I have read and heard stories about accent leakages, here is some of what I experienced during my last visit out of India.
I
was surprised when people asked me how my name was pronounced, I had
thought that there was only one way it could be pronounced, Poo-jaa. Nope, I was wrong [Poozha, pooha are some of the *other* ways].
Poor Gijo Jose [pronounced “geejoe“ jose as in pose] [mis-pronounced hiho hosey].
My friend’s name is Anil [pronounced “Uh-neel”],
he has a tough time with introductions. Most firangs are polite and ask
him softly how his name is pronounced; others call out loudly, “Anal”.
Poor “Anal Joy” from Bengal [pronounced “Uh-null Joy”].
I
went for a training on “working across cultural boundaries” and heard
some of the participants talk about their visits to other countries. We
spoke a little about cultures and traditions in some of the countries.
Apparently, showing a thumbs up in Nigeria means “shove it up your ass”.
[Wonder what showing the finger means there J]
One guy spoke about his experience with conducting a training at Singapore.
Apparently, there, relations are valued over everything else. The
training didn’t start on time, there was just one guy in the room at
the right time. Each time a trainee walked in, the entire room would
stand up and go forward to greet the person who walked in. And this
happened for every person that walked in. The trainer had to stop, wait
for the greetings to be exchanged and then resume the training session.
The
same guy conducted the training in some other Asian country [I can’t
remember the name]. He cracked some joke and nobody laughed. He did
that a second time and nobody laughed again. Then the interpreter
stepped in and said something in the local language. People laughed.
From then on every time the trainer said a joke, the interpreter would
say something and the trainees would laugh. Well, the trainer later
figured out during a conversation with the interpreter that the
interpreter told the audience “He is going to say a joke. Please laugh
when he finishes talking” !
I heard some people say that in India, pointing at somebody with your finger is considered impolite. So people point at others using their chin. Err, Is that true?
Desi – Could you please put this in your dick-ey?
Firang – Err…Sure, I can try...
Firang Interviewer – Tell us a little about your self.
Desi Interviewee – I am <xyz >, I passed out in the year 2002 from <blah blah blah >..
Interviewer – “Passed outt…….??!”
Desi guy to a firang lady at a mall – I need to buy a dress.
Firang – Sorry…
Desi – Do you have *dresses* for me?
Firang – uuh, Sure sir, come in…[disappears inside the shop].
Dude walks in to the computer lab with a new hair do and hair coloured red.
Desi lady sitting with a group of students bursts out laughing seeing him walk in and exclaims – You look like a cock!.
Cool dude – Yeah thanks…
Guy next to the lady whispers into her ear: You mean hen...?
[Desi?]