Khobragade Case

About two years ago, Devyani Khobragade, then the Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of India in New York City, was arrested by U.S. authorities for committing visa fraud and providing false statements in order to gain entry for her maid, Sangeeta Richard, to the United States (Wikipedia.org). Richard is a woman of Indian nationality and was employed to be a domestic worker for Khobragade in New York (NDTV.com). While Richard had agreed through an employment contract that Khobragade would pay an hourly salary of $9.75 and work 40 hours a week, Richard ended up being paid significantly lower than that and worked much more than 40 hours a week. When arrested, Khobragade was handcuffed in public and later body-cavity, or "strip searched", in a private setting. This was humiliating and infuriating for the Indian government, as Khobragade was considered a diplomat and held in very high regard.

A concept discussed in our textbook that I find very prevalent in this case is power distance. While in the United States, we have a relatively small power distance, meaning that we try to minimize the distinctions between various social classes, India has a higher power distance, people are raised to obey authority figures to a degree that might astonish most raised in the United States. When the officers strip searched Khobragade, they probably didn't think of her as highly as the Indian culture did, and even so, they saw searching her as a legal right and necessity since she had committed fraud and was being put in a prison. The textbook explains that lower power difference cultures support the notion that challenging authority is acceptable, and that exactly what is playing out in the Khobragade case.

Another example of power distance within this situation is that I, as a member of a small power distance culture, found it extremely unethical and upsetting that Richard was being significantly underpaid and overworked. Even though I was not raised around people who's job was being a maid or serving someone else, I still am upset by the fact that Khobragade's maid was treated so unfairly. However, maybe in a larger power distance society such as India, maids are seen as not deserving $9.75 an hour and Khobragade, a well-paid Deputy Counsel General, felt that she was paying Richard fairly for the services she was providing.

To conclude, I found this case to be an excellent example of the difficulties of culture and interpersonal communication. While the book makes it seem like it is simple to break everyone down into categories and just adjust accordingly to fit in with that category of people, there is so much more to it than that. I do believe that members from both countries and cultures were in the wrong in some ways, but ultimately what was most upsetting to me was the unfair way Richard was treated.

And on that note, I would like to finish first with a quote I really liked from an article titled Devyani Khobragade case: More than just a question of diplomatic immunity, and then provide you with some visuals that may help better understand this case in a variety of ways.

 "In international politics there is no right or wrong, only sovereignty and the power to defend it. That, however, should not be taken to mean it is a wise course of action... to send frauds to represent it in foreign capitals; it hurts the reputation of India and Indians to be represented by people who make the news for the wrong reasons." 

-Jaideep Prabhu, dnaindia.com journalist

  

Song: Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine is a song my choir is about to take on tour in a couple weeks. The song is about Leonardo DaVinci dreaming of creating a flying machine, or an airplane. He has all these amazing ideas of how incredible it could be to fly and yet he is tormented by the fact that all of his attempts fail and that he can never reach perfection. The relation I am drawing from this video to the Khobragada Case is that within the case, there is this constant battle between the United States and India to reach an agreement. Both countries want what they believe is best and both have fairly strong arguments for each side of their cases. And yet, neither ever fully come to peace with the situation. There are times in the song and in the Khobragada case where one can sense agreement getting closer, but then either the United States or India made a decision that kept a true resolution from being reached.

Video: In the Khobragade Case, I believe that if both countries would have exercised better listening skills, such as open-mindedness, patience, and acknowledgement, they could have reached a faster conclusion and dragged the problem on much less. In this video, several women are trying to teach Dwight effective listening skills. While this video is meant to be funny, it's important to note that the message behind it is legitimate. In order to be a good communicator and problem solver, one must be able to listen in a way that helps both sides of the situation understand one another and come to a plausible conclusion.

Book:https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1H20IP8mnQC&pg=PA252&dq=VIENNA+CONVENTION+ON+CONSULAR+RELATIONS&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qw3IVIG8CdK4ogTWn4GYDg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=VIENNA%20CONVENTION%20ON%20CONSULAR%20RELATIONS&f=false

Chapter 2

          Chapter two, titled Culture and Interpersonal Communication, explores how interpersonal communication operates in a networked world where members of different cultures interact. Due to the fact that technology and media have made communicating with those on every corner of the world increasingly accessible, it is important to study the differences and similarities in communication patterns among cultures. It is also important to note that we will never be complete experts of each and every communication method used by every culture, so we must also learn how to be ethical and aware communicators, regardless of our knowledge of the individual(s) we are talking with.

