Is it any use having manners in India? If you ask me, I will say NO. A case in point is what happened with me yesterday evening. When I reach my apartment building, I generally don't take the elevator (or 'lift' as is commonly called in India). I take the stairs. But I was tired yesterday so I waited in front of the elevator - in fact, I was the 1st person there. Soon, I found that around 5 people joined me.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, it had 3 people but no operator. As 2 of them came out, the 3rd one commented that the operator was waiting outside. I saw a guy in uniform somewhere in the middle of the queue. So I waited patiently for the 3rd guy to step out. He didn't as I believe he had to keep the button pressed to stop the doors from closing accidentally.

Rather than waiting for me to step inside (I must have hesitated for a fraction of a second!) the woman standing next to me stepped inside. This was followed by another woman and a kid as I stood there watching in disbelief. Finally, I said "enough is enough" and barged inside. The elevator capacity is 6 people but with the kid in tow there were 7 of us. Somehow, the guy in the uniform didn't make it in. So one of the members inside took to operating the lift.

By the time it was my turn to step out, I was fuming. I so wanted to give a piece of my mind to those 2 stupid females but I chose to remain quiet. But I must say, I exacted a small revenge by giving a mighty shove to a guy - who must be the husband of one of them - with my laptop bag as I stepped outside. Needless to say, I didn't bother saying "Sorry" :-)