Hend
My life in
Back in
……….
There is cheese everywhere here, and I don’t mean the physical kind of cheese. Popular Indian culture is just cheesy. The other day I bought some packaged cookies called Dark Fantasy from the grocery store. I bought them mostly because I thought they’d taste good (they’re pretty much the same thing as Oreos), but I also just wanted to buy a product called Dark Fantasy. Anyway, inside the box was also a card with this description:
Dark Fantasy. An exquisite offering for the connoisseur of
cookies. The richest of chocolate vanilla biscuits
inspired by the Master Chefs of ITC hotels. Created
using carefully chosen premium ingredients for a sensory experience unlike any
other. More than a cookie… Dark Fantasy is a luxury in aromatic cocoa
and vanilla. Bite into the outer crust made of the darkest finest cocoa and
you’ll discover why cocoa is called “theobroma cacao”
literally translating into “The Food of the Gods”. And within… delightfully
smooth vanilla cream that melts in your mouth. Together – an
unforgettable duet whose taste will linger in your mouth. An indulgence for your most special moments. Dark Fantasy from Sunfest.
Indulge.
Brother, they are Oreos. Anyway one product that uses similar marketing is the Chaat Street line of potato chips from Lay’s. Bags of these types of chips are everywhere, and I must say they are delicious. Basically, the Lay’s people tried to capture the taste of chaats, a traditional Indian snack that is crunchy, in a potato chip. Anyway, here is what’s written on the back of the bag:
Lay’s brings you a delicious new range of authentic chaaty
flavours for the first time in potato chips. As you
open a bag of Lay’s
Holy cow, put me on the next
plane to
Cheese is not to be flouted
here. Indian movies are a
great example. Every punch or kick is accentuated with a “psssht!”
sound, every critical moment highlighted with the camera’s zooming in swiftly
on an actor’s serious face, and every cause for celebration marked by
spontaneous bhangra
dancing. But who cares? What’s so wrong about these cheesy guilty
pleasures? If everyone lives with cheese, there should be no embarrassment.
That’s why
……….
People here are generally kind, and I’ve been impressed by a couple of traditions. First of all, like in a lot of cultures, fellowship and generosity is best expressed by offering food. I have no complaints about this. Recently my boss and his wife, who are Malayalis from Kerala, invited all the PAF employees (four of us) to their home for lunch. The occasion was Onum, a holiday marking the harvest that’s celebrated in Kerala. The food was great, and for the first time I successfully ate wet gravy-ish things with my hand (using both hands is considered rude because one has to be used to wash your backside), and off a plantain leaf nonetheless. It was just such a nice gesture, but one that really isn’t that unusual. Whenever someone in the Public Affairs Center has some reason to celebrate, they buy a cake or something of that nature and share it with everyone in the building. Similarly, I’ve learned that on kids’ birthdays, it’s common for them to go around handing candy to all their friends. These are some of the more heartwarming aspects of the culture here.
But in other ways, people here seem very cold on the
outside. Maybe it’s just because of the crowds, but someone can bump
into you walking by and not even acknowledge that you were there. And the use
of pleasantries is really limited, at least in English. In the morning when I
wake up and say good morning to my host mother, who’s usually awake preparing
breakfast, her response is often “hah”, which can be used to express almost
anything (it works really well to say “Oh, is that right?”). Furthermore, when
you receive a phone call and hear the initial “This is so-and-so”, the usual
next line is, “Hah, tell me.” No “how are you”, not even a hello. And when the
conversation is over, it’s pretty normal to just hang up. For instance, I could
say, “Ok, so I’ll see you at 8,” and the next person could just say “ok” and
hang up. Lastly, and maybe this is unique to my office, it’s not only
acceptable for one’s cell phone to ring in a meeting, but it’s perfectly normal
to actually answer the phone and start talking. This, more than anything, blew
my mind. In any case, it’s
not like Bangaloreans are jerks. But they certainly
have different ways of showing kindness and respect.
……….
……….
The sweets in
