Smile and Wish – Is it a Big Deal?

I have traveled frequently across the length and breadth of the country from my school days. Having known Hindi was a big advantage for me, as I was comfortable in getting along with people in the north, west or the east. But then, When I happened to meet quite a few people from TamilNadu , say, somewhere at Shimla or in the peaks of Auli , We smiled at each other and even had a small chat, though , we were strangers. I don’t know if this would have happened if I had met them at T.Nagar!! Leave alone a chat, we don’t even smile at others whom we come across or glance unknowingly.

We respect our people if we happen to meet outside borders. Every one would agree that Malayali’s are united in TamilNadu, Tamilians are united at Delhi, but not in their own states.

People have been talking about the western culture, influencing our Indian culture and degrading the value system we possess, but I noticed a strong value among people in the western countries. They smile and greet each other irrespective of being strangers or friends. We Indians talk great of our culture, hospitality, respect to elders, etc, but we still fail to show a basic courtesy towards fellow humans. We do this only when needed as I had been citing earlier.

During my stay at the US, I had a nice time greeting each other, most of them being strangers. It also adds to one’s self esteem. I see the Grass chopper wishing me a good day when I pass by, once u reciprocate, he smiles and continues his work. In India, we seldom care to appreciate or respect the labor class. May be here they are not clean and presentable or most of them are uneducated, but still I wish things could change and a scavenger in Chennai smiles at me and says “Vanakkam” and I would love to reciprocate.