Learn from the Indians how to treat family; learn from the west how to treat everyone else…

I spoke to one of my colleagues about the generally insufficient level of community service. The needs here are clearly greater than they are in the west, yet the community involvement is somehow less. I have been told by some of my colleagues that the needs are SO great, that you don’t need to get involved in community service to be of service…you can be of service anywhere you turn. For example, one colleague told me that their family had opted to provide food and other support to their dhobi-man, the man that came to their home to pick up their laundry. I also think that people in India have to somewhat harden themselves to what they see around them, or their heads would explode. In a deeper follow-on discussion with one of my colleagues, he commented that the west needs to learn from the Indians how to treat family; India needs to learn from the west how to treat everyone else.