Bringing out the English

I went into a Rapido Car(rideshare app) with a Punjabi driver. He did not seem very friendly so I thought maybe we would not do much talking…Well again that was not the case. He said that he will be going to Canada in a year. We were joking about going from Karnataka to Canada- from big traffic to small traffic from small money to big money. He works for a company making 60K Rupees per month and he does the driving on the side, which is a very typical life for many Indians. I tell him I want to listen to Hindi music so we are sitting with one another listening to great songs with the windows down. He is showing me all the landmarks(Sankey Tank, the Palace, Cubbon park). When you live far out from the city and you come back in- you get a tour of the whole city lol 

He said that he lived in Chandigargh for one year and he misses the city. I definitely recall being there and it was a very good time with nice Punjabi’s lots of jokes. He really did not speak much English, but it is amazing how I BRING OUT THE ENGLISH IN PEOPLE.  

Being an English teacher for many years and traveling all over, I HAVE MY OWN BROKEN ENGLISH AND I CHALLENGE PEOPLE TO LEARN ENGLISH AND SPEAK TO LEARN. Everyone can speak with someone who is kind, patient, takes the time to listen, and answer questions. Locals feel great when they are able to speak with a foreigner. I really did not think we would have much conversation, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised… 

 

Example of Kindness Number 101 

I met a nice couple guys from Tamil Nadu who came for a  few days to market their tshirt brand to some of the smaller retails in the area. They said, “Even if they sell the tshirts on the street, the income will still be very high because the area.”   

They just ate some Nepalese food and I was filling my water up and they look right at me,”Did you have your dinner?” The concerned no food look in their eyes. I had no idea how they could read that I was absolutely starving because I did not even look at their empty food containers. They said, “Please tell us what you want, we can go get you food.” I said, “No” of course. I just told them that it was raining and cold and I didn’t feel like doing the food app.  

He said something like, “But you will go to sleep with an empty stomache “ 

I said,… Well a lot of Indians go to sleep with empty stomaches so I can too.  

He said, “That was really nice and it touched my heart.”  

Something that I am really proud of was doing a lot of fasting in India because it makes you eat when you are hungry not when you feel like eating. It makes you appreciate food, eat slower, and eat healthier.  

If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one

MOTHER THERESA

 

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