- Kristen Fischer, an American in India, is puzzled by Indians' selective punctuality at events
- She observes Indians are punctual for work, school, and flights but late for social gatherings
- Fischer shared her experience of a birthday party where the host arrived three hours late
An American woman living in India has gone viral on social media after she shared a post, claiming to be baffled by a uniquely cultural trait -- being late to events. Content creator Kristen Fischer said she had been living in India for some time now, but was unable to understand how Indians can turn up to one event on time but then show up extremely late at another.
"I have gotten used to this by now, but I still don't understand why this is. Indians can show up to important things on time like work, school, and flights," said Ms Fischer in a video titled 'Indian time is so confusing'.
"But when it comes to a party, dinner, event, or gathering, people are consistently late. It is like they can be selectively on time," she added.
Ms Fischer shared her experience of attending a birthday party of a friend, where she arrived at 6 pm, only to be shocked that the birthday person "didn't even show up until after 9 pm for their own party".
"There are still things I don't understand about Indian culture and this is definitely one of them," she added.
Watch the viral post here:
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'Don't know why we do it'
As of the last update, the video had garnered nearly five lakh views and hundreds of comments, with the majority of users agreeing wth her assessment.
"Actually Indians know that the other people will be late, so why bother to go early," said one user while another added: "That is famously known as Indian Standard timing. Seriously, it's a shame, but I don't know why we do it."
A third commented: "I intentionally go at least 30 min to 1 hr late for casual events only because I have been on time and it sucks to be the only one there."
A fourth said: "It's a universal truth. It can't be explained. It's classified."
In a previous video, Ms Fischer, a mother of four, said she does not "regret" her decision to set base in India, where she has met incredible people and seen amazing places.
"We moved our family to India 4 years ago and haven't regretted it a bit. In these past 4 years I have met some amazing people, seen some incredible places, had some awesome food, and changed my heart forever," said Ms Fischer.
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