The great Indian etiquette debate

IN THE SUMMER OF 2009, Senior Assistant News Editor Ajish P. Joy and his wife, Jaiby, got off a flight at Boston’s Logan International Airport and joined the queue for cabs. They were toting their elder daughter, Annie, in a bassinet. She was all of six months old.

When the next cab pulled up, the person at the head of the queue did not move. There was a brief silence before the woman in front turned back and told the Joys that they had priority because they were carrying an infant. Pleasantly surprised, the couple thanked her and boarded the cab. Parents know how difficult it is to travel with infants. With that small act of kindness, Bostonians made the trip a little more bearable for this harried young couple.

It was not a law. There was no one to enforce this courtesy. There was no instruction tacked to the wall. Those in the queue quietly regulated themselves. That level of compliance and consideration works only when it is built into a society’s basic character. For all our warmth and hospitality, this is something that Indians are often accused of lacking. Hence, this cover.

As social media is exploding with gripes about Indians abroad, one is left wondering whether this is all genuine or if it is stemming from racism and anti-immigrant sentiments that are rising in countries with growing Indian-origin populations. Senior Assistant Editor K. Sunil Thomas wrote the cover story based on his visit to the US. To add layers to the article, Sunil brings in guest columns by pioneer Indian-American entrepreneur Kanwal Rekhi and SOAS professor Sanjay Srivastava, a humour column by Jairam N. Menon and an interview with writer Suketu Mehta.

From Portugal, contributor Job Rinol writes that south Asians are often looked at as a monolith. Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and often Sri Lankans are bundled together. Let’s not act surprised when mainland India quite often bundles the people of our northeastern states the same way. This, when they have their own languages, literature, culture and even distinct embroidery.

Talking about that region brings me to Kelsang Aukatsang’s Untold Story on the forgotten Snow Lions. Formally known as the Special Frontier Force or Establishment 22, the Army unit was the brainchild of R.N. Kao, the founding chief of the Research and Analysis Wing.

Nearly 4,000 Tibetan volunteers joined Establishment 22 and fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Forty-nine were martyred. Prime minister Indira Gandhi had a soft spot for the unit, as it had women paratroopers! Aukatsang’s father, Jampa Kalden Aukatsang, was one of the four founding Tibetan officers of Establishment 22.

Our political coverage takes note of the passport controversy, through an article by Senior Special Correspondent Kanu Sarda. Special Correspondent Prema Rajaram interviewed West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta and Industries Minister Tapas Roy to bring you more about the Suvendu Adhikari government’s future plans.

How can I talk of Bengal and forget football? The FIFA World Cup coverage continues through Chief Subeditor Karthik Ravindranath’s take on two breakout stars—a prodigy and an ‘anti-prodigy’, he says.

Coming back to the cover, Srivastava’s take on the behaviour of Indians abroad should make us all think. He sees a link between the change of behaviour and domestic politics. He says that our earlier engagement with modernity was through science, which required a more complex bridge built on education and rational thinking. The current engagement is via technology, which he says is linked to consumption.

In short, the earlier model said: I think, therefore I am. The newer model is more transactional: I buy, therefore I am.