A visitor’s learnings

An unforgettable experience for a young man, in the land of the rising sun

July 23, 2017 12:10 am | Updated 12:10 am IST

An unforgettable experience for a young man, in the land of the rising sun

It was a bittersweet moment for me when I found out that I had been selected for the Sakura Science Exchange programme, a Robotics and IoT workshop in Japan. A fully-funded opportunity of a lifetime. Fly off to Saitama without a care on the world, and all I had to do was put into practice what I love to do – computer science. The bitter part of the episode – that I would lose two weeks of IB education, an almost literal mountain to cover when I got back – was quickly forgotten when I envisioned myself programming robots in the country that gave us Anime and sushi!

It was with the eagerness to have an extended vacation in an un-visited land, and the opportunity to learn more about a subject that I am passionate about, that I headed to the Kempegowda International Airport outside Bengaluru. Little did I know this would be the experience of a lifetime, more for the endearing values of the Japanese culture that made their mark on me than anything else.

The first feature of Japanese society that called out to me was the Discipline. Walking into the Narita International Airport, used as I was to the noisy crowds back in India, I quite literally lost my breath to the sight that awaited me. Be it the security check or baggage claim, somehow there was a silence that felt right. Everyone went about their activities without any confusion. And, contrary to the bharatiya custom of lazy pot-bellied officials, every guard and all counter personnel did what they were supposed to do to ensure this flow was maintained.

It wasn’t just the airport – while waiting for the metro, standing in an actual physical line for the vending machine or water, and even on the bus (it took me at least a month to get to grips with our own bus travel experience in Bengaluru) – other than the divine absence of unwanted noise, there was a Discipline that is too hard to describe. Even my band of five raucous Indians couldn’t help but adhere to walking in line whenever we travelled in a group on the sidewalk – the perfection of their system just rubbed off on us!

Next is the Japanese propagation of Respect. If their attention to syncing their activities with their surroundings wasn’t enough, the Japanese also treat everything and everyone they come into contact with a level of respect that is tough to understand but lovely to receive. Even absolute strangers are acknowledged with a reverent drop of the head. When this amazing reverence is added to their insanely polite demeanour, it leaves everyone they meet with a smile on their face and a general feeling of satisfaction! Words can’t explain it, but even the respect shown to elders and teachers in Japan is a "good different" in comparison to that of traditional fear-based Indian teaching – it just feels more natural and, subsequently, somewhat more deserving. Although you are less than likely to witness the exaggerated samurai-student exchange of bows that we have got accustomed to in the movies, hoping for a slight bow and lowered eyes will be more than just fulfilled by everyone you meet!

Finally, the most enlightening feature of the Japanese people, and something that is in stark contrast to how we Indians are known to work, is the Punctuality with which they approach everything they do. Every day, the exchange programme students’ routine of arriving just on time in a bustling swarm of madness was met with the same scene – a smiling head professor who had reached a half hour before time and got everything ready the day before! And this efficiency spreads to all aspects of daily life, from something as simple as reporting for duty to waiting to catch a bus, always at least five minutes ahead of time. It is not surprising that the one thing my father (himself a former visitor to the land) warned me of before my departure was that there would be no greater insult to the Japanese than coming extremely late for an appointment. To be honest, I believe it would be considered a sure indication of societal breakdown in Japan should an underground metro service run more than 90 seconds late!

Japan has gone through a lot as a country – any number of tsunamis and earthquakes, and the unfortunate American expeditions during the Second World War, to name a few. But the Japanese people indeed picked themselves up bravely, dusted themselves up, and worked together for a brighter future. In the land that is said to be graced by the first sun rays of the new day, principles and values have been honoured and lived for for over the centuries – and maybe that’s why they’ve become the economy of resilience and innovation that they are today.

nikhilmseb@gmail.com

 

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