In honor of elections in India (April 16 – May 13) I’m going to ignore politics and politicians there altogether and post something useful to anyone wanting to do business  in India.

That, I think, is a more worthy activity than wasting one more second of precious time on figuring which set of incompetent, crooked, pompous, self-serving, supercilious, under-worked, overpaid set of bureaucrats is going to boss Indians around until the next set takes over.

I was just as even-handed with the American election. I avoided them altogether by legging it to Morocco.

[Unfortunately, I couldn’t get away from the political process even there.  On the appointed day in November, I woke up in a lush courtyard in a riyadh near Rabat to the sobs of a young American-born German who was apparently beside herself with joy that Obama had won, hard evidence of world-wide Oba-mania that’s still a bit mystifying to me…..]

Anyway, digressions aside, here it is, a list of 10 don’ts in Indian business circles taken from CIO.com

General:

1. Don’t use a person’s first name automatically. It’s bad manners in many parts of India. Lila: traditionally, names are thought to contain the essence of things/people. Speaking someone’s first name is therefore an intimate act, reserved for use by people who know you well, like your family, or for people who are superior to you hierarchically, like your boss.
2. Take off your shoes before you go into someone’s home or into a temple or into a public meeting place.  You should probably take them off before entering anywhere else too, especially if you see footwear lined up at the entrance.
3. Don’t eat beef (Lila: cows have a special place in Hindu iconography and worship)
4. Don’t accept or give anything with your left hand. (Lila: Traditional Indian culture – like many cultures – designates the right hand for eating food and the left hand for douching/cleaning up after using the toilet)
5. Don’t expect overt disagreement. People often say yes to be polite. Lila: The Indian head wag, from side to side, looks like a no to Westerners. It’s actually okay/yes/alright/got it/I don’t know/maybe/whatever.
6. Don’t say no to an invitation or to hospitality.
7. Don’t be offended by argument or debate. All Indians like to argue. Lila: It’s not personal and it’s not about scoring points. Indians are prone to nit-picking analysis.  They like lists…and distinctions…and categories. They’re chatty people.
8. Don’t ignore hierarchy/pecking order in the workplace. Lila:  Seniority is a big deal in India. Buddying up with your juniors won’t endear you to a lot of people. Keep some distance in most cases.
9. Don’t recommend unconventional ideas/projects, since the notion of trying out things and failing isn’t highly regarded. Lila: There aren’t many social networks in India. Families  have to take the hit for failure.  India may have been socialist for a long time, but there’s little in the way of medical insurance, for example. So, telling someone to go adventure traveling or climbing the Himalayas isn’t the cost-free bit of advice it might be in the West, where insurance companies will pick up the tab for an accident.
10. Write down instructions or requests, since verbal agreements aren’t considered final.