An Indian marriage is characterized by flower petals. The groom who is positioned at a larger than life pedestal is showered with flowers.
And so are funerals. Where the dead body is covered with flowers.
And so when corporates start using flowers to decorate their hallways and make garlands to string at their entrances one is likely to think that there is a marriage or a funeral.
But no.....
You are flummoxed when you are informed that foreign white guests are visiting you ( read as professionals) and the whole office smells like a funeral parlor or a wedding hall.
Barbies and Kens stand with the vermillion and a flame on a stainless steel plate (where the price sticker is still not removed) and without any meaning move the plate round and round the white guest.
Two consequences:
1)The white guests consider fire to be a hazard and wonder why the hell the fire alarms are not going off?
2)They almost go squint fearing that the fire does not touch them.
Why? Why?
What is the need to pretend that we extremely smart Indian professionals have to resort to this mambo jambo to receive our white guests. Why follow an archaic system?
Hospitality industry regularly does this for it is a part of their business culture.
In all through my travels to corporates abroad I have never seen ostentatious display being used to make any one comfortable. The mantra is ' Run your business like a tight ship'
A firm handshake and a warm smile, of course with soaring numbers will do the trick.
Mercifully we have not started sprinkling our guests with the incense water.......
Its time we behave like professionals and show to the world that we are because we can!
And we need not resort to any fancy dress or medieval systems to explain our feats and fallacies.
Let us be proud of the body of work that we do .....
And show it to the world...that we CAN!!!!
And so are funerals. Where the dead body is covered with flowers.
And so when corporates start using flowers to decorate their hallways and make garlands to string at their entrances one is likely to think that there is a marriage or a funeral.
But no.....
You are flummoxed when you are informed that foreign white guests are visiting you ( read as professionals) and the whole office smells like a funeral parlor or a wedding hall.
Barbies and Kens stand with the vermillion and a flame on a stainless steel plate (where the price sticker is still not removed) and without any meaning move the plate round and round the white guest.
Two consequences:
1)The white guests consider fire to be a hazard and wonder why the hell the fire alarms are not going off?
2)They almost go squint fearing that the fire does not touch them.
Why? Why?
What is the need to pretend that we extremely smart Indian professionals have to resort to this mambo jambo to receive our white guests. Why follow an archaic system?
Hospitality industry regularly does this for it is a part of their business culture.
In all through my travels to corporates abroad I have never seen ostentatious display being used to make any one comfortable. The mantra is ' Run your business like a tight ship'
A firm handshake and a warm smile, of course with soaring numbers will do the trick.
Mercifully we have not started sprinkling our guests with the incense water.......
Its time we behave like professionals and show to the world that we are because we can!
And we need not resort to any fancy dress or medieval systems to explain our feats and fallacies.
Let us be proud of the body of work that we do .....
And show it to the world...that we CAN!!!!
