Oo La La!

Let me deviate a little – visited 18 countries, met the ‘natives’ there – there are certain threads which run common to all Europeans and certain straits that make them very different and distinctive…here are some things I noticed about the French…

• Are most inefficient – love to waste time; case in point - they have two-hour lunch breaks everyday
• Are garrulous once they start talking – will talk in that broken faltering English of theirs till you feel like you were born to finish half sentences
• Are a little duh – not a people known for their enterprise
• Are quite steeped in etiquette – love the way they greet - the guys and the girls kiss on the cheeks. I feel human contact always helps especially when one is trying to make new friendships
• People there use the magic words – “Sorry, thank-you, good morning and good night” with alarming frequency – to the drivers, cleaning men and women, shopkeepers, random people on the street and so on…
• They are an extremely helpful people and will spend endless amounts of time trying to, lesse - locate a particular street for you (you - somebody they have never even met before) while business and any other work they may have been doing in the meantime takes the proverbial hike
• Are always dressed up to their eyes – they are a slim and svelte race and wear their threads well. Not for nothing, is French fashion one of the reasons that that country continues to be able to support its people
• Know a lot about the softer things in life – art, music, perfume, movies and wine – yes, it’s true – they are obsessed with wine – we kept getting lessons on how to select good wine from all and sundry around us
• Gesticulate a lot. And some of their impressions and sound effects are really funny
• Are a gallant race. The men are taught to be chivalrous and they are. They know how to make their women, or any woman, feel special.

I am in the process of marshalling some of my other observations on the Europeans into something that can be put on paper. Think about it, we Indians – vary so immensely in culture, habits, language, appearance and nature across the length and breadth of the country. So, is the case with the Europeans – a Norwegian is as different from a Greek as is chalk from cheese and the same is the case with a Spaniard and a Slovak. And like ours, in their case too, political ideologies differ - many of these countries have fought with each other on opposite sides of three of the biggest European wars of the last century – the First, the Second and the Cold.

Although unlike ours, most of these countries seem headed for the economic doldrums. Western Europe is the old world and unless it sits up and reforms, it will keep getting older.