Comments on: Cultural Insensitivity http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/ A cocktail of views, reviews and a few things more Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:52:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Gandhe http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-631 Gandhe Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:30:16 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-631 We even used to say - "I have got placed finally. Now I am totally jobless." You don't blog any more? We even used to say – “I have got placed finally. Now I am totally jobless.”
You don’t blog any more?

]]> By: Shweta http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-608 Shweta Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:04:25 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-608 Hey..this seems like a common plea of all the Indian students out there in USA?? Such little things and the mentalities that I wouldnt give much though to here on Indian grounds. And look at a writer's mind giving it an observing look! (Aww..Shankar! The Tokyo story...quite funny. :D ) Oh! btw..I'm "jobless" this weekend..shall come online. Cya then. :) Hey..this seems like a common plea of all the Indian students out there in USA?? Such little things and the mentalities that I wouldnt give much though to here on Indian grounds. And look at a writer’s mind giving it an observing look!
(Aww..Shankar! The Tokyo story…quite funny. :D )

Oh! btw..I’m “jobless” this weekend..shall come online. Cya then. :)

]]> By: shankin http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-607 shankin Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:16:20 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-607 @nai had it in mind ..... but was too lazy to type it down stereotyping. hmm ... well .. there is a reason why they exist :) ... all the things i described above was personal experience .... except for tipping part .. that is a stereotype ...but i have found three occasions where it was true ...all indians ... everything else is a generic indian "thing" @nai
had it in mind ….. but was too lazy to type it down

stereotyping. hmm … well .. there is a reason why they exist :) … all the things i described above was personal experience …. except for tipping part .. that is a stereotype …but i have found three occasions where it was true …all indians … everything else is a generic indian “thing”

]]> By: The other Mahesh http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-606 The other Mahesh Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:24:03 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-606 (Low voice) I'm wondering, along the (soon-to-be-faced) lines of stereotyping, why this post came along so late :-P (Low voice) I’m wondering, along the (soon-to-be-faced) lines of stereotyping, why this post came along so late :-P

]]> By: shankin http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-605 shankin Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:18:37 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-605 @ manohar lingo is fun. its wrong. but it is fun @amith people call me shankaar when read my name. i dont attempt to correct them. it's close enough. @deepak i guess they are different .. did not think much before writing it. when i was practicing for GRE, i came across a reading comprehension passage in translation and how it is impossible to translate things exactly from one language to another. they are bound to be some differences. I was reminded of that. so i decided to write about it. @ manohar
lingo is fun. its wrong. but it is fun

@amith
people call me shankaar when read my name. i dont attempt to correct them. it’s close enough.

@deepak
i guess they are different .. did not think much before writing it. when i was practicing for GRE, i came across a reading comprehension passage in translation and how it is impossible to translate things exactly from one language to another. they are bound to be some differences. I was reminded of that. so i decided to write about it.

]]> By: Deepak http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-604 Deepak Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:10:36 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-604 Nice article, it takes effort to adjust to different surroundings, but, if one doesn't, he/she risks being treated as an outcaste. P.S I didn't understand how something being "lost in translation" is related to "cultural insensitivity". One thing that I have seen, things like "lost in translation", "multiple interpretation", "coincidence" are used by those who prefer ambiguity to certainty. Maybe it makes them more comfortable, maybe ambiguity leads to a good night's sleep! Nice article, it takes effort to adjust to different surroundings, but, if one doesn’t, he/she risks being treated as an outcaste.

P.S I didn’t understand how something being “lost in translation” is related to “cultural insensitivity”.
One thing that I have seen, things like “lost in translation”, “multiple interpretation”, “coincidence” are used by those who prefer ambiguity to certainty. Maybe it makes them more comfortable, maybe ambiguity leads to a good night’s sleep!

]]> By: Amith http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-603 Amith Sat, 31 May 2008 22:37:15 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-603 Shankar, There were some interesting observations in your post. On that note, have you ever had people mispronounce your name? I have all but given up on trying to get people to pronounce my name correctly to the point where I don't know the right way myself until I talk to my mother. It really isn't hard, but I think it stems from predefined notions. Everyone's mind is a little colored with preconceived notions. On a more humorous note, I was at a bar yesterday and a little buzzed after a beer tasting escapade at the brewery when I met a guy shooting pool at the table next to mine. After we said 'Hi' to each other, he guessed I was Indian and told be he was a Sherpa. At this point, my ignorant self said something along the lines of "Aayo Gorkhali". The guy simply said that he wasn't a Gorkha and they were very different. I'm sure I offended him greatly because he didn't seem to smile much after that fiasco. Shankar,

There were some interesting observations in your post. On that note, have you ever had people mispronounce your name? I have all but given up on trying to get people to pronounce my name correctly to the point where I don’t know the right way myself until I talk to my mother. It really isn’t hard, but I think it stems from predefined notions. Everyone’s mind is a little colored with preconceived notions.

On a more humorous note, I was at a bar yesterday and a little buzzed after a beer tasting escapade at the brewery when I met a guy shooting pool at the table next to mine. After we said ‘Hi’ to each other, he guessed I was Indian and told be he was a Sherpa. At this point, my ignorant self said something along the lines of “Aayo Gorkhali”. The guy simply said that he wasn’t a Gorkha and they were very different. I’m sure I offended him greatly because he didn’t seem to smile much after that fiasco.

]]> By: S.Manohar http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-602 S.Manohar Sat, 31 May 2008 19:43:54 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-602 I don't see any problem with the lingo actually. People who hear it for the first time may feel awckward but I dont think it will always create confusion. Every sentence has a "artha"(literal meaning) and a "bhava"(context+emotions etc). Bhava is like a error correction code. We have o make use of it thats all. So is a listener is sensitive to these both I am sure he will understand when u say "I am jobless this weekend" because of the previous conversation and context. When a father tells his son , "I will break ur hand" the son knows that his father is just angry and wont really break his hand. We always donot understand the sentence by it's literal meaning. Moreover, lingo is fun :-) I don’t see any problem with the lingo actually. People who hear it for the first time may feel awckward but I dont think it will always create confusion. Every sentence has a “artha”(literal meaning) and a “bhava”(context+emotions etc). Bhava is like a error correction code. We have o make use of it thats all. So is a listener is sensitive to these both I am sure he will understand when u say “I am jobless this weekend” because of the previous conversation and context. When a father tells his son , “I will break ur hand” the son knows that his father is just angry and wont really break his hand. We always donot understand the sentence by it’s literal meaning.

Moreover, lingo is fun :-)

]]> By: shankin http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-601 shankin Sat, 31 May 2008 17:12:25 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-601 @Kumar well, yeah ... its more like lingo ... its wrong, but accepted only in the small place. i am not spreading it, dont worry, i just clarifiesd what i was saying @mahesh thanks! @middler i dont review what i write ... i write it once and post it. i am sure there are many grammatical errors in the post @Kumar
well, yeah … its more like lingo … its wrong, but accepted only in the small place. i am not spreading it, dont worry, i just clarifiesd what i was saying

@mahesh
thanks!

@middler
i dont review what i write … i write it once and post it. i am sure there are many grammatical errors in the post

]]> By: Middler http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/2008/05/31/cultural-insensitivity/comment-page-1/#comment-600 Middler Sat, 31 May 2008 14:53:01 +0000 http://www.coolshankin.com/blog/?p=78#comment-600 Ah! Must be such a strain writing bad grammar! [:)] Ah! Must be such a strain writing bad grammar! [:)]

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