“Who do you have your national rivalry with ? ” I asked the tall Dutch man at our first dinner outing in Amsterdam. He almost looked like Tom Cruise ( Somewhat like this image)
I was expecting something to the tune of our angst against Pakistanis, but the reason he gave, shocked me. ” Belgians“, he immediately responded.
” Belgians are stupid ” he said and gave no further elaboration.
Next afternoon, I met Mabeen, a 5’11” Dutch project manager who was wearing almost 4″ stiletto. She, I heard was a fencing pro. A modern version of this lady
I do not remember the context
but I do remember she telling a joke . It ended with she lolling ” Belgians are stupid. ”
I recall that later in the night, our customer had arrived. He was a Belgian. He didn’t have demeanor of a a suave person. Our conversations veered over Amstel beer and cheese and there was a point where he exclaimed , ” The Dutch think , we are stupids”
I was still wondering if a nation can be collectively stupid.
Few months passed. I was at SAP campus for a meeting of Ux( User Experience) leaders in Bangalore. The conversation was on – ” What can be a particular India Ux strategy? What is it which works no where in world but works in India?”
I heard something very interesting and here it is –
” Indians are stupid. You ask them their cell phone number for anything and they provide it without even thinking “.
On the way back, I stepped into a general store More. I saw a man , approx 25, buying a chocolate. The counter guy asked for his mobile number.
“98*** ***** “, was the sound I heard.
