If there were a global metric of politeness in terms of the number of sorries and thank you’s uttered per capita per year for each nation, desi figures would run into numbers so high that we’d surely have to invent a new kind of ’illion’ name.
Desi politeness is a universal phenomenon, accentuated when the desi is away from homeland. Homeland politeness may be limited to having a quarrel over wanting to foot the bill, non-resident desi politeness surfaces in almost all real life public facing situations (qualifier used due to contrary evidence found in places like the comments section of this blog).
Workplace politeness includes graciously accepting weekend work. Restaurant politeness mandates agreeing to all suggestions made by the pretty waitresses.Queue politeness sometimes extends to not confronting those who cut it. Bar politeness means ordering the same drink as your friend so the bartender doesn’t have to struggle with understanding your pronunciation of the cocktail you really want (also, there may be image issues due to the color or name of the concerned cocktail).
Politeness is also a tool for dealing with uncomfortable situations. The best use of it can be witnessed in popular bachelor party venues where service providers are unwittingly denied by having genuine conversations about coding practices at work or general advice on career and academics.
If you are a non-desi, you’ll find riling up or picking a fight with a desi a fairly significant challenge. Even if you do manage to offend a desi, you’ll get some form of disguised aggression in the form of a few colorful hindi words.
Nice post. I’m glad to see a new post on SDL!
Very true!
what do desis do during christmas?
bunch of sore fing indy losers with a white trash dude on the base…
Good post! Not accurate though. Desi Politeness is exponentially high only when around fairer (or in desi words ‘white’) people.