Mimi Deb

India Calling…

Nostalgia is what would strike me and my family often during our stay in the Gulf. Only after moving to another country we figured out the importance of being where we belong and how it feels to be a second class citizen. As I sit down on the eve of India’s 64th Independence Day to pen my bit for P2P, I decide to share some of my experiences of being in the Gulf and the move back to Delhi. Some very funny experiences, yet worth delving into and pondering.

As soon as we started settling down in Muscat, we learnt to get our act together on the road. From an attitude of `me and my pop own the road’ to `follow the rule or lose your license (or worse)’, from 40 km/hr to 140 km/hr! It was not an easy task!  Only after 3 driving tests did we manage to get the license to drive and we even learnt to wait for pedestrians to cross - it was called 'driving etiquette'!

At work it was an exposure of a different kind. A diverse mix of communities to deal with and learn from – from Omanis, Bahrainis, to Lebanese, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Europeans and South Africans, we learnt to do business with them and learn from them. The business, of course, was managed in typical Omani fashion. A meeting never began without asking about well being, health, family (and the cattle in some cases), and if all was satisfactory, business talks proceeded. Every meeting would begin with this ritual of questions even if two people came out of their cars after colliding with each other and as they waited for the Police to come along! Certainly eases the awkwardness, fills the gap between people and helps to conduct business in a happier environment!

Most of you reading this know the ad agency lingo "boss ad nahi aaya"; "ad miss ho gaya"; "page position thik nahi hain" and therefore "waat lagne wali hain"! In Oman, the response simply was "mafi mushkil, take the ad tomorrow". The importance of advertising in mainline media is not as strong there and that always kept us on our toes. An ad would never be placed on weekends, simply because according to the market "people don’t read newspapers on weekends!" So it usually was a happy weekend for every one! Clients refused any activation on weekends because that also meant them getting involved in official work on weekends which was actually meant to be dedicated to the immediate and extended families (the average family size being 8, permitted number of marriages for the men folk being 4. Ssshhhh .

Etiquette is huge!  Don’t call anyone between 1-4 pm. That’s Prayer time / Lunch time / Siesta time… so do not disturb. The client wouldn't call you either. In case of an emergency, one would apologize and ask permission to speak during off hours. We learnt to respect the other person’s personal time and how things must wait unless it was a matter of life and death!

The countdown began in January 2011 when we decided to move back to Delhi. 'Ab Delhi Door nahin' was on our mind all the time with a daily countdown update on Facebook to boot. It was a hard decision to take. From a superbly comfortable lifestyle and work culture, and of course the tax-free Rials, we were gearing up for the country where all the action was!

As I landed in Delhi, thanks to Allied Media, I was back to the grind I had left six years ago. So what do we see? India is shining, and quite brightly so with all the international brands on display – the Beamers, the Beatles, the E class and counting. And our one grouse? The attitude of spitting in public places hasn’t changed one bit. The city continues to be an open urinal and garbage yard. It’s almost like it’s a birth right and it’s the government’s responsibility to clean up after us! It is simply impossible to fathom why we cannot discipline ourselves even after 64 years. When so many of us can follow rules and behave ourselves in other countries, why can’t we do the same in India, `independently’ and ‘consciously’… because it’s the right thing to do?
But hey, despite all this, it’s good to be home and back where we belong…Jai Ho!