Know what? Learning what to call your collegues - Address your American-Indian colleague as, ’Anna’, ’cheta’,‘Bhai’, ‘Bhabhi’, “behene”! Carrying such a practice to work is considered to be the lack of etiquette. I get that it’s a practice, which is inculcated by India’s cultural representatives under the context, ‘respect’. I think it’s quite deserved by every person irrespective of where he comes from! This is when one should think about what not to address your colleague! An American Indian/American/European/Dutch would be irked at a stranger, if he’s addressed as “uncle”, “aunty”, “Chechi”, “cheta”, “Akka”!

Especially calling a stranger as ‘anna’ or ‘uncle’ is something that clouds the value of relationship! It’s considered as the safest bet in India to call someone with specific relationship, but “the essence of relationship is banished with this practice”! Calling your colleagues with specific relationship shows your lack of manners.

Even when you feel so cozy with your colleague, “calling him/her as ‘anna’, ‘akka’, ‘cheta’, ‘bhai’, ‘annaiya’ is purely a sign of you being loud about your hypocrisy”!

If one values relationship, why is it not possible for these people to accept a person as who he is, without tagging him with?
These are the practices that go on with our ethos:

#1Jeans, skirts, halter top, off-shoulder tunic: You’re gormless about people calling you as “Didi”, “anna”, “cheta”! You walk down the street in such clothes or skinny clothes! For sure, one would be sodded off at pairs of eyes, which you cannot count, gaping at you!

#2 Sarees, Dhoti, heavy jewelry, mangal-sutra, toe-rings, formal shirts: You’ll be in neverland, when unknown faces happen to stamp your shoes and say, “sorry aunty!, “Sorry uncle!”, “Sorry Amma”!

Respect lies in the way to revere a person/stranger as who he is, without giving a cover. How do you address your colleague?
Pictures source: net