           While the authors only briefly mention the concept of mindfulness, I have grown to believe that it's effects can really help with both one's understanding of their self, and with being better listeners and communicators with others. Mindfulness, according to our authors, is the awareness of one's own behavior and that of others. Throughout the training process to become a Resident Advisor here at Western Washington University, my class began each session by doing a mindfulness activity. The purpose behind these exercises was to become much more aware about how we felt physically, mentally, and what thoughts were running through our heads. We were not to criticize or judge our thoughts or feelings, but simply acknowledge them, and recognize that they will play into how we may interact with and perceive others.
          I have found mindfulness especially useful in conversations I have with my residents. Each of my thirty residents come from different backgrounds and experiences, have different beliefs systems, communicate differently, and in many ways are likely very different than me. By becoming aware of the thoughts and feelings that are running through my head and allowing them to pass, I am able to be more present with my resident while they could potentially be feeling very vulnerable or uncomfortable with opening up to me. And while I may not necessarily agree with what they are telling me, I am able to respect their situation and do my best to empathize and give them the attention they deserve.
          Having one-on-one conversations with my residents and exercising mindfulness in order to communicate with them to the best of my ability can in many ways be related to communicating with others from different cultures. By becoming educated, not believing one way of communicating is the only way, one can expand their range of communication to all types of people and exponentially increase their experiences and knowledge of the world.

The Mirror Stage

           The mirror stage is a stage, developed by Jacques Lacan, in every child's life between the ages of six and eighteen months when a child discovers hers/his self in the mirror and realizes that the reflection is indeed reflecting their own unique person. Once this connection is made, the child begins to form first impressions of him/herself about both physical appearances and how she/he relates and fits in to the world around her/him (Gamel). For Lacan, when we look in the mirror, we “assume an image” – namely, a way of picturing ourselves (1286). A critical part of this concept is that the child can neither speak nor understand others speaking to him/her, so the impressions made about one's self are completely uninfluenced by others and/or society. Some may argue then, that within the mirror stage one experiences the truest and purest concept of self.

          Keeping this in mind, my professor posed the question: What do you think behaviorists are describing about someone when they say "s/he has not stopped looking in the mirror"?

          As I am not a behaviorist, my prediction may or may not be accurate, but never-the-less, I have an idea! While I do not believe that the saying "s/he has not stopped looking in the mirror" is referring to infants and young children, I do believe that it's purpose derives from Lacan's initial concept of the mirror stage. Just as an 8 month old child looks in the mirror and develops a pure, uninfluenced perception of them self, I believe think behaviorists are describing someone dwelling over their own perception of their self and trying to decode who they are as a person. Due to the fact that society has such a great influence on how we perceive ourselves, this process of analyzing who we truly are at our purest form would likely take a great among of time an effort.

Works Cited

Gamel, Terry. "Summary of Lacan‟s “The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience”". Academia.edu. 2009. Web: http://www.academia.edu/1539509/Summary_of_Lacan_s_The_Mirror_Stage_as_Formative_of_the_Function_of_the_I_as_Revealed_in_Psychoanalytic_Experience_

Lacan, Jacques. “The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic                 Experience. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. 1285-90. Print.

Chapter 4

           When I walk to and from class, I am not with any friends or acquaintances. Due to this, I often look down while walking or text or play a game on my phone. I do not acknowledge others around me, except to avoid running into them (which still happens from time to time). I don't act this way because I don't respect the other hundreds of students around me also walking across campus, I just simply need to get to class on time and therefore my primary focus is walking by an efficient route. 

           The more I reflect, however, the more I realize that I perceive other students acting the same way I do while walking across campus as stand-offish, grumpy, and rude. Even more so, when I do happen to make eye contact with someone or smile at them and they look down instead of acknowledging my ever-so-thoughtful notion of kindness, I feel hurt. I have discovered that while I expect others to perceive that I am a student just like them simply trying to get to class, and understand that I'm not ignoring them because I have any negative feelings about those around me, my perceptions of my peers contradict my own expectations of others. 

          Relating my recent discovery of myself to the textbook chapter 4 reading, titled Perceiving Others, I am organizing my perception of other students by their interaction constructs. Interaction constructs focus on social behavior, so in this case, behavior such as acting reserved and quiet. 

           As an overall summary of chapter 4, the authors dive in to the concept that we perceive others based on a set of traits and categories. Our perceptions of others can be influenced by a variety of physiological factors that we ourselves are experiencing or social factors. The authors suggest that one solution or suggestion to decrease the amount of mis-perceptions that take place in communication is to use perception checking and adjust our own attitudes to enhance empathy with communication partners. 

          While I do think that this idea of misperceiving others could be discussed in even greater detail and solutions could continue to be explored and examined within the text, this is only a portion of the authors textbook and therefore that would take up much too much space. The most valuable piece of information I took from this text was the idea of perception checking, and more specifically, thinking about how to frame a question so as to not either offend or communicate a possible misperception in a harmful way. By beginning with offering another's behavior, and following it with multiple interpretations of that behavior, and then requesting for clarification, one has limited the possibility of misperceptions and gives the other room to clear up any confusion with their behavior. By including this method of perception checking, the authors are better equipping students for future situations, regardless of the scenario, and are providing an applicable tool for both inside and outside the classroom.