Laila was an
Indian Techie, who had gone on a business-trip to China where she adjusted to new
colleagues, new office, new country…
 |
| SOURCE |
Her team
invited Laila for a dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.
As Laila
loved Chinese food, she was happily looking forward to the experience, but found to her
dismay that only chopsticks were supposed to be used for eating the food…
 |
| PHOTO PROMPT Copyright – Marie Gail Stratford |
Though Laila knew how particular her hosts were, yet she fearlessly revealed that she didn’t know how to use chopsticks…
“May I
please use my hands to eat instead as I’m most comfortable?” Laila questioned.
My 100 Words Story for -
Five Sentence Fiction - Fearless
&
Friday Fictioneers - 25 July 2014
&
ABC Wednesday- H For Happily, Hosts, Hands
We all should do what we are comfortable of doing. No? :D
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, Red :) Though sometimes we have to get out of our comfort zone...
Deletenice :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Meera :)
DeleteHands. That seems rather messy. But still she is happy :)
ReplyDeleteLike many in India, Laila likes to eat using her hands.
DeleteEating habits vary in different parts of the world....
Thanks for reading!
Good for Laila.. :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome here, Vinitha! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteIt's good when we get to do what we like! :)
It seems that Laila didn't only get used to those she met, but her fearlessness gave other the opportunity to learn about her own culture. I like this girl!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love eating with my hands. It makes the act of nourishing ones body earthier and more personal, methinks.
Thank you so much for visiting my space, Magaly, & for sharing words of empathy.
DeleteOur world will be a far lovelier place if we all tolerate different cultures...
May we all have the courage to be truthful and accept one another :)
We in India have food using our hands. It is our habit, way of life... Just like Chopsticks are their way of life... :)
Like her, I may never get used to the idea of using chop sticks :p
ReplyDeleteBy all means, I love to use my hands :p Ohk only spoon or a fork is fine with me and necessary too but nothing else. I don't need a knife to cut the slices of my pizza, i can very well pick them up and stuff in my mouth :p :D
Good one :)
Ditto Anmol :P
DeleteHands are cool- natural spoons & forks & chopsticks :)
or can say ..identity of being dil sai Indian :D
ReplyDeleteYes Ankur. Kyunki Dil Hai Hindustani :)
DeleteInnocent & Cute..!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pratik :)
DeleteDear Anita,
ReplyDeleteAs a rule the use of more than one prompt doesn't work for me. This story did. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle :)
DeleteI feel I have to combine the prompts if the prompts support the story that I have in mind :)
Laila was just being REAL! Nicely crafted, Anita :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Aayesha. May there be more people like Laila who are REAL :)
DeleteI don't know but I too might get in a situation as this. I would ask for a permission to do the same. Is it bad to ask for something as this? Food without comfort is not at all liked by me. :(
ReplyDeleteDitto Namrata.
DeleteFood, Clothes etc relect our personal tastes.
I don't think it is bad if we take permission and let the other party know of our likes & dislikes in advance so as not to cause surprise/shock :)
I feel it is good to be true to our own self first before we deal with the world.
May the world be tolerant enough to accept us...
Like the board I read which said something on the lines of pizza tasting the best when had by hand :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog, Priyanka ;)
DeleteThanks for sharing this!
Even chocolates- Seen the Cadbury's ad in which they lick Chocolaty fingers:)
In Ghana, they eat fufu with their hand. I feel it was too messy since it's a soup with meat and a dough made of casava and plantain. I asked for a spoon.
ReplyDeleteLily
Thanks Lily for visiting my Blog! Welcome :)
DeleteIt is the way we are brought up and what we are taught...
If we have always used a spoon to eat, we'd feel comfortable with that...
The whole idea is to be true to ourselves & not lose our individuality!
They say- 'As in Rome, do as the Romans'. That's tough :)
Revealing lack of understanding, an inability or lack of knowledge can be some of the most brave small acts we do. For it makes us vulnerable - and reminds others that they are vulnerable too. Well done.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my Blog!
DeleteVery true. Agree with you, Freya.
May we all be fearless & may we all be tolerant of the one who is fearless!
Vulnerability ought to earn its own reward :)
Nice post Anita :) We needn't be afraid of appearing like a fool by telling the truth instead acting like a fool. We needn't be ashamed of revealing what we know and what we don't know, as you have rightly said here... Let's be proud of what we are!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sindhu :)
DeleteYou have nicely summed it up! But, sometimes we do have to go out of our comfort system...
