One
of the advantages of being a teacher is that we can enlighten students and tell
them how to avoid the mistakes committed and pitfalls encountered. “Wise are
people who don’t commit the same mistake twice”!
My
Management Theory Professor had once wryly said “Marriage is like a closed
door. People inside want to get out desperately and people outside are equally desperate
to get in”. The class roared their approval by clapping and having a hearty laugh.
Our Prof let the laughter die down and said “even though people like me, enlightened
and well experienced, tell them that there is nothing very exciting about
getting inside, not one Mard ka Baccha (son of a man, a popular saying in
Hyderabadi Lingo) listens to me. Everyone wants to have a personal experience.
Once you get in, there is no getting out”.
Similarly
many of us make judgments on limited knowledge, assumptions and worst of all, on
hearsay. Nothing can be more dangerous in life. What we all indulge is called
stereotyping. Stereotyping is the term
given to the human tendency to make over-simplifications and generalizations
about lands, cultures, people or objects, based on limited experience.
I
teach both International Business and Strategic Management. Both deal with a topic
called acculturation. It can be defined as the
cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or
borrowing traits from another culture.
Most people think of
their culture as being superior to another. I think, it is the biggest mistake that
we are all committing. The latest order of the Delhi Metropolitan authority to
mask all non-vegetarian food on the streets as it is offending the
sensibilities of the vegetarians, falls into this category.
There is an assumption
made, that people eating vegetarian food are in some way superior to people eating
non vegetarian food. If the sight of non-vegetarian food on display is offending
the vegetarians then, should the bandis having display of cut fruits, salads and
pav baaji also cover up their wares as their display is offending the sensibilities
of the non-vegetarians.
The solution lies in Acculturation. Respecting our culture and learning and respecting other
cultures and their way of living is the only way out. To drive in the point of stereotyping
and wrong perceptions about a different culture, I give the following exercise to
my students.
I tell them to think about Sultanate of Oman, a sovereign country in
Middle East. Without allowing usage of the omnipresent Google Mata, I tell them
to answer the following questions as honesty as possible. I also assure them
that it is not a test and that there are no correct answers. (All questions pertain
to Sultanate of Oman)
1)
What is the type of terrain?
2)
What is the most available resource?
3)
Comment on the country (Rich or
poor)
4)
Languages spoken
5)
About Omani people
6)
Religion/s followed (Take a clue
from Saudi Arabia)
7)
Climate
8)
The ruler and his stance taken
about India
9)
Anything about their dress that
you can comment?
10)
Type of jobs that Indians do?
11)
Availability of water?
12) Technology or production practices in
other words do they have any indigenous methods of production or do they simply
import everything.
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