Why you moved here? Why! December 2, 2006
Posted by Shajey in Desi, Steeping hot.add a comment
Why you left your birth country and made North America as your new home? Do you think you made the right choice? Was it worth all the stress, struggle, and pain?
Every day thousands of new immigrants leave for a better life and settle in New York, Toronto, and many other cities in Canada and USA. Sometimes in their lives these people ask themselves this question: Why I did that?
Some came here for a better financial success. Others came here to experience the world. And yet most of us, truly don’t know the exact reasons of our leaving our ancestral places.
Go ahead and answer this question. Why you moved here?
Once you know the reason then answer this question: Were there any other way to accomplish your objective of moving here?
If no then you are at the right place.
If your answer is yes, then your reason for moving here are deeper than you think. Identifying these deep desires, reasons, passions, and dreams will set you on a course of true freedom.
Lets explore together the true meaning of success. Lets discuss our real reasons for relocation. That will liberate our purpose and help us be a truly vibrant, lively, successful, and thriving community in USA and Canada.
Oh shit! I’ve thinking accent too November 30, 2006
Posted by Shajey in Desi, Indian Blogs, Pakistani Blogs, Taza.add a comment
Stand at the corner of a street in New York, London, or Toronto and observe a collage of humanity. Each individual represents a unique culture, values, history, and society. They perceive world from their perspective.
A statement like, “You are such a pig!” may be a friendly tease to a Nova Scotia native but the same would be an insult to someone with Middle Eastern roots.
One person might tell you intimate personal details to a simple greetings like, “How are you today?”, while other may just say, “fine.” What is the right response? Why would you even expect that? It appears that all of us have a unique thinking style or a thinking accent.
Rui Umezawa, a communication expert at the Japanese Embassy in Toronto and the author of a novel Truth about Death and Dying explains his mother’s thinking accent by offering a recent incident. His mother was born in Japan but has been living in North America for last 40 years and she recently bought a condominium in Toronto. When the real estate agency handed over the possession, there was still some unfinished work. “Mother had to take a deep breath before she said OK,” Umezawa said. “In Japan, a developer would never hand over keys before a condominium is fully completed. One would think that in 40 years she might have acclimatized to local business practices. I guess she is still very Japanese inside.”
Before we can understand others we need to understand ourselves. Here are few ways to identify one’s own thinking accent.
Know who you are:
Umezawa suggests that introspection is extremely important to identify moral, social and personal values that we are composed of. Talking about our old values and their usefulness in a new environment he recommends, “I think we don’t need to discard any of our old values, just keep them.”
You are the only one:
Umezawa suggests, “Consider yourself an individual. Culture influences but it does not totally define you.” Considering ourselves independent of our culture would help identify our own uniqueness. Each one of us responds to his or her cultural, social, moral and psychological influences very individually.
Know what is expected from you:
You need maturity and ability to understand how you are being perceived and then adjust your words and actions so that you are communicating the right kind of message,” says Angela Corriero, a communication expert based in Toronto, who has helped the South Korean army to effectively communicate with US forces, Ms. Corriero adds, “It’s almost like saying things in a way so that people can hear it through their accents.”
Now that we have some idea about ourselves we can explore how others think. Here are few techniques to identify someone’s thinking accent.
How & Why of things:
Umezawa thinks that questioning the internal logic of why things are done a particular way will help understand others behavior. For example, a common practice in Japan is to give kids money as a present, while in North America, people prefer buying a gift. To North Americans, the Japanese way appears impersonal while the Japanese think the child should have a choice as to how the money is spent.
Avoid stereotypes:
Cultures have tendencies, but beware of assuming that an individual conforms to the stereotypes about their culture. Effective way is to treat a person independently of his or her culture. Umezawa points out a common stereotype Japanese have about Americans as being aggressive. In his years of interaction with both cultures he has seen more exceptions than confirmations of this.
Stories tell:
According to Corriero, “A society’s humor, newspapers, magazines, and radio will give you an idea about their values.” Another neglected source is the advertisements. “In Australia, for example, practically every second commercial is advertising either beer or sports. This should give us a general indication of what Aussies value,” says Ms. Corriero.
