When a person spends close to four years in the land of opportunities, you’d think that the person would be conditioned to understand the basic algorithm of a successful life – Grab all the Available Opportunities and Seize the Day.

Unfortunately you’d be surprised to know that there is one man on this planet who, in all the wisdom acquired by spending four years in the United States, has not got the essence of the way of life there. All he learnt in the land of opportunities was to wait for his turn everywhere.

So when he returns home to Hyderabad, India he decides to show his well natured personality to the unsuspecting Hyderabadis.

That alone can explain why he, in other words “I”, waited patiently for fifteen minutes after entering a famous food joint in Himayat Nagar of Hyderabad. I was waiting to be seated. However no one paid any attention to me. People, who came after me, gave me a sympathetic look and grabbed all the available opportunities while I stared at them with disgust in my eyes. “Uncivilized people” I thought.  I should wait for my turn. Perhaps some people would draw inspiration from my resilience.

However after fifteen minutes of standing there like a dork, my resilience was showing signs of wearing out. When an esteemed patron called me and asked me for “Iced Tea on the rocks” I snapped and grabbed the next available opportunity much to the frustration of a young lad who arrived at the doorstep moments ago and looked as if he had just got off the plane from California.

When I finished my dinner, that guy was still standing there with a puzzled expression on his face – waiting to be seated.

This is not an isolated one off incident. Last week I went to a mobile phone showroom and expected a friendly salesperson with a warm smile on his/her face to guide me to the counter and pamper me with brochures etc.

Nothing of that sort happened though. I patiently waited for five minutes. The salesmen simply chatted amongst themselves. There was no other customer in the showroom. Finally I went to the group and politely asked, “Excuse me please. Do you sell mobile phones?”

They looked at me as if I had just escaped from the famed Nehru Zoological Park. “Yes sir.”

I asked again, just to be on the safe side, “Are you open now?”

The look turned into one of sympathy. “Of course we are open.”

I realized I needed to grab my opportunity here and make the first move. “Can you show me the latest Nokia models?”

When I came out of the showroom, a friend of mine, who was with me all along, told me in clear terms that I had to change my ways if I had plans of settling down in Hyderabad or for that matter anywhere in India.  I readily agreed with him. It may sound a little odd that just four years of exposure to the American way of life, actually a grossly incorrect interpretation of it, could change a person so much. However in my case, it was pretty real. Maybe it was due to my limited exposure to the metro lifestyle of India prior to my Great American Stint. I come from a sleepy little hamlet in South Andhra Pradesh and customer service there meant the warm smile of the next door green grocer!

It is pretty clear to me now. I failed to read the American script properly. I should have read the line “Seize the day. Grab the opportunity with both hands.” instead of “Wait for your turn.” Well, to each his own.