So this afternoon when Raj came to " Beans " Coffee and Hookah place to meet Jia, she was faced with a queer dilemma. Upon habit, she would give him a hug as a manner of greeting. {her hugging code:
-A casual hug if it was not a close friend.
-A warm brief hug if it was a friend whom she saw everyday (just another version of saying "Hi").
-A nice tight hug if it was a good friend whom she saw after a long while.}
Now in Hyderabad, some people seem to feel awkward about hugging. Either they dont expect it, but gracefully respond when you initiate a hug; and some others who are used to it it, will respond naturally. But Jia would definitely come across the kind who stand uncomfortably like a rock where it's just her hugging them ; and while she's pulling off from it, she'd wish she were dead rather than face the after embarassment of it.
So when she saw Raj, the knowledge that they were friends prompted her to give him a hug upon his arrival at her house. Then her brain went through a whirlwind of anxious thoughts:
What if he isnt the hugging kind and finds it awkward?
Worse, she remembered Mohini's hubby's words to Mohini - "I dont like you hugging guys. Even a friendly hug. Period. I dont understand why people need to hug at all in the first place".(Raj was married, so maybe he held the same opinion regarding women?)
And the kicker - Jia's friend Jeev told her once that she would never hug a guy cause she could never imagine her b**bs coming in contact with any other guy's chest except the man that she would marry!! Now this brought a totally new angle to her way of looking at plain ol' happy friends hugging.
So her head went like , "Is that what runs in a guy's mind when he hugs? Does he rate your b**bs on a scale of 1 to 5 or so? Damn." Fearing the fate of hers, and not wanting to go through the pressure of racking the rust in her brain for the sake of whether or not she should go through with a 'Hi there hug', she simply chose to just say 'hey' from a distance and protect herself from the potential life threat a hug may have caused.
-A casual hug if it was not a close friend.
-A warm brief hug if it was a friend whom she saw everyday (just another version of saying "Hi").
-A nice tight hug if it was a good friend whom she saw after a long while.}
Now in Hyderabad, some people seem to feel awkward about hugging. Either they dont expect it, but gracefully respond when you initiate a hug; and some others who are used to it it, will respond naturally. But Jia would definitely come across the kind who stand uncomfortably like a rock where it's just her hugging them ; and while she's pulling off from it, she'd wish she were dead rather than face the after embarassment of it.
So when she saw Raj, the knowledge that they were friends prompted her to give him a hug upon his arrival at her house. Then her brain went through a whirlwind of anxious thoughts:
What if he isnt the hugging kind and finds it awkward?
Worse, she remembered Mohini's hubby's words to Mohini - "I dont like you hugging guys. Even a friendly hug. Period. I dont understand why people need to hug at all in the first place".(Raj was married, so maybe he held the same opinion regarding women?)
And the kicker - Jia's friend Jeev told her once that she would never hug a guy cause she could never imagine her b**bs coming in contact with any other guy's chest except the man that she would marry!! Now this brought a totally new angle to her way of looking at plain ol' happy friends hugging.
So her head went like , "Is that what runs in a guy's mind when he hugs? Does he rate your b**bs on a scale of 1 to 5 or so? Damn." Fearing the fate of hers, and not wanting to go through the pressure of racking the rust in her brain for the sake of whether or not she should go through with a 'Hi there hug', she simply chose to just say 'hey' from a distance and protect herself from the potential life threat a hug may have caused.
I couldn't quite infer from your post whether you are a westerner in India or an Indian who grew up abroad in the post. But as a middle class south Indian who grew up in rural parts, I can assure you that hugging people other than those from family is extremely rare even among closest of friends. I for one, would certainly feel uncomfortable hugging a girl, however tempting her boobs might be ;)
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