Durgaprasad Vemula — Fri, 18 May 2007 12:21:24 GMT

Multi-lingualism in India could be the reason why people don’t care what others think, when they talk on the phone. At a broader level it could be because of the level of tolerance we have as a culture that we put up with this or as Hofstede says India as a culture tends to be far less individualistic than say the Americans. Maybe that explains why people don’t care who is overhearing our conversations.

Talking about privacy, I recall those long train journeys where you start the journey as strangers and end it knowing a whole lot about the people sitting around you.

Nakul Shenoy — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:33:37 GMT

* In Japan it is considered impolite to talk on the phone in public places like the train.
*Long train commutes as most people have in Japan, gave them enough time to learn & use SMS/text services

Interesting cultural learning that. Looks like it is exactly the opposite in India, where people just shout into and over their phones.

Does this stem from a a psychological construct of a person living in a multi-lingual country with myriad communities and dialects, where the individual (erroneosly?) feels that s/he is the only one who understands the language in question, or is it simply that we just don’t care?

Coming to your question on context, my take is that an inventor/researcher typically invents/researches to create/find something for oneself. At most, the individual/team understands the problem to such a detail that they identify with the needs of the user as their own need. In other words, theyt live the problem. And that’s what differentiates a great invention/finding from just another invention/finding.

Did that turn into a rant? Or is there something in there that holds together and communicates the thought? :-)

Nakul

chibangalore: Comments on stories by Durgaprasad Vemula