Not having put effort into learning Hindi after living in Delhi for almost 8 months is possibly the stupidest thing I have ever done. I mean I went to Spain for 1 month and did a 2 month long Spanish course after hours. I move to a foreign country and don't prepare at all. What was I thinking?
It really is an unnecessary burden to put on oneself.
The basic things are fine, I get by, as English is very widely spoken in India, but a few circumstances cause a major problem:
1. Calling a taxi: I have to rely on colleagues to give taxi drivers my office address. Everyday I apologetically ask someone to speak to the person coming to pick me up.
2. I often get phone calls from companies or people offering a service and they rattle off to me in Hindi and I have to say: Sorry, no Hindi, only English. Usually what happens is that I get the phone put down on me the moment the words have left my mouth.
3. I work in an all Indian office, and when sitting around after a meeting or during lunch, the natural tendency is to slip into the language they are most comfortable with. Countless times I have been in a client meeting where everyone else is laughing and making jokes in Hindi and I sit there with a half goofy smile on my face, having no idea what's going on, and then afterwards having to ask for an explanation of the joke. At first I assumed that everyone was talking about me in Hindi, ridiculous, I know, but it's a natural thing to feel when you are completely left out of something.
This has really been a huge mistake on my behalf and I am writing this post to publicly state that I am an idiot. And hopefully by publicly stating it, I will be held to the promise that I am going to learn some conversational Hindi.
Challenge accepted!
Posts
A good ol fashioned assing
14 years ago
