Bangalore University Vice - Chancellor Dr. Prabhu Dev, speaking during an interaction with the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), said that the rural students have a long way to go before they can catch up with the competitive Corporate India.
Students from rural areas or even from the outskirts of big cities and towns do not stand a chance for a job in the high - profile sector, as they lack English - speaking skills and public etiquette, the VC said and added, “They are village simpletons whose body language is poor and their knowledge of computers not apt. How can they fit into the world of style and statement, flamboyance and finesse and above all, good English?”
This is true, but the good Vice - Chancellor must also know that the students coming out of urban India aren’t that corporate ready either. Ask a Dean at an American, British or an Australian University and they will tell you about the urban India’s “flamboyant” students’ etiquette standards. Usually the answer will be similar to what the Bangalore VC says about village students.
Even the urban students have a long way to go when it comes to etiquette and being a corporate human resource. That is why many corporations spend a lot of money for soft skills training which includes simple manners such as table etiquette and social etiquette. Denim clothes and “cool” English terms do not qualify a graduate as corporate ready. At best, he or she could be good fodder for a BPO.
It is also time that the Indian “Executive Class” is reminded that soft skill comprises more than merely wearing a tie and a crisp full - arm shirt. Yes indeed, the rural student has to struggle to make it in a pompous English speaking urban environment such as Bangalore. Mysore is much better. But what is worse is the non - encouraging attitude of their English speaking urban cousins which makes it even harder for them to survive, adapt and climb the corporate ladder.
The urban corporate students must be taught that being courteous, encouraging and helpful is also part of “social etiquette”. Now, most students who go abroad to study are from urban areas and the truth is they too are not exposed to proper social etiquette and become butt of jokes once they get to the new country. One common joke among Indian students who go to the US is the “request for a rubber.” In India, rubber means eraser, but in the US rubber means a condom. Also many of us even in urban areas are not exposed to certain usages in English language and once there, many of us fail to pick it up as Indian students rarely mix with the locals.
I remember an incident in the US, which shows an urban Indian’s lack of exposure to certain usages. I was standing and chatting with two Indian students when my American friend Mark walked up and invited us for a party. Mark had a band and he said they would be practicing in his backyard so we could hear them over a few beers. I naughtily asked Mark if there would be any girls coming too. He said, “Sorry Vik, it’s going to be a sausage fest.” Unfortunately, the Indian boy with me did not get it, so he immediately and innocently, with an excited yet sad tone, said “Mark, only sausages at the party?! But I am a vegetarian”. Well, we had a laugh but told him how the sausage was just a metaphor for the male genital and hence used to represent male in a casual conversation. Not knowing what sausage meant, does not make my friend a bumpkin. In the same way a village student is only unexposed. If only he is taught without being made to feel “bumpkinnish”, he too will jump the learning curve.
Speaking of urban India’s personal etiquette, many of us are obsessed with cleanliness. We talk about taking bath every morning before praying and going to work. So in our minds, we truly believe that we are clean just like how many think they are clean because they are vegetarians. Well, it seems many Universities abroad where Indian student population is high, think otherwise. In the US, at an international students’ orientation programme where the room was full of Indians with a sprinkling of Chinese, a presentation was given. Apart from the usual paperwork an international student had to follow, there was a special section in the presentation: it was about hygiene!
The presentation informed the students about the significance of bathing everyday. It proclaimed the existence of a product called “deodorant” which they encouraged "to be used everyday". Some of us who heard this were appalled, we felt insulted that the University thought that we did not know how to dress up, be clean and smell good. Later, another Indian student from another University informed us that they too had a presentation; instead of a power point presentation, a lady had come on stage with items such as deodorants and shower gels and gave a mock demo such as lifting her arm and acting like she was applying deo under her armpit while mouthing in slow English “this is a deooodorant. You put it under the armpits.”
We were angry and disappointed. Some of us decided that we would mingle with as many Americans as possible so they know that an urban Indian is as hygienic as his American counterpart. And soon we realised there were some Americans who needed this orientation more than us. But do we need an orientation on hygiene? The truth is, some of us do. I have met many Indian students whose etiquette and social skills are fantastic but I have also met many Indian students who were blissfully unaware about these issues. The fact is some learnt and changed while others did not.
These people who do not learn or adapt to the new country and its system are the ones who give us a bad name. It makes us think that may be these are the kind of people who are targeted by locals whose tolerance levels are less towards un - adapting, indifferent and disrespectful immigrants.
In any new environment that already has a system in place, we must change and adapt. By adapt and change we don’t mean we have to start putting on a heavy American accent and start walking like a hip-hop artiste with pants half way down the butt. It is not about avoiding or neglecting your culture. Nor is it about abandoning your roots. It is about learning your new country’s expectations and systems and being part of it in a way so that you contribute your culture to the big melting pot and enrich it.
While the Vice - Chancellor wants to give the rural students a total personality make - over, he would get better results if he starts off by including soft skills along with social and civic responsibilities in his urban students’ curriculum. Else they shall remain urban bumpkins who will never be complete corporate human resource, nor will they be ideal citizens for a better India. The rural students may not be able to fit into the greedy corporate Indian workspace but are the urban Indian students prepared well enough to fit into the etiquette - bound global corporate world?
