we don’t get disappointed when we meet lack of service. Though, this is changing and fast.

On that thought, I also remember an ad campaign sometime back for an innerwear brand where the tagline was something like “Life mein toh bahut adjust karna padta. Shukra hai aapko underwear toh adjust nahin karna padega” (You have to adjust for a lot of things in life. Thankfully you wont have to adjust your undies). Have a look at the video.