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Comment by drutaTushar | Hacker News Reader

there is some truth to it but work culture is not "indian" its mostly product of socialist policies. True Indian nature is actually quite argumentative and asking lot of questions. same person would ask many questions when seeping tea with his colleagues but at work nature is changed. its mostly derived from survival rather than normal organic response and also inability to-do something about thousands of problem he has observed daily

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I don't think so, I think the roots are deeply cultural. India is a collectivist society where family hierarchy, community loyalty feature strongly, with sayings like "Do not question elders" widely expressed. A lot of this reflects onto work culture as well, among other places, and you see similar things play out across other collectivist cultures as well. So, while arguing with colleagues who are your peers is fine, you will find people will shut down to a large extent when there's hierarchy involved.

To see first hand how this "Do not question authority" plays out, see this every day meeting [1] at one of the largest banks in India. Disclaimer, this video is not AI generated. Sadly it is not even satire.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SL8-kW7-5A

Really interesting response. Is there really just “one” Indian work culture? India is this massive diverse place; surely there’s going to be very different work culture from workplace to workplace?

Strawman argument. Neither socialist nor nationalist nor communist policies at any level---centre or state---have formed "the work culture".

Organisational (mis)behaviour---corporate and government---is simply a product of our widespread and deeply rooted feudal-bureaucratic mindset. One that both fosters and then feeds on the divisive complexities crafted from exploiting age-status, patriarchal conventions, and class and caste and religious and ethnic identities.

We are a sublimely chaotic heterogenous people. The best of us have---through the ages---been finding ways to cooperate and co-exist without giving up what they cherish most about their ways of life. The worst of us manage to always fault someone else for all their troubles, and then further incite others to do the same.

"You don't question the elders" has nothing to do with socialism

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