5 Awkward social situations an expat needs to avoid in India

An expat behavior is taken as a reflection of their home country(India), Tradition and culture change every few hundred kilometers, listed below are 5 social situations one needs to keep in mind while in India.

1). The Incessant staring:

You step out of your house into any street corner in India, you make yourself vulnerable to constant staring by the locals. In the western countries, staring is frowned upon, but in India, people are curious and they don’t find it odd to stare at a stranger. When someone stares at you, smile at them and move on. Do not engage with them ignore them and move on.

2). Not knowing how to eat with your hands:

As if eating with hands wasn’t difficult enough to learn for the expats, be warned that it would be frowned upon if you eat with your left hand. The left hand is reserved for taking care of your sanitary needs and is generally considered impure. Also, do not shake hands with your left hand either. As per Indians, food is best savored with your hands, you should try it sometime, you might even enjoy it, feel free to ask for cutlery.

3). Dating is not pretty common:

The culture of dating and relationships is pretty new to India and still, in its infancy stages, the moral brigade makes it even more difficult to date freely. Although it’s prevalent in large cities, one of the primary objectives of dating is to find a life partner, so be clear about your expectations.

4). Indians take offense easily:

Majority of the Indians are pretty comfortable in their skin and you can have a mature conversation with them. There are people who take offense to things that are closest to their heart, like cricket, religion and things like that. It may be a good idea to check if its acceptable conversation.

5).Personal space:

In social settings in this country, there is no concept of personal space. There are people everywhere. You have been taught, from childhood, to keep at least an arm’s length away from others so that they don’t make others uncomfortable, this is something completely unheard of in India and not really possible. Ask someone who commutes in the Mumbai local trains daily and you’ll know. This takes getting used to.