Many aspects of a chartered accountant's life feel the effect of "busy season"; family, friends, household chores, personal time. However, nothing is bearing the brunt of this year's busy season more than my blog! It's not for lack of trying; I think of my blog daily. I am even accumulating a list of blog post topics so that I don't forget them. The problem is finding the time to write them; I will continue with my best effort!
An incident at lunch time caused me to stop and take a few minutes to share it. You know how there are certain concepts that are widely understood and observed around the world? I think of eating a meal, driving a car, riding a bike; all concepts that despite the language you speak, country you life in or religious belief, are widely understood. I would have included the definition of a "line-up" in that list, until I came to India. Some might call it a queue but the general idea is that one person goes in front of another or "to arrange a number of people in a straight row" (Google). It turns out that the concept of lining up is simply not something widely observed in India, and in the cases where it appears to be, there are always exceptions to the rule.
I've observed this in many place; the airport, the grocery store and in traffic, but the place that I notice the difference the most; the Deloitte cafeteria. I generally meet with some of my colleagues over lunch so I have them with me to navigate the cafeteria. On other days, I grab a quick bite at the café downstairs but I am usually down there before the crowds as I prefer to eat lunch around noon while the typical lunch time in India is 1 or 1:30pm. Today was the exception to the rule; I got caught up in what I was working on and lost track of time so I headed down to the café around 1:15pm.
There was a little line (or more accurately described as a cluster) of people so I made my way to the back. I was looking at the lunch options so at first I didn't notice how the new people joining the line somehow kept managing to join it in front of me. Once I realized, I started to observe and it was really quite a amazing. A few people would be coming towards the "cluster" and just like you would "inconspicuously" join a group of friends in a long line by jumping right into a conversation as if it was really a continuation of one, or by appearing to be looking at something they have and then deciding to stay; each person would glide up to the front of the counter and order their food. If I had blinked I might have missed it; this is not a skill you can learn overnight. I suspect children start working on this ability at a very young age here in India.
I knew there was only one thing to do; push my way through. My first attempt was a complete failure. I snuggled up close to the people in front of me; wrongfully assuming that as they moved away I would automatically progress to the front of the counter. Wrong! I still don't know how, but as if they were attached on a conveyor belt; as the people moved away in front of me, others filled their spots. I had to laugh at myself. Next, I considered leaving and coming back after the crowd had cleared when I could "line-up" in a way suited to my upbringing. Again, I had to laugh at myself; that would be too reminiscent of when I started grade 8 at a new junior high and would retreat to the bathroom during break until the coast was clear. Diana, you get up there and order yourself the paneer and pea patty that you have your eye on, I ordered myself. (Side note: I normally eat a more proper lunch but I forgot to exchange my larger bills for smaller bills before I left the hotel this morning and the café only takes small bills so I was limited to make a selection from the "snack" options for my lunch today).
In a manner that was completely unnatural and uncomfortable for me, as the people in front of my started to pull away from the counter I finally pushed my way through.Success! I have to admit, the paneer and pea patty tasted even more delicious knowing the effort that I exerted to get it.
