Shocking News!
I HAVE heard so much of our people going abroad and psyching out that I felt that something on this subject would be appropriate. There are two types of people; one, the adventurous and the other, the pressured. The former generally have no problem wherever they go, the latter, being the sensitive, unpushy, type often fall, shaken and stirred by the wayside in catatonic collapse. Actually it's all about a phrase that's far more disturbing than the actual malaise. The term Culture Shock is actually a rather alarming misnomer. It refers to a sensation of strangeness that assails people when they encounter an environment or a behaviour to which they cannot instantly adapt. Some people are disoriented by this inability for all kinds of reasons, some of them because of their own lack of exposure and knowledge. There are some people who sail through their lives without encountering any problems, but it could be because they have never been to a place with which they were not familiar! It is this strangeness, this discomfort that we need to understand.
The Genesis
Like most psychological processes, culture shock goes through a progressive phase, which is not generally discernible at the start until, one day, Wham! It hits you amidships, below the waterline!
Dalliance and Flirtation: It's like a strange happy world of discovery and you tend to write even the rough spots down to experience and enjoyment, rather like falling in love!
Volcano: The ground begins to shake, several things you find yourself up against are irritating, seem pointless and you notice the intolerance of the people you hitherto thought were tolerant
Subsidence: Things begin to fall into place, you start to understand what makes the people tick, you accept their faults as readily as you accept their plusses
Settlement: The smoke clears and you find that the people are quite likeable really, once you get to know their hopes fears and motivations
The telltale signs
So how do you know you have been shocked? Well, there are clear signs, which may be all or some of those below:
An overwhelming feeling of patriotism for one's own country and its culture
A desire to be aloof from the people who work with you if they are not from your own background or culture
An inexplicable tiredness with the work that you had found interesting earlier but are now finding tiresome
Nostalgia for all things from home, missing the food, the people, your relatives and even your least favourite person back home
When you get together with others from your own community you tend to make unpleasant remarks and comments about your environment and the people
You find it difficult to concentrate since intrusive thoughts of home flood your mind
There is less to laugh about and you are abstracted
You are listless and unhappy though you will not admit to yourself why you are so
You are happiest when you fall sick and can't make it to the office
A strong desire to punish yourself for imagined mistakes
The only way
To snap out of this state of affairs is to go off-planetary mode and look down at yourself and the way you are handling things.
How are your colleagues (or others) reacting to all your symptoms? If they continue to be friendly, do you respond?
Are other compatriots any different in their handling of the situation?
If they are okay, what are they doing right?
ABHIMANYU ACHARYA
abhi.hyd@cnkonline.com
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