Guilty as Charged
Cliques always disturb me but I've come to accept them as a part of natural human social interaction. But something has been bothering me for a while now and I thought putting it in words should clear up some of my confusion. A big confession up front though: much as I hate to admit it, I have realized a long while ago that I'm no saint and am as
( Read more... )
Comments 11
Me.. being on the other side can tell you, its an unusual feeling, specially when it comes to "This kind of work"!
Also, ... working for an Indian services company.. is a different battle (on multiple fronts!) all together, specially when you are at the client location, a.k.a.. 'on-site'. Life is pretty challenging on this side. Lot is at stake, personally and professionally and one needs to be pretty careful!
Being here for over an year now, I definitely feel/wish i was on the other side.....just to experience the other side if not for anything else!
Reply
Yes, I feel that everyday, when I read emails from them .. very very carefully worded and more importantly - so polite!! A stark change from the informal tones we're used to .. sometimes I feel like telling them - "please don't stress yourself out and put so much effort" - but I guess they have other people they report to who expect such courtesies.
That aside, how have you been?
Reply
"They fell silent as I went about washing my fruit. I tried smiling at them, hoping to look friendly"
Could it be the gender causing it? I don't work anymore, but when I was, I tried to strike up a conversation with those who had come 'on-site'. It used to work..
Reply
Plus, isn't it a little out dated to feel embarassed conversing with the opposite sex at work?
Reply
So, isn't the "smile,nod, say hi" thing a rather 'non-desi' thing to do? Isn't more likely to get something other than a 'why is this supercilious-indian-engineer-whom-I-dont-know-and-have-never-seen smiling at me?' response? Saying something helps, but I guess saying something to a clique is always harder and we are back to square one. Oh well. Pointless comment.
Disclaimer: you call me anti-social, so it is likely this perspective is biased. PS: as mssnalayam says "anti-social, not just unsocial, but anti" :-D
Reply
Tell me about it .. it's lil difficult to do it here too .. which is why in spite of wasting so many paragraphs above, I still haven't been able to articulate it right enough to get my point across :P
isn't the "smile,nod, say hi" thing a rather 'non-desi' thing to do
Dunno about that, have seen other desi's do it too .. or when I have done it, they respond right back with a nod and return to whatever they were discussing (as opposed to fall silent!)
Anyway this post was more about my duplicity than their diffidence ..
Reply
Reply
But mostly when the parent company has outsourced to an Indian company, especially if it's the mundane tasks, the feeling is that they are some kind doing lower-grade work where the parent company retains the superior work here.
But the core "issue" is not about this particular example.
If you extend it, I am sure you can relate it to some other experience in your life. At some point or other we find ourselves in the "inferior" or "superior" end of the spectrum.
The "issue" is - are we really superior/inferior?
Reply
The problem with temps can arise from two things: apparent sense of differential competence, the apparent sense of differential commitment. Over the years, I've realized that neither has any bearing with the permanance of employment. Individuals (on both sides) can either choose to have a dividing line or not. I say because I've seen enough full time emplopyees on this side of the Greenwich meridian who wish to operate with a "come to office, get job done, I don't care what happens to those people whom I work for" attitude desipte the folks on the other side wanting to treat these people as their own.
Reply
Leave a comment