This may be a silly question/topic but I realized once again that I am lost Usually in the office you say hello to your colleagues, if you haven't seen for a while you shake hands. I have had the habit when meeting my indian colleagues to either shake hands or if we are closer to hug. I usually see them only once in a year and that is why the hug (even if that is not part of my culture). With some of them we have been through the thick and thin and spent a lot of time together. Visited now once again and this time we also visited some of their families. I was told that the parents are quite conservative (when we were going for a dinner to my colleagues home). When we came to the house I noticed that they did not extend their hands so did the namaste greating and we were seated. We had a lovely dinner and I was even able to bond a little with the parents. They did not speak english but as both of us had grandchildren there we got this kind of granny moment where we could enjoy our grandchildren playing together. When leaving my colleague shaked hands with all of us (I had a couole of other colleagues from my home country with me). But then he suddenly hugged me in front of his parents and wife and I got very embarrassed. Was concerned that they did not understand his gesture. It is true that we have travelled together etc, in another setting we would have hugged (me leaving back to my home country) but in front of them?!. So, after this ranting ... What is the view on hugging (very formal one) in a conservative indian setting?
In one line, its hard to say. Hugging as part of greeting is not the norm for South Indian families. It is more the norm for North Indian families. South Indians who have spent lots of time living in the northern part of India (the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra and Telengana are what I am talking about - there is a tiny state Goa, I am not aware of the social mores there) also adopt the hugging culture. So its hard to say at first look if that is appropriate or not. If your colleague and you share that rapport, I dont think you have cause to worry about what his parents would think. Your topic is not silly. I have these moments in the US when people from some country hug and some others do not. I have a hard time figuring out too
