Often during my travels
abroad with business delegations, along with professional learnings –
which I share in my Business Blog http://prince4csr.blogspot.in/I also discover many funny and uniquely quirky facets of Incredible
India and Indians, which I fondly recollect and share here:
Image from Internet for illustration purposes only
During a visit to the
Hannover Messe http://www.hannovermesse.de/home
our delegation was invited to a Business Lunch. While I was aware of
the implications of a business lunch, many in our group was not
really aware.
With German precision,
the meeting started on time and there were presentations, casestudies
and other business transactions. As the meeting was going on, there
were plates of sandwiches, snacks, fruit juices being passed around.
In addition, there were fresh fruits, assorted beverages, salads and
more at the side table.
The meeting dragged on
and our German friends, grabbed the meat sandwiches and our Indian
friends, the cheese and veg sandwiches. Soon enough, everyone around
the table were munching and quenching...and taking notes on their
laptops. Some even took snapshots on their compact cameras (those
days mobile phone cameras were yet to make a mark)
The meeting inevitably
grinded to a halt and it was time for us to depart. After a round of
handshakes and exchange of business cards, I was ready to lead the
group outside. Some of our members lingered on and I could not
understand the reason for them wanting to stay around even after the
meeting. Finally, one member broke the silence and said “Where
is the lunch boss? ...I am hungry” Apparently, used to heavy 3
course buffet lunches back home in India, our Indian friends could
not appreciate the subtle yet sumptuous sandwiches and snacks served
as “Business Lunch”
It took them many more
“Business Lunches” to finally understand the baffled look on the
face of our German hosts.
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