Today's professor stated up front that there were to be no questions during his lecture. We were to listen to his talk and then at the end pose our questions. This worked out quite well for him, as he used up all his time and only had enough left to answer one question. This enabled him to avoid being challenged by any of us. To me, unbeknownst to him, this actually created an ethical dilemma for him. For all the preaching he did about Indian business ethics as laid down in Indian Scripture and by Indian Gurus, he conveniently got out of questions we had for him about bribing, lying, cheating, etc. - things that are well known to take place in Indian business practices. Was he afraid to admit the truth to curious outsiders? If he had, perhaps he could have built a case about the changes that need to take place and how business and government leaders could be progressive in promoting those changes.
So today I saw the good and bad in Indian people. While I was out shopping with the "elders", as I was leaving a small shoe store, the proprietor approached me and said he needed my help. My first inclination was that he was just trying to get me to stay in the store so he could sell me something. But as it turned out, he actually needed my help. He had found a wallet on the sidewalk outside his store; it belonged to an American and he wanted help in getting it back to its rightful owner. Because all of the cash was missing, I presume the person was pickpocketed, the cash lifted, and then the wallet tossed. We tried calling a U.S. phone number on the person's business card, but of course got an answering machine. I left a message letting him know it is in my possession and where I am staying. After going on a shopping spree with his Visa card - just kidding - I also sent him an e-mail with information on how to contact me and that if I didn't catch up with him before I leave the country I will return it to him when I get back to the States.
New Year's Eve - Wow! All of the students went to Planet X, a large entertainment center that has a discotheque. Lots of dancing, drinking, and eating. Even though I was stone sober, I got to experience the full gamut of events when people drink too much. I was puked on, hit on, and cried on throughout the evening. Needless to say, it was a night for the record book. I am glad to say that the young man who approached me numerous times throughout the evening wanting to know if my marriage is a "love marriage", finally got the message. But, unfortunately for the young women in the group he didn't give up on them quite so easily. I have to wonder if he actually believes that American women are loose and stupid enough to want to rendezvous with someone like him, and if so, where did he get his information from?
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2 comments:
Nice to see you got the blog going in its revised form. Very interesting so far.
As far as where the Indian get their information on the "loose American women," I would almost bet it's driven by the Hollywood movies they watch!
Happy New Year Terri! Sounds like you are having a great time. I'll find it very interesting to hear how you see the Media's representation of the U.S. in India.
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