Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication can be very challenging at the beginning.

At my last job I worked for VeriaTV which was the sister station for ZeeTV from India.  I was the minority among minority.  When I first started working there, I had a culture shock.  Most of the people were not friendly at all and seem rude.  The men in the company only talked to me when they needed something from me, even though I was a manager.  In India, men only talk to a woman when they need something and rarely ask for their opinion on anything.  When I had to attend a manager’s meeting, I just would rather call in sick than go to one.  I am very grateful my VP was not like them, even though he was born in India.  He was more Americanized since moving to the USA to attend school.  His children were also born here and he could see the difference in the way he communicated with his parents and the way his children communicate with him. 

After my first week, I went home and thought that I wouldn’t make it.  I started doing some research online about the culture and realized that they were not being rude, that is just the way they are.  I would explain to my VP what I would attempt to say at the meetings and he would back me up as I would do my presentations.  I like to believe that I earn their respect because they actually had a very nice going away party for me when I decided to leave the company.  By that time I had picked up some words in Hindi and would even practice speaking it with some of them.

I also took a religion class to understand their traditions a little better, since we all were either off on days many would work and/or had to participate on event like “Happy Holi,” which is when they rub colored paint on themselves and people they care about and want to wish them the best.  Needless to say, I learned really fast what the celebration was when I was caught by surprise at my desk and hands were rubbing color paint all over my face and hair.  It was an interesting experience.