Technorati tags: Thinking Accent, Communication, Cross Cultural Communication, Community, Ideas
Watch what you thinking November 30, 2006
Posted by Shajey in Desi, Indian Blogs, Pakistani Blogs, Steeping hot, Taza.add a comment
I started out to find the process through which one can eliminate their thinking accents. After research and talking to people who have apparently achieved this “elimination of thinking accent” I discovered that my original understanding of thinking accents was not complete. It turns out that people who appear to have eliminated their old thinking style still have it present in them. What they have learned is the art of thinking through it.
Applying this conclusion on the lives of close associates and my own I find it to true. All of us still have the reminiscent of our old thinking present in us. Our current thinking style dominates or compensates for the deeper old ones. Its almost like having set of developed muscles which compensate for the weaker one. If due to some change in our lives if we start using the weaker muscles then over time they will become the dominant muscles taking over from once strong.
Dwelling more into thinking as a set of muscles analogy, what and how we think about various things develops different thinking muscles. You might remember the first time you tried something different and the unease you experienced. This virgin thought if repeated over time will ease our discomfort. Soon a time will come when you might not even be aware of this newly developed muscle in your brain and assume it was always there. Those of you who have lived and thrived in cultures different than you birth cultures will clearly know what I am talking about. We, me too, have learned things because of our love, curiosity, survival, or adventure needs.
Thinking through our accents is a possible and can be developed. Lets first see what is a thinking accent.
Technorati tags: Thinking Accent, Communication, Cross Cultural Communication, Community, Ideas
Thinking without an accent October 10, 2006
Posted by Shajey in Desi, Taza.add a comment
Do you think our accent is only visible when we speak? Well, think again. 
Learning a new language. Moving in to a new group, new company, or a new country. All of these situations put us to think and express in a new way.
Whenever we express ourselves, we are using the symbols, words, and metaphors of our past. Are these applicable in our new environment? If not then we have an “accent”.
How to become aware of our accents? How to make sure that we communicate in a manner which is accent-neutral? How do we recognize whether or not we have an accent?
See how you know this British girl has another accent.
“When I was green. I was the fastest kid in my street,” she said in a perfect British accent. “Do you also speak Russian?”, Dave said rather interestingly. She smiled and nodded her head.
Accent is much more than just words and their pronunciation. It’s the way you construct your thoughts; the way you use metaphors; the stories you tell.
Let me know if you have any thoughts, personal quotes, or stories.
Technorati tags: Thinking, Speaking, Accents, Metaphors, digg
Think about it: Taza Chai September 19, 2006
Posted by Shajey in Desi, Indian Blogs, Pakistani Blogs, Steeping hot.add a comment
Often we see in our lives, someone changes their life, their destiny but changing their perspectives. Often we see another side of the change, our cores, our intrinsic initial values, that we learned when we were little. These values, which we started practicing as we grew in our lives. These values we cherish. In my day to day live, I often find examples of this two sides, core values and fresh perspectives, people who have a distinct association but again wonderfully new thought leaders.
Looking at the roots of our (Pakistani & Indian) culture we can see a tradition of offering, drinking and celebrating tea or what we call it with love “Chai“. this tea (Chai) could be as individual as anyone of the tea maker or the tea drinker. Its part of our tradition, our culture that we like it. so the friends meet and have tea. Families have teas. In stress we have green tea. In a romantic mood we drink “chamomile” tea.
Tea is a symbol of our culture, our roots, our tradition. Now what happens if you make a nice tea and let it outside for few days, weeks or even months. As the time passes by the tea loses its taste, its aroma and its cultural utility. In these situations, you often will hear someone say ” we need fresh cup of tea”, or in our cultural lingo “Taza“.
What if we promote a culture of attachment to the roots but with a fresh perspective. What if we look at all our roots with a fresh perspective. What if we question, cherish, value or understand all of our roots, culture with a new perspective. What would call such a process- fresh tea, good but no reference to our roots. What if I call it – Taza Chai. Ah good.
Looking at life, values, culture and everything else with a fresh perspective. Taza Chai. On the streets of Lahore, in the mountains of Peshawar, what we all need is a cup of Taza Chai.
Think about it.
Taza Chai - Achieving excellence.
