She asked me how to politely indicate to "Jullunderji" (a fake name) that buggering off and going to pester someone else or do something useful preferably on a different floor of the building would be desirable. Jullunderji has "a profound passion for posting data".
Or something. Per Jullunderji's own blithering words.
Adding to the discomfiture, Jullunderji has a facial expression like a roadkill duck.
As the well-travelled and worldly Dutchman, who has worked a lot with Punjabis and have much exposure to them, surely I have helpful suggestions?
I don't know. Maybe give Jullunderji a toy? Balled-up tinfoil to play with?
Punjabis HATE being bored. At a certain enterprise, if it was a slow day, it was guaranteed that one of the Punjabis would start something. Nothing gets the blood flowing like a good ruckus. Excitement helps digest that big bucket of ghee they had with their chapati. Jaggaji (another fake name) once told me with a twinkle in his eye that 'sab Delhi-mein bakrichot hai'. Which was before I spoke any Hindi, so of course I asked the manager, a splendid chap who hailed from Delhi, what it meant. That day proved to be very educational.
It took me several weeks to finally figure out what it meant.
Once in a tropical place I consulted a Punjabi medical man. "Perhaps you have something terribly terribly serious and soon maybe you will die". He seemed quite pleased by this. The concept probably made his day. "Oh boy, sick gaura, what jolly fun". It turned out to be a slightly strained muscle and a completely unconnected ear-infection.
I should have given him a tinfoil ball to cheer him up.
They are intelligent and social creatures that require stimulation. Many bird species know that the best way to get that is by irritating other creatures. During the afternoon 'R' spent three hours doing exactly that to a bald man and a Dubliner in the backroom, I could hear the tumult and outrage from where I was, and when he left he seemed happy as a clam.
For him, today was a good day.
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2 comments:
The real question is, do they have the nerve to engage a follower of the Religion of Peace with that mindset?
I wish I could say 'yes' to that. But India has a long history of being anti-Israel, in solidarity with its fellow third world unalligneds, and the recent ten years of anti-Muslim assholery under Modi rather indicate that religio-cultural bigotry is part and parcel of modern India. So I rather doubt it.
On a similar note I have nothing good to say about a huge segment of Dutch, Scandinavian, and British society.
I am at times glad I no longer work with Indians. Or know many British and Europeans.
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