Getting In Line
Over 200 years of colonial rule in India ensured that, even today, more than 90% of our citizens will show exceptional regard for "the white man". A local daily recently carried an interesting article on this subject, outlining how almost every sphere of our lives demonstrates this peculiar behaviour. The doorman will stiff his back a wee bit straighter for a fair-skinned guest… the waiter will first serve the table with the whites… no matter where you go or what you do, you will see "unfair" treatment meted out to those who look like the British that ruled us for years. It’s in our genes, now.
As I read that article, I am reminded of another peculiar trait of almost all Indians : Queueing Up!
You go to a rock show, and you see a long queue that no one has asked for. You see people at the railway station, and they will form a straight line at the drop of a hat. If you find yourself on a flight, you’ll see us in a queue formation, waiting to de-plane, even before the aircraft has stopped taxiing.
Those below the poverty line queue up to get their daily supply of water (for the 1 hour that running water reaches their settlement!) Those just above (the poverty line) will queue up several times a month for access to the public distribution system. Middle class citizens will queue up to pay their utility bills. Bank account holders will queue up simply to update their bank account statements. Even the more affluent will queue up outside ATMs, to withdraw their own money!
Every where we go, we Indians simply *love* to stand in a line.
No one minds. No one objects. No one insists that the system be improved or made more accessible. It’s in our genes, now.
I don’t know if it is the result of a 200-year-old British rule or a 50-year-old, post-Independence, government that has resulted in this oddity. But, it sure lends new meaning to the term : Queueing Theory!
We could have taken pride in our hospitality had we been courteous to all guests not just the white skinned. Also I believe that the queues you refer to, are welcome if only people observed these always.Given the tendency of our compatriots to seek instant fulfillment regardless of others waiting, it makes sense to deliver the service through other methods and abandon this idea of a queue altogether.
Talking about standing in line, yesterday at Delhi airport was waiting in queue to board the infamous deccan air and it was a total chaos as everyone was wanting to get on first to aircraft thus trying to push each either to move ahead, to which an Australian lady standing next to me remarked, i dont understand why do Indians rush every where to break the line have seen it everywhere from railways stations to movie theatres 🙂
You are absolutely true about ‘gori chamri (white skin)’ concept. But is it because of 200 years of British Raj… I guess no because we were under the Mughal Raj for more than 800 years but we don’t treat Muslims like the ‘gori chamri’. It is more to do with our upbringing… remember mothers/aunties saying… ‘dont drink tea you will become dark…’or ‘yeh ladki kitni gori hai…’ or ‘dont play in the sun… kala hona hai kya…’Regarding the Queuing Theory… well it is applicable only in Mumbai… People in Delhi, UP, Chandigarh, Rajastan, MP don’t know about this theory and can never understand it… the only thing they understand is a dialogue by Amitabh Bachhan… Jahan pe hum khade hote hai… line wahin se shuru hoti hai
I don’t know whether you intended to link up the two issues u mentioned – our xenocentric attitudes towards the brits and our tendency to form Qs….reminds me of something interesting i read – ‘watching the english’ a book by kate fox – in which she talks about the brit preoccupation with standing in queues…she says – even if you find a lone Englishman at a bus stop chances are that he will form a queue by himself – in that he is stand exactly under the spot where a queue is to be formed, facing the appropriate direction. You won’t catch them leaning against something in a relaxed fashion. Wonder whether that trait is also one of those that we inherited from the days of the ‘raj’. Having spent a lot of time at airports, I have observed that with passengers waiting in a lounge to board – the minute one eager beaver gets up to stand at the gate, you will find 50 others standing promptly behind him irrespective of whether there is boarding announced or not. It could be something to do with the ‘herd mentality’ or perhaps the sheer force of numbers – middle class Indians are conditioned to think that no matter how good they are – there will be 50 others in the race – perhaps the only way to get ahead is by getting the first mover advantage.