Say Salaam Namaste to global etiquette now

BANGALORE: Fit in or fish off. That's the mantra for the global citizen, she or he, on the move, in Japan today, India tomorrow, the US next week.
Foreigners and expats today are increasingly working hard at suiting themselves to the clime they find themselves in, at work, in the public domain, be it food, dressing sense or body language.
Lending credence to Confucius' statement ��� all people are the same, only their habits are different ��� organisations are training people in the accepted norms of the milieu they would find themselves in."The trend globally is that we have the opportunity to do business with anyone in any country.
So, it is critically important that visitors to different countries on business or their vocation, be sensitised into making that first impression," explains Syndi Seid, a professional speaker, trainer and founder of Advanced Etiquette, based in San Francisco.
In Bangalore, Seid conducted a workshop on global etiquette where Bangaloreans travelling abroad were given comprehensive dos and dont's about what a 'global citizen does'.
"It's not about being politically correct, the key is to learn being cordially correct. Learning to say namaste in India, is a good addition for me," says Seid.
For instance in Bangalore, with expatriates flocking to the city fuelled by the IT boom, it was initially bewildering for them to see the typically Indian thing of "shaking heads rapidly for yes and no."
The Johns, Browns, Edwards have all learnt to do likewise now! For long, the Westerners also took mild digs at the 'Indian' habit of holding a fork in the right hand and knife in the left.
"Then they realised Indians ate with their right hand, so it's now perfectly cordial to eat even 'Western' food the way it always has been," adds Seid.
Ranjini Menon of the Global Adjustments, a relocation services company specialising in cross-cultural training, says the wrong body language can send out the wrong message.
"The world is flattening, India is emerging as a superpower and Indians are adapting to being global citizens."