Warm People! Really?

This is a mystery, it baffles me. May be I have always been at the wrong place all my life. I genuinely hope that is the case, but it sure amazes me, how the same set of people can leave 2 contrasting impressions on 2 different set of folks.

Since childhood, I've always been left stunned by watching/listening to International celebrities speak so lavishly about India's warmth and care. The people being so nice and caring towards them. How they like India so much and they would like to visit the country again and again.
As a child, I never knew what the outside world looked like, so I presumed the backyard for the people from foreign states must have been awefully evil.

Reason being, lets look at it from my perspective. Back home, people on the road never smile at each other. At the traffic junction, people are waiting to run you over. The bus conductor never waits for you to safely board the bus, even if it is completely empty. The people in my society(building) never smiled at each other, unless you knew them personally. The shopkeepers would never give you change. A thank you would be as rare as finding a polar bear in Mumbai. Cops will never help. And atleast another millions incidents where nto warmth but hot-headed behaviour is on display.

Ok, so may be the people that I mentioned above were not really interested in knowing me or treating me with a smile. Ok, so we did not share any common ground, and that may excuse them from being courteous towards me and their fellow beings.

But, what really caught my attention was the people I worked with. At work, clustered with another 4000 odd other engineers, in a small 10 acre campus, things did not change much. I even changed to another campus and still no difference in the attitude.

There were so many people I used to see everyday at lunch break. Pass them when walking to the canteen or sit on a table next to them during lunch. Some of them, I must have seen on my floor for 3+ years, but that smile of comradrie or being a part of one organisation never came. Infact, people at work used to look at each other with a more ferocious look than I've ever seen. Call that peer pressure or what, it sucked. Peer pressure with folks at the same level is understood, but what about managers. The attitude that used to ooze out from some of them was, if I look at it today, was funny. I mean, what was he so proud about? That he sends across estimates which are made by a poor Analyst like me and just negotiates the project dates, which again are made by me. Suckers I tell you, those Infosys managers.

So where was that loving, caring, smiling, i-will-take-care-of-you India? Or does that India arise only if you are a celebrity or a foreign national or someone who can buy respect with lots of dough?
May be, may be not! My interaction since childhood, has still to seriously come across a scenario where, in a single day i meet more friendly people than rude ones.

Over here (States I mean), things are so different. People smile, are polite and make sure they have a kind word or two to say even if you are COMPLETE strangers. Let is be the bus stop, apartment complex, grocery store you will in all certainty be treated with a smile. At work, things are different too, infact very different. Almost everyone smiles, managers included. Still, the western people find our hospitality and scream on top of their lungs about it. Wonder what I missed and where?

Just to understand the situation more clearly. In a country where people of one state will beat people of another state, for no rhyme or reason, I really find it tough to find warmth.

As Black Eyed Peas say:- "Where is the Love?"

Cheers,
Ashley