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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Am I the only one?

Picture This..

Place : Lunch Room at Work

Newly joined Indian Guy(IG) walks into Lunch Room. Opens his '2 storey-ed' lunch box.Wow ! Wonderful aroma of Sambar and Aloo curry wafts all over the room.All my senses are on alert , thanks to this delicious smelling Indian food.Makes me think about mom's cooking, plan to call her in the night.But for now I return to my good old Subway sandwich.

I am one of those people who focus on their plate when they are eating.Yes, I do not lift my head off the plate unless to get more food on to it.Sometimes I talk too, between morsels but, only when I am talked to and the other person in expecting a reply from me. But this time the food across the table is so tempting that I look up and glance at IG.Evil Mind goes to work and I try to be nice to and smile at him, so that he shares some of his food.But Alas, this guy has no intentions of sharing this lunch which, in all probability his wife must have cooked for her dear hubby.

So, I imagine my sandwich to be roti wrapped with paneer tikka masala and munch on.Taxing my brain into remembering the actual taste of the dish, rather than the horrible ones available here in the indian restaurants.Also make a mental note of preparing some indian food for dinner,maybe sambar and aloo curry :).

I woke from my reverie by a loud dragging of chair,IG has finished his much relished lunch. I wonder, Can he NOT be quieter with the chair?Yeah I can understand he is well..quite heavy , XXL guy, but still..??? Can he not be more modest and NOT let everyone in the lunch room know that he has filled his belly, by NOT letting out a loud burp?

Flustered by the above acts, I track him as he proceeds to the wash basin to wash his hands. Urrgghh..that was the most disgusting sight I ever saw.IG put his hand covered with rice and sambar under the tap to wash it.Can he not eat more thoroughly ?Can he not waste all that food that got stuck to his hands?I am not talking about a few rice grains stuck here and there...the amount of food he actually washed down would actually come to atleast 2 morsels. I do not expect him to lick his fingers, but excuse me??So much food and it all goes down the drain, thanks to your lazy annoying habit?? I eat rice too, and I savory it more when I use my hands than with cutlery. But it is really annoying to see how insensitive or shall I say unrefined some people can get when they eat with their hands.

This was followed by another gross act. He came back to the table and packed up his lunch box and left.The after effects of his lunch was there for all to see.There was food all over the table in the shape of two circles , marking the place for where his tiffin box was placed.Of the amount of food he had gulped down his throat, 1/4 of it was lying there on the table. OK , agreed that is the way he eats...but who is going to cleanup after him? Here at work, usually people have lunch without spilling and by mistake even if they do, they make it a point to cleanup. It is not that he did not know about this,he saw people do it right in front of him. I wonder from where does such arrogance stem?

I consider this as an act of erratic and careless behavior towards food.Which we especially Indians with so much of poverty around us cannot afford to.We all waste some amount of food at some point or other but imagine the amount of it this guy has wasted till now in his lifetime.Even if you take the food aspect of it out of the way, this person is 'professionally qualified' so does it befit of him to act in such a manner?

S says I am being too judgmental !I dont think so !

Am I wrong in my feelings of disgust towards this crude habit of IG ? Does anybody else out there feel about this the same way? or, Am I the only one?

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

its a cultural thing.

we keep our houses clean but throw the dirt in the courtyard outside. Typically anything that does not belong to us, we take it for granted. Hence the office table in this case is public space and hence not something that IG needs to bother about.

It could also be that he comes from a rich family and has always had servants cleaning up behind him.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 2:30:00 PM  
Blogger Mrudula Sreekanth said...

You are not the only one Jo. In all probability this IG has just come from India. Probably his first time out of India. You do see such behaviour among them and it is an absolute disgrace to meet such people. Also, it is such an embarassment as it always makes me think that this is probably the image people have about Indians. Well, we cannot blame them because even if they would have come across 2-3 such specimens, it is enough to form an impression about Indians in their mind.

But I have also seen such behaviour among Indians who have lived out of India for many years. So it means they are not naive but acting stupid.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 3:40:00 PM  
Blogger Jo said...

arzan : thanks for stopping by !I think its got more to do with discipline, traffic in India is the best example. One thing's for sure IG is not from a rich family,cause I noticed that the Indian rich tend to 'be' sophisticated...don't eat with hands..etc...;)

hardu : As per his resume IG has been out of India for quite a lot of time , which makes his act even more gross.I think it has more to do with a person's attitude towards how one's behaviour would effect people around !!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 5:56:00 PM  
Blogger pavan kumar said...

So, I imagine my sandwich to be roti wrapped with paneer tikka masala and munch on.Taxing my brain into remembering the actual taste of the dish,

he he it actually reminded me of this Rajendra Prasad movie where Kota eats rice looking at a chicken hanging.. :)

coming to this new office-mate, well rich or poor.. FOB or a green card holder.. doesnt matter much, manners count.. I also detest those who wash their hands or gargle in their plate, sheesh!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 10:02:00 PM  

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