Just in case you were wondering...

In India...

1.  Everyone wants to know if you have had your breakfast.

2.  Keys open up multiple locks.  My friend Jyotsna locked her keys in her car and used Lelu's keys to open her door.  Not the same model, not the same brand, not the same car.  Hmmm.  My neighbor Meenakshi uses her house key to open up the front door to my house.  Hmmm.

3.  Auto Rickshaw drivers often drive barefoot.  They like to take naps in their backseats on the side of the road as well.  

4.  People say, "I'll just come"- meaning, I will leave and come back in the future.  My brain still battles with this.  Aren't you already here?

5.  Toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet.  Nough said.

6.  Toilet paper is unavailable 96% of the time.  A bucket of water is in its place.  Nough said.

7.  If you say "no thanks" or politely refuse any type of dish, people automatically think you do not eat it ever.  

Friend: Oh, you don't take chutney?  

Me:  No, I just don't want it right now.  

Friend: Oh, you don't like chutney?

Me:  No, I just don't feel like eating it right now.

Friend (to other friend):  She doesn't eat chutney.

8.  If you are 30 an unmarried, it is a national calamity.

9.  Milk comes in plastic bags.  You boil it, then let it cool before you drink it.

10.  Nobody says "bless you" when you sneeze.  An Indian sneeze is the loneliest sneeze!

11.  If someone touches you with their foot on accident they will immediately touch their forehead and mouth in a small prayer of forgiveness.  It is extremely rude to touch someone or kick something with your foot.

12.  Indian men hold hands.  Not because they are gay- they just do.  Always have.  It is common and comfortable for two men to walk arm in arm, hand in hand.   Women as well.

13.  Bathing areas are not separate from the toilet area.  Bucket baths are most common, and you bathe in the same space as the toilet and the sink.

14.  Staring is common and "curious stares" are not intended to be rude.  People just openly look.  For a really long time.

15.  Most women use whitening cream.  Here we are, toasting in tanning booths while Indians are smothering themselves in whitening cream routinely.  The fairer, the better.  Is something wrong with this picture? 

16.  Men pee anywhere and everywhere.  The world is their toilet.  Close your eyes when you go, well, anywhere!

17.  Girls do not pluck their eyebrows.  They go for "threading."  This is where one woman takes a looong thread between her teeth, moves her neck back and fourth like a chicken, and ties knots around the hair with the thread then jerks them out of your head.  It is really, really cool.

18.  If you do not wax your arms people will ask you why you don't wax your arms.

19.  People eat lunch between 3-4pm and eat dinner between 10-11pm.

20.  The number one meal deal at McDonalds is the Veggie Burger.  And McDonalds does not serve beef.  And they deliver... on bikes!