The little India

My working life is absolutely the same with the rest of millions of Malaysian white collars workers, of which our daily routine revolves around the small cramp cubicle. However.... there is something really unique about my office. My clients who came to my office will usually spot the difference the minute they stepped in, its not the office decor nor the amount of cubicles (sometimes it does looks like a call centre) inside the office, well its the people.... cuz there is a little India in my office.

Best employee of the month

Its funny that people said that technology brings the world to your doorstep, well in this context, technology really brought alot of Indians from India to my office doorstep. Actually its not surprising that nowadays many IT companies hired software engineers from India, cuz they are skillful and cheaper to hire compare to grooming local IT fresh graduates (long gestation period). I am not a racist by the way (if thats what running through your mind), my Indians colleagues are a bunch of friendly people, and i have no issue mixing around with them, however, i cant deny that they really are a unique group of people, they are so distinct to an extent that their 'overpowering force' of cultural and linguistic influence threatened to takeover the office.

Ok, maybe thats a bit too much. However, dont you agree that how similar the Indians are? The way they talk, gesture, choice of food, interest (cricket, cricket and cricket) are really similar, and when they come together as a group, literally you can see the Indian aura is getting emitted out in strong waves. Well, who knows, maybe they view the chinese people the same way as well.

Anyway, some of the distinct differences of the Indian culture in my office are:

1. They like to use big words and sound intelligently (technically)
I have to say Indians are blessed with the gift of language, they can speak technical/science soundly without any effort while Malaysian will be struggle to find the vocabularies which is hiding somewhere in their brain. I thinks thats how they gained their respect and acceptance in the professional industry. However, thats provided you understand what they are saying in the first place, cuz their speak in such a thick Indian accent, and to make it worse, every state of India have their own distinct accent.

Sometimes when we have discussion with local clients and when my Indian colleagues speaks, i can see suddenly my clients become very quiet, and then they will started to look attentively at my colleagues's mouth movement, by then I know my colleague had lost them completely, and the rest of the meeting will be the class to master the art of lip reading.

2. They like to confuse people
They like to say yes sir to everything and shake their head while they agree. This is something which i am still learning after 2 years of working in my current company, sometimes it confused me so much that i dont even know whether they really understand what i am saying, or its just their habit of responding every sentence with 'yes mam'.

3. They like to disappear..... and come back with a wife
Arranged marriage is still very much in practice in India. They are very particular about geographical region (North and South Indian does not mixed marriage) and caste system when it comes to making babies. Parents will have the ultimate say in deciding the choice of the spouse of their son and daughters, and some of them never met each other before the wedding day itself. When my Indian colleagues applies for holiday for a month, for sure you know that wedding bell is ringing. They either come back to Malaysia with a wife, or in the case of lady colleagues, its a resignation letter, cuz its written in their 'commandment' that:

"Thy wife must follow thy husband wherever he goes."

So, they have no choice but to resign (leave Malaysia abruptly) and follow their husband to the end of the world.

4. They only eat Indian VEGETARIAN food
Majority of the Indians in my company are Vegetarian since the day they were born, thus they dont have many choices when it comes to the food served in company cafeteria. Its either Chapatti or Tosai, EVERYDAY. The vegetarian dish which they ate together with their main is always mashed and discoloured, so i can never tell which is which cuz they all tasted the same (heavy spices taste). They dont like the leafly vegetable and noodles, especially when its black in color. There is one time my Indian colleague tried the Char Kuay Tiaw, and end up puking and taking the MC for the next day because she cant take the soy sauce.

Before joining my current company, the indian food which i know is only Roti Canai and Masala. Chicken. Mind you, Indian perceived Roti Canai as poor men's food cuz its made of very low quality flour with no fibre content at all, so they will not take the Roti Canai which Malaysian are so proud of. Nowadays, i have learn to appreciate certain Indian food which are quite tasty in my own definition, e.g. Rava Tosai, Masala Tosai, Claypot Briyani etc.

Rava Tosai/Dosa
the usual tosai but with some chili and onion. I really love the coconut chutney which comes along with dhal and another red colored chutney, it taste a bit sweet and not too spicy

Masala Tosai/dosa
I think most of Malaysian know this dish, its again the same tosai but stuffed with mashed potatoes which is mixed with onion, spices, the only problem with the dish is the amount of ghee in it. Sometimes the tosai is submerged in a layer of yellow colored oil and it tasted very 'jelak' after a few bite.


Anyway, I will write more about indian food in my next blog.

So, back to the topic, to be frank, I do appreciates the diversity factor which my Indian Colleagues had brought into the office, and its actually quite fun to interact with people with different colors of life from different parts of the world.