India - the best individuals, the worst collective?

An EdTech Conference for Careers360 recently took me on a trip to three Western-European countries and I was reminded of the things I have felt the other times I have been abroad earlier.

Take an example: I got out of the Berlin Airport and there was a line of passengers to get into metered taxis, everyone knew what to do, where to wait, cops did their duty well guiding cabs into parking in one line, then guiding the waiting passengers into separate taxis as they reached the beginning of the queue. There were no big systems or boards or technology, just a few human beings and it just worked. No one broke the queue, there was no commotion, even in the open there was a sign by a waste-bin for smokers which meant they stood there and disposed of the ashes right in the dustbin. Things moved fast and efficiently. I didn't feel concerned at the possibility of someone breaking the line, I didn't feel like I'll miss out on anything, I felt everyone will get their due but in order and with fairness, I didn't feel worried asking for help if I didn't understand something, I had headspace left to observe, to learn, to think of what next. Through the entire trip, I noticed myself becoming more polite, smiling at strangers, passersby, making relevant conversation, minding hygiene, taking care to obey traffic rules, not merely out of fear but out of wanting to contribute to their systems and not break something I had begun admiring. I wanted to be nice, I felt like giving back. I had more time and headspace left to worry about work, to innovate, to philosophize, to compare, to understand, to learn, to grow.

On my way back, I was at the Doha airport in the waiting area for the flight to Delhi. The moment the airline staff announced "Passengers in Zone 1, kindly proceed for boarding, all other passengers please remain seated", a lot of people regardless of their designated zones got up and rushed to the queue, there was noise, chaos, the airline staff started screaming at people first begging and later reprimanding them at not following their instructions. I felt worried, distracted, concerned of probably losing out on something, I began caring only for my interest, I felt perturbed by the contrast of what I was witnessing versus the realizations of the previous 10 days. After landing at Delhi airport, as I walked out of the tunnel, two Indians walked ahead of me. One of them told the other: "Dekha pata chal gaya na India laute, kaisi badbu aayi!", his friend panicked under the context of Modi's hyper-nationalism of these times and hushed him: "Sshhhhh! Dheere bol", to which he replied: "Chalo pravachan mat do hume, hum toh bolenge". I reacted with a mixture of laughter, fear and the familiar feeling of being resigned to my fate. It took me getting back to work many hours later until I could clear my head, think of work, of something productive, valuable, of innovating and then moving.

Ironically, some of the nicest, most helpful individuals I came across in those 3 European countries were the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi owners and staff at the Indian restaurants we went to. Many of the Western-European and American techies and product folks at the Conference also did not seem as talented and street-smart as some of the people I've seen back home but as a whole, we are perhaps beyond repair!