hey guys! I just moved to a new part of town and have been buying most of my beer from a liquor store right down the street. The family that runs it is an indian man, his wife, and his son. Would it be appropriate to greet them or farwell with namaste? If they are not Hindu would this be offensive?
No it's not offensive. Unless you think it's offensive when you sneeze and someone says "God bless you" :tongue:
awesome! I just thought it would be friendly to greet them in a traditional indian way but I wasnt sure how much religious affiliation namaste had.
Interesting, I would appreciate it if you could explain why you like to greet them so. When I was in my undergrad, there was one acquaintance who would greet me with a Namaste and try to talk to me in an indian accent. Funny thing was, I don't have that much of an accent at all, but this white guy insisted on speaking to me with a badly emulated indian accent. haha, it was funny. He used to also ask me whether If I ate curry that day or whether I had a tan. I liked that kid, he was making a complete fool of himself while thinking that it would bother me so. I guess my background was very funny to that guy, just don't try to emulate Indians so much that you make fun of them and in the process turn out a fool.
Just be yourself and be friendly. Not a lot of Indians say namaste anymore, and if they happen to be Muslim, it could be a bit of a faux pas - namaste is a Hindu term.
I dont think they are muslim. The man that runs it wears a shirt that has an OHM symbol on it all the time. I coul dbe wrong, but isnt that Hindu?
Maybe they could be Buddhists.....but perhaps not fully practicing, as selling beer might not sit well under the injunction to 'right livelyhood'. Personally, I'd keep your communications in english.
Yeah, could be complicating things, there. It'd be neat if he was open to discussing it, himself... I don't know how people get so touchy with those things.
Racism makes one very touchy to those things. Ofcourse, there is nothing wrong with learning about someone else's background or trying to relate to it.
Simply be yourself. If you want to talk to the guy, talk to him! Be straight and open about it and he will respond in the sdame way. Why this need to show yourself as something other than yourself?
I agree with Bhaskar, though I can understand the original intentions of the original poster. Being genuine is the key to friendship indeed.
I understand your intentions perfectly, but I was saying that adopting a different language or whatever, is not natural to you. Be yourself. Trust me, as an Indian living in America, there is nothing I appreciated more. When non-Indians try hard to do namaste, etc. it comes of looking fake and silly, especially considering hardly any Indians even say that anymore.
Hey fuck you kids. I went to the liquor store last night and when i was leaving a said namaste and he got a real kick out of it, he was smiling and laughing and we ended up talking for a good 20 minutes or so.
