After living in Mumbai for a year, you can point out obvious things that are different than back home. But, you’d be surprise to learn how similar these two countries are. Let’s start with the obvious.
Movies
Americans. Indians. It doesn’t matter who. We both love our movies and movie stars. In fact, you can see fans waiting outside Shahrukh Khan’s (Brad Pitt counterpart) house waiting to see a glimpse of him in Bandra. Here’s a couple of movie stars I met during my Executive MBA sessions with Jackie Shroff (Bruce Willis counterpart) and John Abraham (think of a young Sylvester Stallone).
American “can do” vs Indian “jugaad”
It’s been the fabric of the American DNA to never admit defeat and to fight against all odds to accomplish the impossible – mass transportation infrastructure, man on the moon, etc. Like the US, jugaad exemplifies the same American spirit with a slight twist – frugal innovation or hustle at work. India has sent a Mars orbiter, Mangalyaan, for a fraction of the cost of NASA’s missions to Mars.
Food, Family, and Fun
Americans love get-togethers for weekend bar-b-q, Super Bowl parties, or whatever the occasion may be. Typically, these parties range from small (2-4) to large (~40). In India, there’s always a holiday, wedding, or special occasion where the small (~40) ranges to large (1000+). For Gampati, a Hindu festival celebrating Lord Ganesh, there are countless families, friends, and communities celebrating at the same time together. American like to celebrate. Indian like to celebrate with everybody.
Christina invited to celebrate honoring Lord Ganesh from a friendly family.
Makar Sankranti (Hindu festival honoring Lord Shiva)
Efficiency
Who doesn’t like efficiency? America prides itself on being both efficient and effective. For the most part, that is true. However, India has America beat on this one.
Dabbawallahs: These gentlemen pick up lunch made from your house, coordinate logistics at a meeting point, and then deliver lunch to the spouse so the lunch is warm and fresh – not sitting in the bag from the night before or early in the morning. After lunch, the tiffin box (lunch container) gets picked up and returned to the house. Two amazing facts: 1) Most of these gentlemen are illiterate. 2) Of the daily 6 million deliveries, there’s only 1 mistake made. Talk about efficiency.
