Inshala 
Saturday, October 13, 2007, 02:54 AM
Posted by Administrator
Friday morning while eating breakfast, a man decided to sit with me across my table. He was older by about 20 years and I’m not sure if he intended to share the table for company or if he mistakenly sat with me. The Indian culture is so friendly I can’t discount either possibility. My friend Arun, who is one of the managers at the Taj Deccan, saw this and quickly scooted the man away and helped him to another table. It all happened so fast, that I never said a word. I was actually about to introduce myself and start a conversation with the man. I find that here in India, I’ve become much more interested in people, listening to their stories and learning about who they are. I feel bad about this observation because I realize just how jaded I’ve become toward relationships in the US. Looking back, I can see that this change happened in me around my late 20s as I had children and settled into a comfort zone that isolated, insulated and protected me from external pressures and judgment. As I built a home, I apparently built walls to protect it.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, 4 months away from my life has really allowed me to look inside and regain perspective. It’s allowed me to subconsciously re-examine who I am and be critical about life in the past, present and the future. This isn’t to say I feel like a horrible or bad person or that I don’t enjoy my life at home. Its just that we all have personality flaws and sometimes it takes something significant to recognize them and have the courage to make change.

Last night, I continued to feel ill and had a late and stressful Friday. At 10:30pm, after my last call, I went down stairs to get dinner and be away from the PC. Arun noticed I was alone again and stopped at my table. I needed the space as Gulshan is in Delhi and Mike was tired. He wanted to apologize for the man’s behavior from the morning. I explained to Arun that I wanted the man to stay so I we could chat. Arun smiled and said, “you are truly a unique individual“. He went on with kind words saying that I seem to greet everyone and he finds that I am much friendlier than their typical guest. I appreciated his compliment and recognize this recent change in my behavior. Arun then mentioned a new guest sitting around the corner and wondered if he could sit the guest with me for company. I agreed, and with in a few minutes, I met Evan.

Evan, is a woman from the UK who works in Saudi Arabia. She’s here for a week with her Fiancé who is a pilot for SpiceJet “one of India’s top rated airlines”. We talked for an hour and a half about travel, culture and work. It was fascinating and led me to this post.

Last week, Mike wrote about an observation we’ve had and that he and I have been talking about for weeks. In India, they commonly use the phrase “5 minutes sir”. This is a euphemism that takes some time to recognize. When you hear this in India it literally means “As soon as I can”. I shared this with Evan and she chuckled. She mentioned that in Saudi, they have a similar cultural euphemism. The locals will respond to a time bound request with “Inshala”. She also explained that literally translated it means “God Willing” or “In Gods Time”. We laughed about this for a good 5 minutes and shared related stories.

I was very happy to hear that this isn’t unique to India. Finding these cultural Easter eggs, learning from them and finding ways to adapt has been a challenge. It is however, a challenge I was sent here to overcome and pass the wisdom of how, on to my peers in the US.

So today, Mike and I were fitted for custom suits as we’ll again be Key Note speakers next week. We’re flying to Delhi, to a subdivision called Gurgon. We’ll be there to deliver a message about the organization we work for to many of our new associates. I look forward to meeting them, learning their stories and sharing more of them with you.

Please keep me in your thoughts as I continue to fight through what appears to be a weak immune system and “Inshala” you’ll see another update next week before next weekend.



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