E-ging Solutions is a world-leading Shanghai translation company with specialties in Hindi translation.

Home to more than 1.2 billion people and hundreds of different languages, India is certainly one of the most diverse countries in the world.

As a result, doing business here can often be a tricky issue, especially when conducting your affairs in person. Compared with the western world, there are a whole host of traditions and customs that you should be aware of if you don’t wish to offend your potential partners or clients.

With this in mind, here are a few handy pieces of advice to help you avoid making unnecessary faux pas.

Greetings and goodbyes

While you may be used to shaking hands when meeting someone in a formal environment, the Indian equivalent is the namaste, which effectively involves placing your hands together as if you were praying and taking a slight bow.

The handshake is not ignored completely and it is generally acceptable for men to shake hands with other men at the start or end of a meeting. However, men are not expected to come into physical contact with women in the same way.

If you are female, you can offer your hand to westernised Indian men, but this shouldn’t be attempted if your associate is of a more traditional nature. It is acceptable for traditional Indian women to shake hands with foreign women, but this does not extend to formalities with their male counterparts.

Gestures and good manners

As a rule, Indian people tend to value their personal space, so ensure you are not crowding your contact and try to maintain at least an arm’s length at all times.

Feet and the left hand are considered to be ‘unclean’, so try not to point your footwear at people, as this can be seen as an insult. Similarly, you should immediately apologise if your feet or shoes touch someone else. In the same fashion, avoid using your left hand to exchange money, make physical contact with someone or pick items up.

A western wave – used to signal “hello” – means “no” or “go away”, so bear this in mind and try to curb your natural instincts when attempting to portray a friendly approach.

Further interactions

After your relationship begins to develop with your Indian clients or business partners, don’t presume you can let your guard down – there are still plenty of customs that should be observed.

For example, while it is not expected to exchange gifts at a first meeting, this procedure is likely to occur when you know your contact a little better. Give your present with both hands and if you receive one in return, do not open it in the presence of the person who delivered it to you.

Obviously, the more time you spend in your host’s presence, the better you will get to know them. However, knowing when you can read between the lines with regards to what your Indian counterpart is saying to you can help smooth the business process over and avoid miscommunication.

For example, “I will try” in response to a request should generally be taken as a “no” – although this is a polite declination, so don’t take offence over not receiving a straight answer!

Overall, the business process in India can be a long and frustrating one, but you should persevere – this is a developing country and making inroads now could prove to be highly fruitful for your company in years to come.