or on vicissitudes of language in Asia.
In Turkey as well as in India, perhaps even anywhere in Asia, one should never ask a leading question or a question that requires only "yes" or "no" in responce.
It took us a while to figure out, and even longer to rid ourselves of this treacherous habit of asking something like: "Is this the way to the Shanti House? ", the answer of course is "Yes, sir!" , communicated with a cordial smile...and off we go in a completely wrong direction.
Often such cordial response comes with affirmative repetition of your question. For example, in Istanbul:
Do you have vegetarian dishes?
Yes, sir, vegetarian dishes!
Which ones are they (trying to point)?
He (the small restaurant keeper) points vaguely towards a few dishes, displayed at the counter.
Is this one vegetarian? (we point at guvetch, a traditional Turkish meat stew)
Yes, vegetarian, this one - vegetarian...
What about those pieces of meat?
Meat? Yes, meat, this is meat!
Not vegetarian? (we begin to loose our bearings here)?
Yes, not vegetarian (said with the most charming smile)!
We try another route:
Do you have Guvetch without meat?
Yes, Guvetch without meat, no problem.. ("no problem" is another common phrase in Asia, often it means that it is no problem if you have a complaint or you miss your bus, or you have been overcharged..)
Well, 15 minuted later a waiter brings our plates with nice and steamy
vegetarian Guvetch. After digging our forks into it, we discover suspicious pieces of... meat.
When we pointing at these pieces, the owner seems genuinely surprised.
Reading our exasperated faces, he regroups into: No meat, not good?!
Yes, we say, pointing at our plates, Not vegetarian!
Fortunately for us, he takes our plates back and concocts some strange salads which were not even on the menu in his basically meat serving restaurant.
So, to sum up, if you are to ask for directions, never say (and never point): "Is this the way to India? "
