FrançaisYou could be an intern, a worker, an expat or a long term traveller around India. In any case you had to live there for a long period of time. You already know something about this country and some things are not too surprising for you any more.
If you recognize yourself in above sentences then you might know that you have been living in India since a long a time when:
- You systematically eat with your right hand if you don’t have spoon/fork/knife and your left hand seems to you like impure
- +28 degrees ??? Winter is coming…..
- You don’t speak English any more. Now you speak Hinglish
- You are not even scared when fireworks or firecrackers explode 2m right away from you
- You know the way much better than your rickshaw/taxi driver
- You stay calm and relaxed when the train is delayed by more than 1 hour
- Now you find your native country’s streets too much calm
- You have at least 1 saree or salwar kameez
- You shake your head from right to left every time to say “yes”
- You still try to negotiate 50% discount even in your native country and even for fixed prices
- You are looking for the rickshaw every time when you go out (even in your native country 😉 )
- You take your bike and you don’t even put a helmet, nor bring your identity card
- You look for a ladies couch each time when you take a metro (yes, even in your native country)
- You sit cross-legged on a chair because it’s more comfortable
- You start to stare at people without realizing this just because you became so curious
- Once in your native country: “Hey, what happened?? Why nobody look at me??”
- You can now easily speak with a perfect stranger about your family situation and ask him for his one
- During your shopping, you get irritated if there is nobody to open the door for you
- You have always in your bag some sachets of SMECTA : now you never know when the gift from God would come
- You start screaming “AUTO” to stop a car/bus/taxi on the street in any country
- You are shocked when you see western actors kissing each other in a western movie
- You have a meeting with your personal banker and you are wondering with impatience when he would offer you a chai
- You nostalgically cry watching “Drajeeling limited”, “Chennai express”
- You start converting everything to rupees
- You count any distance in rupees whenever you take an auto/taxi
- You always look on the left hand side and not even surprised when a horning car comes right over you…
- …To avoid this car you just use your hand power
- You check 10 times the cork of your water bottle before opening it and drinking
- Such words as “achaa”, “han”, “theek hai”, “namaste”, “chalo” are now taking the big part of your daily vocabulary
- You arrive in your native country and the only things you want to eat are beef and fish
- You can now eat everything: super spicy food, spoiled meat, even steal and you just don’t get sick (because you have some SMECTA in your bag) 😉
- You find officials from your native country pretty quick and efficient (!)
- You find this normal when a holy cow eats trash
- You know and understand perfectly the rules of cricket (huuuuum….then you have stayed in India since a veeeeeeeeeery long time!)
- In your country you are bagging your baker to make for you a naan/chapatti/parantha
- You start dreaming about your native country’s local food
- You don’t find any more your native beggars poor people
- You don’t feel any more ashamed and you just pass before a guy while standing in line
- You add all kind of spicies in all your dishes ‘cause you find them too tasteless (Haan?? You don’t have cumin, cinnamon or curcuma in your kitchen? How do you cook then??)
- You are really puzzled when you call to ask for information/service and the guy/girl understood everything right at the first try
