India: Tomorrow Day After

We meet again, friends.  It’s good to be here, even if I had a semi-significant amount of anxiety leading up to this point.  More to come on that.

I’m hurtling past the “flyover states” on my way to Newark airport in order to catch the epic 16 hour odyssey that is flight UA48, EWR-BOM.  I’m also hurtling toward a project deadline and a project kick-off.  The next three weeks are going to be busy, to say the least.

But before we get back into India let’s talk about India being in the US.  The last three weeks were busy, too, as we hosted our team from Mumbai in Chicago.  It was a fun turning of the tables, with me as weekend tour guide and food finder, and it was enlightening for both sides to see what it’s like when you are now the host or the guest.  “Everything here is so convenient” was the oft-repeated mantra from our visitors.  Make of that what you will; it gave me pause after I heard it the fifth or sixth time.

One of the best parts of having the Mumbai team in Chicago was watching both parts of my overall project team meet in person – and subsequently abolish all their preconceived notions of each other!  Skype and email communiques really can throw of your judgment.  As we’ve all probably heard, it’s not what you say but how you say it.  And, in the case of our Mumbai-Chicago pairing, we are often saying the same thing yet with different words or phrasing.  My Chicago folks have pointed out that after two years of this India stuff, I have certainly picked up a few of the local phrases.  Here now, a guide to Indian and American (Ahmurican!) English:

Ahmurican	Indian	Use it in a sentence, please.
Hours	Timings	Office timings are 8-5 pm.
Work	Office	I go to work, whereas Nikhil goes to office, not the office.
This morning	Today morning	Today morning, I had breakfast before going to office.
Day after tomorrow	Tomorrow day after	Tomorrow day after, I will be working in Mumbai.
Yet, or as of yet	As yet	There is no answer as yet.
Sunglasses	Glares	She put on her glares so she wouldn’t squint.
Grouped	Clubbed	Those rooms are clubbed together in the department.
Carry-on baggage	Hand/cabin luggages	Be sure to get your hand luggages stamped in security.
Arrived	Reached	I reached home later than planned.
Respond/response	Revert  back/revert	Please accept my apologies for the delayed revert.
Move up	Pre-pone	My calendar opened up so we can pre-pone the meeting.
I request that	I request you	I request you to send me confirmation.
Get rest	Take rest	Take rest so you feel better.
Will	Shall	I shall send it over. (It’s surprising how often “shall” is used instead of “will.”)
Text	SMS	SMS me when you arrive.
Undecided	In/of two minds	You were of two minds about what to pack.
Mail	Post	He sent it to you via post.
Private office	Cabin	She was on a conference call in her cabin.
Street	Lane	It’s on the next lane over.
Complain	Crib	He was cribbing to his mom about the dinner menu.
Live	Stay	My friend stays in Goregoan.
Take a picture	Click a photo	We clicked lots of photos at the party.
Many	Lot many	There are lot many things to do today.

This list is by no means comprehensive and I will try to add to it as this next adventure unfolds.  I find a certain charm to it all; we’re speaking the same root language and yet there are times when we have no idea what the other side is saying. 

It’s time to sign off and gear up for the long haul over there.  Let’s talk again, tomorrow day after.