Feeling lost in their own country, NRIs get a lesson in cross-culture

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The swell of the crowds, the noise and rush to get in and off trains during peak hour at Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Mumbai had three NRIs huddling together at a corner. “I have never seen such crowds,” said Akshay Kumar from New Jersey, who along with two co-founders of a technology consulting firm is scouring sites in Bangalore to set up an office. Kumar and his friends were in Mumbai as part of a cross cultural training exercise.

Cross-cultural training is being increasingly sought by NRIs to get familiar with corporate culture and social life here. Says Ranjini Manian, CEO, Global Adjustments, “NRIs have retained their core Indianness but their vision about India is usually backward and, therefore, they need to hit the ground running. Expectations are high and cross-cultural training is all about setting and managing expectation.”

The confused desis from abroad ask questions which range from concern to the inane. “They are simply not aware about the ground reality in India,” said Nilakshi Bhattacharya, HR head, Ikya Solutions, Bangalore. The queries range from, `Why are people at hierarchy treated with deference?’ to `Will wearing a leather belt be considered offensive as the cow is sacred for many?’

The training is always customer specific. “A half day to one day programme deals with various modules and the emphasis is on cultural dimension relating to expectation of relatives, managing household help, how not to be cheated, at all,” said Rohit Kumar, joint MD, Santafe India, Asia-Pacific wide relocation company. Agencies charge Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per person a day.

The booming economy is triggering enquiries from NRIs, say head hunters, registering an increase of 70-80% annually. For instance, Chennai-based Head Hunters India (HHI) gets 150 enquiries a day with the highest from the US. Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO, informed, “The numbers have gone up considerably since the past 7 months with sectors like infrastructure, retail, capital markets and insurance being the most sought after.”

Mustan Bohadwalla, a director in a US-based firm that set up an office in Chennai, is still at a loss to understand the work ethos here. “I don’t understand the diffidence in the people for they rarely ask questions during meetings. Another annoying trait is breaking into local lingo in office.”

Another grouse NRIs have is that Indians are rarely direct about what they say, especially criticism, said Neeraj Wadhera, who lived in Boston for 30 years and was sent by the parent company to set up a captive unit here. “I don’t understand why people can’t be direct about what they say. The civic sense is appalling. However, the warmth of the people is an eye opener.”