Lessons to Learn from Least

I found it hard to believe that Europeans could be so very insensitive, when they come to our country. Unlike we people here in India, who are so very informal, and would love to just walk in unannounced, the Europeans are known to appreciate formality, and yet when it comes to dealing with us, they take many things for granted, and that was one of the things which was annoying me, ever since this team of three Jesuits through a third person announced that they are coming to meet us. They would have booked their flight tickets some three months earlier, but they did not find time to inform us about their program.

I had a taste of how the Europeans behave in Europe, just a year ago, and after a stay for over a month I found, I might not survive if I were to stay in Europe. Life is so very artificial, and there are not much scope for one to be free to be what one wants to be in Europe, or at least that is the kind of feeling I got. You cannot walk into even your best friend's room or office without first making a prior appointment. That is how the society operates over there, and we would like to do things very differently here, and that is what makes all the difference to the people who visit us.

When people, even priests and nuns, visit us from either the United States or the Europe, often they exhibit a sense of superiority over us, our culture, language, though they cannot afford to do it openly and directly. Money power is their major strength, and sometimes they make attempts to purchase our value and cultural system with monetary and charitable help. They also show a sense of condescending over our culture and our people. While they appreciate our culture and rich traditions, they would hesitate to eat what we eat, drink what we drink, an obvious indication of keeping themselves apart.

We are born and brought up in a mortley of cultures and we know how to mingle with people of different cultures, religions and ethnicities. We have no problem to dialogue with people of other languages and cultures; even when we do not know the language of a particular group of people, and yet we know how to communicate. We know how to esteem people, and relate to them on equal footing, without showing any sign of inferiority or superiority, and the Europe and the US have a lot to learn from us, and it might take several centuries for them to first of all acknowledge they have something to learn from the developing nations.

I wish all the people who visit India, especially from the Europe and the US, learn from us the art of hospitality. Atito devobhava - guests are like gods, that is what the Holy Scriptures of our land says, and we mean it, as opposed to the cold, calculated and indifferent attitude of the Europe. We know the art of making homes as opposed to the developed nations, who only know how to make buildings. That is another thing that they can learn from us. In fact, if we start listing all the things they can and need to learn from us, we can fill a library with the lists! This is not an exaggeration, but a notion which only those who have known India can vouch for!