Delhi is to host CommonWealth Games in 2010. Apart from readiness of sports venues and infrastructure, there is one more issue which is worrying many politicians. Behaviour of Delhi junta. Yes, you read it right. Our Chief Minister and Home Minister thinks that in order to host games successfully Delhites should mend their habits. They have to be more polite, behave in friendly manner and if possible, should take classes in mannerisms.
Some lessons in customer service are also need to be given to many small shop owners as visitors will be interacting with them. I am not saying they are not polite or friendly but they need to make some subtle changes in their behavior so that they can project themselves as more customer friendly shops.
We Indians, in general, never smile to strangers and never exchange greetings with strangers. This is acceptable on streets but not when customer enters inside the shop. At the most we nod our heads and that means customer's presence is acknowledged. Well, a hearty smile may help in building trust that go a long way.
You enter any shop and present your query to shopkeeper. He reply to your query without looking at you. In fact, he might keep himself busy in what he is doing and may not acknowledge your presence at all. This is considered to be extremely rude in West. In India, it is chalta hai!
We unknowingly put our hands on waist, while talking to customers. Another sign of hostility towards customers. Okay, not exactly hostility but another gesture which depicts our not-so-customer-friendly attitude.
These are some gestures which come to my mind which are doing exactly fine with Indians but may not go down well with firangis.
Let me know, in case you have anything to add.
by Dhiman , on October 13, 2009 8:22 PM
I completely agree with the shop keepers not even raising their heads to answer the query ... I heard for commonwealth games the babus and mantris are joining finishing schools to learn good manners ... thats really nice but will they learn for the games or for life
by Ramesh , on October 14, 2009 5:36 PM
They tried the same sort of stuff (ruthlessly) during the Beijing Olympics. I think this is a very bad idea - in terms of customs and mannersims we should just be natural and the way we are. We can however be polite to strangers and help, but otherwise I don't believe we should change our style. Delhi is a little "rough", but many cities in India are just as friendly as most cities in the world.