When you move to a different country and, somewhat, adapt to a different culture, you get used to certain language constructs and mannerisms which, if used in India or with friends from India, would be received with confusion, frustration, sarcasm or a combination of all.
On my last trip to India, a friend of mine actually said, with genuine surprise and shock, “You changed a lot! You are talking like Americans, as if you are born and brought up there.†If, for one moment, you think that was a compliment, you don’t know anything about sarcasm.
Here is a funny situation I gotten myself into on my last trip:
Me: Whatever happened to Mr. ABC?
Friend: Oh, you don’t know, na? He became a disciple of a swamiji and has sworn to celibacy, ya.
Me: No kidding!!
Friend: (Quite angry) No I am not joking! Why will I joke about such things? I am not the kind who spreads lies and rumors for fun.
Me: Er… When I said “No kidding,†I was not referring to your comedic skills, you know. It was an exclamation.
Friend: I don’t know. Talking like Americans has become a fashion these days.
Well you feel that you have not changed a bit .. But i guess it is always there in the other person mind that you have changed ..
Well it has been ages since I travelled back to india so I would not know ..
./thanks
ilaiy
I think I have changed. Not changing when living in a differnt country is impossible. What I don’t understand is why people act surprised upon realizing I am changed and worse yet, why people expect me to be exactly like I was 10 years ago.
Well changed meaning .. As a person you are still the same .. Well I donot know should say that because 10 years back I had the same nice time as what I do now ..
The way I look at things are a little different now ..I think if I was in India it would have been the same ..
Thats just my personal opinion .
./thanks
ilaiy
Have you heard something like…When in Rome…
So, replace your no kidding with ….arrrrrrrrreeeey, realllyy, the next time when you talk to a friend in India:)
Poor fella…I can relate to him.
very funny – and so true! i actually had the same experience with a dear nigerian friend who was very *earnest*. i think i said sth like ..nah! you must be lying!..and he was really upset and said – i do not lie. i am a good christian!
it’s interesting how so often a part of wanting to hang on to the past is to expect people not to ‘change’. i mean even if someone hasn’t actually moved countries, the passage of time still ensures lots of changes! i had this one friend who started every sentence with ..’but in the old days..you were like this//’. i couldn’t be friends with her anymore – she wasn’t interested in me actually, but in what/who she thought i was.
Other reactions you must test:
“Shut Up!!”
“Get out!!”
“You’re killing me!”
Casement: I’ve gotten similar reactions by just saying “Really?!” which was met with “Ya, I am not lying”.
Sonia: I am guessing people are more willing to accept change as long as the change is similar to other people’s change. If you change “radically” by going to a diffent country, people have more trouble handling it!
Jamie: LOL, just imagining saying things like “Get out” to people is cracking me up.
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This post has been removed by the author.
Thanks to the diversity in india ..trust me… you don’t have to travel as far as America for people to react like that..
I moved a lot of places within India… Jodhpur…Delhi …Jamnagar…Hyderabad…Junagadh
…Pune..Chennai..Mumbai…Bangalore… and every time I shifted places and went back …such reactions hit me. But yes the sarcasm is higher when it is the US of A …..
PS# Thanks for visiting my blog.
I can’t resist laugh after reading this. I kept laughting after reading this. Your blogs work like a tonic, when read early in the morning.Laughter is good for health.I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of humour in your blogs.
That was a scream! And I totally believe it. I moved back to India 5 months ago after 5 years in the United States and I still find myself explaining and clarifying certain figures of speech. Especially “are you kidding me?”
well…in this regard I have been fortunate enough to maintain my indian accent
and consciously not use phrases like “no kidding” “take care” “like” “eh” etc 