In the story, Laila did make many adjustments in the new country, but using her hands to eat is one thing she requested :)
May we all be fearless!
Nice one :)
ReplyDeleteNatural spoons are much better if we can't manage with the artificial! :D
Welcome to my Blog!
DeleteThanks for sharing, Daneshwari :)
The true taste just disappears with fork, knife and spoon. I like to eat full than try eating with something I can never b comfortable with (dil hai hindsutani ;) )
ReplyDeleteYes indeed :) Forks, Knifes, Spoons, Chopsticks all have their own utility. It is up to us how we adapt & adopt :)
DeleteDear Anita, I love using chopsticks! I think doing things differently in different cultures - well - WONDERFUL! It's an experience well worth trying. Now, some things (like eating live bugs) might make me queasy but I hear it's a delicacy. Great story and life would be so boring if we all were alike - did the same exact things, dressed the same and spoke the same. I think the only way to draw a line is when a culture is contemptuous toward another culture. Then there should be intervention. But otherwise - we're all on this planet together - make the best of it! Nan :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Nan! I agree with your views.
DeleteWe must try out other cultures and their way of life. That will make us bridge barriers :)
Hope no culture is contemptuous towards another culture... we must respect everyone.
We learn & grow by going outside our line of comfort. But, then we draw fresh lines after crossing some hurdles... In the story Laila had adapted & adopted, all she wished was the little comfort of eating out of her hands :)
I now remember a story I had read long ago (I forget the names of the personalities- but the host was a King) in which the host eats the same way as his guest (who doesn't know how to eat that dish) :) Imagine how much at home the guest must feel by such a kind gesture...
The world will be one home if we try to make one another comfortable...
In Sanskrit, it is said-
"Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam"- The world is a family.
Dear Anita i was such a chicken so far as voicing my comfort level was concerned. Not until now. Have been pushed, used, abused, and God alone knows what. So many years it took yessing to people's whims and fancies. Sometimes to gain friends, other times out of the fear that i might lose them. Even when i did not endorse much of how they behaved or what they did. Why i am telling all this is because i say Hats off to the Indian Techie Laila. i Salute her fearlessness and her courage in that unknown and new place. Being a can't say no to anyone and always hell bent on pleasing everyone i knew in familiar turf it takes a lot of courage and self confidence to stand up for one's true self in a place which perhaps was a stickler for it's traditional table manners and not liberal. She did it effortlessly.
ReplyDeleteAnd it just strikes me... that's one thing lacking in hospitality all over the world which we Indians should be proud of. We do provide cutlery even without asking whereas elsewhere we r made subservient.
That Hitopadesh story do u remember that one Anita? The Dinner/ Lunch story of the Bagula ( crane) and the lomdee ( Fox). If u don't pls let me know i'll be delighted to narrate it to u. Was my son's fav...as a bedtime story...and many others from Aesop's. Yeah all having animal characters but definitely didactic.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving behind ur sweet signature. Wish you Happy Teej and all that happiness of being an Indian Woman for that...mmm ur Lalila is an Indian Techie...maybe she can explain the Chinese what Teej is to the Chinese. :) :) :)
Thanks Shivani for your incisive and candid value-addition :)
DeleteSincerely appreciate.
Yes, we Indians are the most tolerant. We believe in 'Atithi Devo Bhava' - Guest is God.
That is in our culture & hence extra attention & importance to our guests :)
Saying NO is something we must learn...sometimes we do after years... Your experience makes us wiser. We do need to do what we should.
Laila is a courageous girl. it takes courage to adopt to take up an assignment in a new land & adapt & adopt there. But, she did want to do what she's comfortable with :)
Yes, love is a two-way street. We learn about other culture & they learn about us too :)
Compassion & Tolerance needed :)
Dearie i couldn't resist...see this...i enjoyed it...various versions available at Youtube but i liked my story as a Aesop fable. Here the characters are the Stork and The Fox.
Deletehttp://youtu.be/FSb5W1oqiVE
Oh! So sorry, Shivani. In my haste to answer, I missed this point...
DeleteOf course I have read all the Fairy Tales, Aesop's Fables, Hitopdesha, Panchatantra etc story-books I could lay my hands upon!
I do know the Fox & the Stork tale - the story with a message- "Tit for Tat" :)
Thanks for sharing!
Wow. Loved this one Ani :)
ReplyDeleteNothing like unabashed honesty!
Thanks! Glad that you loved this, Divsi :)
DeleteGreat when honesty is appreciated & wins!