Things that IIMs wont teach. Won't pump your resume. but will make you nice.

Is common courtesy really all that common?

Are people who’re generally associated with niceness really nice? or being highly intelligent , popular or sexy makes you a nice person?

Ever since I’ve had a mind,that has thought beyond visceral things, I’ve observed and been on the receiving end of instances, ever so often, that’ve left me wondering if being considerate in a non-ngo way is a passé or it didn’t ever exist at all? In Today's times when more interaction happens virtually than physically, is it just enough to know to hold your fork and knife well in the name of etiquette? And for the record I dont mean sucking up or going " honeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy how chu doing ma baby doll today, muah" by being nice! that's just too page3ish

It’d be best to illustrate these thoughts with a 'list’ ( again)…

1) Somebody personally wishes you on your ‘birthday’ or any other occasion and you reply “ Thank you guys/people/all” !! someone ( very much with a name I'm supposing?) has taken an effort to wish you personally. Why not spend an extra minute and thank them personally instead of putting them under a generic “ all” ? How’d it feel if someone said this “ Hey to ALL those whose birthdays fall on 30th June, happy birthday”. Not all that special , right ?

2) Not replying to messages/mails: Unless it’s some horrendous anonymous stranger who’s probably picked your number from a database somewhere and says “ hai dear….i wanna to be friendzzz with u " , I see no reason why people don’t reply or return a call. Whether or not it is life-altering or not, someone’s thought of you for a minute and messaged you. Why not return the gesture? And please ‘sorry I was busy’ is the lamest excuse ever for not replying to a msg! Your phone’s probably the only thing that’s on you 24/7 ! Even during the middle of a leak!! How can you not have a few seconds to punch in a few keys? And I'm sorry if you're busy, I'm not exactly either sitting idle there laid out on the floor for you to come rest your mighty busy ass on me!

3) Not saying BRB or bye before disconnecting abruptly- unless the person is talking about his gf in Saharanpur from past 6.3 hours or your net connection is more erratic than the Indian govt, why cant you just say bye/brb when you decide to get off the system or the chat or to avoid the person? The other person won’t be left hanging thinking he ticked u off you 'cause the last thing you said was ' you're looking a bit chubby' or horrors! you dropped dead in the middle of a conversation!

4) Not responding to an invitation – I’ve been on the receiving end of this on countless occasions and I cant tell you how much this one pisses me off. Someone has taken pains to arrange an event and considered you important enough to be a part of it. Least you can do is reply if you can make it or no! and yeah for the uninitiated RSVP doesn’t mean initials of the family members of the invitee. It’s “please reply to confirm” in Latin ! Understand that planning a party means a lot of logistical implications and one must know the number of guests to expect to plan things well. In US they wouldn’t allow you in a wedding if you haven’t RSVP-ed! Haa I’d so like to see you non-RSVPers be shown outta the door at one!

5) This is the most common violation of courtesy I’ve seen by the “HR” machinery of some of the biggest corporates ( Except for Google,ofcourse !) known for their ‘great personnel practices" all. They’ll flood your mailbox about a job opening and once you’ve finally decided to put together a great cover letter, fine-tuned your resume and sent it across, checking up every hour/day to see the response, there is none! They just conveniently disappear, leaving you hanging on the cliff again! At least tell a candidate if he‘s progressed to the next level of your holy hiring process or can move on with his life and be happy thereafter! If the precious MBA in HR didn’t teach them this, I think companies should just hire children to do the work. They’ve more sense than that!


6) I have just 2 words for you. Sorry and Thank You. Please don’t buy the cheesiest Hindi film dialogue ever made” Dosti mein sorry aur thankyou nahi bolte” ! These words came into being for a reason and listen to them when they’re screaming to be used! Someone tells you “ your new hairstyle looks hot ” don’t go “ I know” . You obviously know cos you’ve been preening yourself in every mirror and any surface with a reflective finish all day. But if it was just about your knowing and not others noticing why did you spend a bomb on it to look that way and put it up on FB the first thing ? Give credit when it’s due and please Do say sorry after that earth-shaking belch in the middle of conversation !

7) Being an "I"-specialist. Get this .

Me- Hey how're you?
Rahul-" I'm good"
Me-so how's life?
Rahul-life's good
me-ohk....so what you doing these days?
Rahul-Nothing much
Me-umm...how's everyone at home?
Rahul-Everyone's fine..
Me-Ok ...I'm off....all the best for exams....Give regards to family
Rahul-will do. cya
Me- and take care
Rahul-Yeah will do too.

need i even explain the point of that little skit!

These are only some common instances. There must be and are more..Please feel free to add them in comments. And I’m sure all of us ( Yes including me! But I learn) have either been at the receiving end or been the offender at some point or the other. But it’s never too late to make a change.

Call it attention to detail, being courteous , social etiquette or just considerate, these things may not pump your resume but will make you a much better person. I’d prefer anyday someone who sends me a personalized wish on friendship day and why she/he thinks I deserve that wish than someone who’s sending me a forward about “being by me for centuries to come” , that’s done the rounds for 3years now.


And yeah this old but the very apt saying “ it’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice” sums it up totally. Though to add my own two paise I’d say, you’re only as important as the other person makes you out to be. Continue being an inconsiderate, self-absorbed jerk and watch karma bite your ass.