A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to go out with some friends and colleagues and got to meet some people for the first time. The group was multicultural and there were quite a few Indians in it as well. There was one thing that I noticed during that meeting, something that I have been thinking about for a while now.
To write about it let me introduce 4 fictional character names whom I will use on this blog.
Andrew and Kate are an Aussie couple Ashish and Pooja are an Indian couple.
Now to the topic.
Andrew : Hey guys, meet Kate, my wife!
a while later,
Ashish : Hey guys, meet my wife, Pooja.
Both these introductions are very similar in the sense that they have the name of the person and also the relationship that you have with them, but the two statements are strikingly different in the order in which the 2 pieces of information are mentioned.
Ashish seems to have lay emphasis on the "wife" bit while Andrew seems to have lay emphasis on Kates name. To put it simply, I like the the way Andrew introduced kate, better than I liked the way Ashish introduced Pooja. Andrews introduction seems to give importance to Kate as an individual, ahead of the relationship that he shares with her.
For me it is something positive learnt and I will endeavour to introduce my partner, when I have one, by her name!
The equation changes when the person being introduced is not a peer or a sibling or a partner. For eg. parents, teachers and elders. In this case I will stick to providing the name last for it just seems to make more sense that way, and brings about a sense of respect.
Another thing I have noticed in Aussies is that they never refer to their partner as 'partner', 'girl friend', 'wife' etc. They always use their partners name. Another thing that I have grown to appreciate.
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