HIGH FIVE

"Watch Hindi movies to stay updated"

Takashi Yamaguchi, director, Daiwa Capital Markets, offers suggestions for expatriates to adapt quickly to India 

Soumik Kar

Buy a history book and a map of India: India is unique when it comes to her richness in terms of both history as well as its geography. In terms of history, this region goes back thousands of years and that is precisely why there is so much diversity. Geographically India has everything — mountains, deserts, water bodies, belts and natural resources. Interestingly, studying the vastness of India also makes a lot of business sense.

Watch Hindi movies: Bollywood is one obsession that Indians swear by. If you want to stay updated about the state of India, then you have to watch a Hindi movie every now and then. Personally, I like movies with love stories; they are easy to understand. Even otherwise, nowadays movies come with English subtitles so language is not a problem.

Develop a taste for local cuisine: It was a bit difficult initially, but now I love it. Indian food consists of a variety of regional cuisines that use different Indian spices. I have developed a liking for the dal and chapattis and enjoy them in my daily meals. I also like to have buttermilk during summers and can’t resist indulging in a few paani puris or rasgullas occasionally.

Enjoy the festivals: India is the birth place of several religions and home to people following almost every religion in the world. There are so many festivals that you can be spellbound by the diversity in each one of them. Indians enjoy their festivals and they are very happy to make you a part of it.

Learn cricket: India is incomplete without cricket. It is the topic of discussion wherever you go, be it in the boardrooms or at the drinks table. They are right when they say this game is India’s religion. Actually, it has the capacity to change the mood of the entire nation and keeps them united. I am happy to have learned to watch the game pretty early. I enjoy going to the stadium to watch IPL matches. Mumbai Indians is my favourite team and I love watching India’s darling, Sachin Tendulkar play! He is a joy to watch.