A Quintessential
British
The Brazilians or the
Hungarians are mere foreigners for most of us. But for the Britishers, the
entire nation is ready with their own opinions. Even though the Britishers left
the country more than six decades ago but they remained in our subconscious,
generation after generation. Or for that matter we have inherited their
colonial hangover. Ask anyone, what makes a person quintessential British apart
from the colour of the skin; you get hundred versions.
Some of the common
ones are - Britishers are highly sophisticated and courteous race, tight
lipped, their mornings begin with Earl Grey and end with English ale, often
what they say they don’t mean it; so you need to understand the unsaid lines,
they have unconditional reverence for the Monarchy, they love to invest in real
estate and their humour does not fall under the slap stick comedy, so on and so
forth.
I would have carried
these notions throughout my life only if I wouldn’t have got a chance to work
with a British senior. This opportunity was like a reality check on these
believes. He was extremely polite and his courteous conversation often confused
me whether to take the statement on its face value or it has an inner meaning
too. It was a rare opportunity to find him annoyed with something or someone
and even if he was; neither his body gestures nor his words mirrored his
emotions. But the selection of words to describe the incident or a person
surely conveyed his displeasure and gave ample opportunities for the listeners
to smirk.
He was a people’s man.
He loved to share his own experiences and genuinely listened to others. At his
desk, Earl Grey has been replaced by Taj Maha tea and Samosas were an inviting
option to change the taste of Fish and Chips. His belief in the monarchy was as
personal as many of his other believes. He was a global citizen; he was a
Britisher but surely not a stereotypical as we have been defining a
quintessential British.
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