- A nurse is called a ‘sister’
In India, a medical nurse is called ‘sister’. Yes, the English word ‘sister’ is used to address the nurses in hospitals and medical centers.
- Anti-chair yoga posture
The Indian posture for defecating is a difficult one. However, it’s similar to an anti-chair yoga posture that is used to avoid back pain by foreigners.
- Hitchhiking or getting Lifted
Hitchhiking in India is called as ‘lift’. It’s quite popular across various towns and cities. People hitchhike with trucks, lorries, mobikes, cars, bullock-carts and even bicycles.
- Linguistically foreigners
There are 20 officially recognized languages in India. Usually, every literate Indian can read, speak, understand and write 2-3 languages. All other languages for that particular person are as foreign as they would be for non-Indians.
- The bizarre concept of uncle and aunty
If somebody is elder in age for like 20 years, he/she is invariably called as uncle or aunty depending upon the gender. It’s highly immodest and improper to call an elder person by his/her name. However, across various classes, this practice may not be followed. People from labor class are called by other monikers like ‘Babu’, ‘Bhaiya’, ‘Amma’, ‘Bai’, ‘Bhai’, etc. The etiquette of calling them uncle/aunty is not shown.
- The great Indian wiggle
It’s one particular thing that almost everybody notices when they first visit India. The physical gesture of saying ‘yes’ or meaning ‘I understood’ is a apparently strange and weird bobbling of the head like a swiveling motion. It’s often called wiggling. Foreigners gets confused it is so unique to Indian sub-continent.
- The curious case of spoken English
Indians feel that they would be termed as modern, advanced and highly-educated if they speak in English; at the same time, they believe they will be termed as uneducated, medieval or retarded if they speak in their regional language. No wonder, India has the largest population of English-speaking people in the world.
