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The grease on the social and business wheels of India is all about the people you know. This is not a specifically Indian trait of course. Throughout the world networking involves meeting the right people and having them introduce you to even more effective people for whatever your respective cause is at the time. This is a basic form of human communication that I suspect has been in existence since there were communities and multiple people. So how is it different in India? It’s extreme…

When business is conducted if you know someone, you get a better price. Everything, it seems can be negotiated - and not just some things, but NEARLY everything. A fixed price is rare to find. Some prefer to shop that way, but the majority of business deals are negotiated over tea and debate. Indians will raise their voices and banter back in forth as an everyday motion. So how does this relate to the ‘social structure’? Because Indians are so adamant about relationships, they define everything not from how it is, or the appearance of it, but how it relates them with someone else. For example when someone begins a business deal, it is not important what the goods are, but how much they can help you, and how much the sale can help the person selling. Then compounded on this rubric is the level of friendship or intimacy. If one is doing cold business, there is no prior relationship. Therefore Indians immediately, can’t be bothered. This is where the extreme comes in. There is a very interesting juxtaposition of incredible customer service and the antithesis of “American idealized’ customer interactions. Indians will bend over backwards for you, if only for their best interests. Whether it be because of a referral from a friend or because of a potential sale, Indians are self-altruistic. I feel that they have been cultured that way.