In India, its polite to...

AwayFromHome

Well I saw someone asking for tips on what to do or avoid that are specific to the Indian culture (I know, its a mish-mash, lets not go there), so I thought I'd start off with one:

It is always polite to put out your smoke around Sikhs. I think it has something to do with the religion, but we always stopped smoking when a Sikh entered the room/bus etc.

More?

PeakXV

It's polite .... 'not' to point your feet/shoes directly towards others when sitting down & chatting or in a business meeting. Which even when I'm told, reminded or even pre-warned 10 minutes before - have trouble abiding to because after 30+ years of ice hockey have two slightly bone-chipped ankles that don't always allow the leniency of strategic foot rotation/direction without some discomfort or pain.

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EL ES DEE

Man made rules.. there will be people who wont consider any kinds like mentioned above as unpolite, its what we speak out of the mouth that should and does matter the most.

Unless you are in a BLOOD corporate field

roopeeman

When it comes to sikhs, it is polite not to show your gun, because if they have a smaler one, they might be offended and Sikhs traditionally are very proud of their warmanship:-)
Generally speaking, indian culture is famous for integrating other cultures and customs and they may nicely point out some "mistakes" you make. Nevertheless I once got very angry looks from 2 women in a restaurant in Panjim(Goa). At first I didn't understand, then my mate told me to put both feet on the ground. I was sitting one leg resting on the other one and the tip of the foot pointed towards the room. The sinister looks continued. The foot thing made no sense at all to me, so I didn't change the possition. Soon after the 2 women left in a fury. They sweared at me in portuguese and I finally took both feet on floor, as I didn't want to get hanged....!

singsub

you must be joking !!

an OP yes you can smoke in front of a sikh.

shashank.aggarwal

you can ofcourse smoke infront of a Sikh...but we are talking about politeness here. Id would be polite if you didn't do it..

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PeeKay

hi,
It is not at impolite to smoke in front of a sikh. But is it is a closed romm so that the smoke makes breathing difficult to breathe then ofcourse itis impolitenot only for sikhs but for all other ppl too.

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bianca_mihaela

whats with the sikh and smoking...i dont know about this thing? i also understood here is very rude for women to smoke in public- regardless the religion.

singsub

it would be polite if one didnt smoke in front of anybody then !!

these days there are lots of surds who themselves smoke, so i guess the thought of not smoking just cos a sikh is around is slowly... going up in smoke.

singsub

smoking women are a common sight in most top indian cities these days.

Haylo

Oh dear, I do hope Indian restaurants have smaller chairs than we have in England. Being *cough* somewhat diminutive *cough* I often have to sit with one foot resting on the other, to save my legs from dangling which sends my legs to sleep!



Please say you mean women who smoke...

karuna

In before sink/pee reference!

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Cardamom

Well, it does get awful hot in India...

-C

capt_mahajan

I dunno whats funny.

I saw a women at a pub the other day, and I swear to God, she was smokin'

brishti

true true [ my reference is the above post! ]


... and then back to the topic -
as with just about everything else in india - depends on the situation -
smoking is not bad behaviour/impolite etc etc -
smoking in a closed room - yup requires permission
smoking in front of any elderly person - yup, i dont do it, irrelevant of which part of india s/he comes from [ first i have heard of sikhs having a problem ]
smoking on the road - whole hoard of do's and dont's there - best to leave it as a no [ or you just may invite unwanted attention ]

yes - again with the feet -
you do not point your feet, or have them up on the chair - especially when there are adults.
roopeeman: i find your experience a tad weird - its gotto be a one-off thing.
most of the above is a one-on-one code of behaviour

there is one custom/tradition/call-it-what-you-will:
when invited to another's home - try taking something along - flowers, a box of sweets whatever.
nothing elaborate or expensive - just a token.
nope - it aint a thumb rule - just a decorum - you may choose to ignore it, and you wouldnt be considered impolite



:brishti