The Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research - Houston
page 7
To submit an articles of Intercultural Interest, please contact Andrea Brooks.
Recently, I attended a Pakistani musical program in Houston, Texas. Compared to an American musical program, the cultural differences were so overwhelming that I forgot to enjoy the program. Instead I started taking notes about the Polychronic time (P-time) nature of the Pakistani program in comparison with the Monochronic time (M-time) nature of Pianist George Winston's program I attended some years ago.
Before I tell you about the cultural differences that I experienced that evening, let 's put this information in its proper context. (This is an essential step when one writes for mainstream U.S. Americans) The objectives of this article is to demonstrate the following:
How does knowing about M-time vs. P-time or about immigrant adjustment process helps me or my organization? Some of the possible benefits are as follows:
The study of time has several different components, which have been analyzed by credible researchers. One of the components that directly affects work and other activities is the difference between Monochronic time (M-time) and Ploychronic time (P-time). Most of the European cultures tend to follow M-time; however, mainstream U.S. Americans have perfected this technique. On the other hand, Asians, Mexicans, South Americans, Arabs and French live in P-time. Most of the non-European-American cultures living in the U.S. tend to favor P-time as well.
In M-time, people prefer a linear task structure with time as the main method of organization.. Everyone prays to the Gods of clocks, appointments books and daily to do lists. Appointments take a sacred role. Events are sequenced so individuals can focus on one task at a time. Frequent unannounced interruptions or quick last-minute changes to one's schedule are taken rather seriously. A classic example of an M-time culture is how a shopkeeper treats his or her customers. People often make a line and get served one at a time. The task orientation takes precedence over human relationships. Nobody waits or has time for events to come to their natural endings. The wristwatch acts as the arbiter and has full rights and privileges to end an event.
The P-time followers are completely unaware of M-time as a deity. To them, there is only one kind of time (i.e. P-time). In P-time, human relationships take precedence over task orientation. Linear structure is often not followed. P-time folks are used to doing many things at once. For example, I noticed that in Saudi Arabia and in Pakistan, a shopkeeper may ask several customers at the same time what they want, and then start filling out the orders without any regard to who really came first. Interruptions are part of daily life. Appointment delays and meeting overruns are common. P-time adherents don't have the conviction and sincerity to uphold the clock above all other concerns (their Gods tend to be different). Events tend to have their own natural start and end time. Finally, what may come as a shock to some must still be said: P-time followers may not have a concept of wasting time.
Now let's get back to the musical program I mentioned at the beginning of this article. I have divided the comparison of Pakistani and Mainstream U.S. American musical programs in three categories of participation, the event organizers, the artists and the audiences.
P-time Pakistani Culture - I heard about the Pakistani musical program on a weekend radio program. The radio announced that the program would begin at 6:00 p.m. and provided a phone number for additional information. Later I called that number and found that the program would begin at 7:00 p.m. So instead of 6:00 p.m., I arrived at the Marriott at 7:00 p. m. Very few people were present there and there was no one at the check-in desk. To make a long story short, the program finally began around 9:00 p.m.
There were continuous distractions during the program. For example, one person was trying very hard to put an ad banner on the wall behind the singer. But the banner kept falling again and again. Another person was setting up a close-circuit TV camera in the middle isle. The problem was that he blocked the view of several audience members.
M-time Mainstream U.S. Culture - The program started according to the announced time. Besides an occasional clearing of a throat, I did not notice any distractions.
P-time Pakistani Culture - The Pakistani artist was a famous classical singer who sang popular Gazels. Gazels are a form of poetry popular in Pakistan and India. The artist was accompanied by a couple of musicians. No written program was distributed to the audience. There was no way to know what he would sing next. I don’t think he knew what he would sing before taking a seat on the floor in front of us. The program was primarily driven by audience requests. The singer had a spiral notebook that he used to jog his memory for each Gazel. Sometimes it took a long time for the artist to find the Gazel in the notebook. It appeared that songs were written by hand and the notebook did not have any table of contents, index or bookmarks. I had observed this particular behavior before by several traditional Indian and Pakistani musicians. After about 90 minute of performance, the artist got up and left for a cigarette break. This was the signal for the audience to consider this as an intermission. There was no announced end time for the program so no one knew when it would end; however, it finished around midnight.
M-time Mainstream U.S. Culture – For George Winston’s piano recital, there was a printed program. Everyone knew exactly what he would or would not do. He did not carry a notebook to find what he would be playing. The program ended as planned, on time.
P-time Pakistani Culture – The most fascinating cultural difference was the way audiences carry themselves. Pakistani audiences were middle-aged foreign-born male professionals with their wives and children of all ages, including infants. No one followed any kind of dress code. Some audience members carried on conversations during the program. I heard two women commenting on each other’s outfit in the row behind me. Audience members continuously participated in the program. Sometimes they recited the upcoming verse. The moved their heads from right to left to demonstrate their enjoyment. Sometimes they raised their right hands and swayed it up and down to demonstrate their enjoyment. Sometimes audience members shouted to request a repeat of an already sung verse. There were no assigned seats and no ushers. People were continuously going in and out. There was also a continuous flow of new people during the program.
M-time Mainstream U.S. Culture – People wore fancy clothes. They all quietly took their assigned seats. Once the program began, there was a pin drop silence in the hall. There were no infants. People applauded together only at the assigned moments at the end of each piece. The audience response and movement was rather robotic. No one was allowed to enter the hall when a piece was in progress. In Pakistan, you can only observe this level of discipline and respect in a mosque during a prayer.
I think that both programs were successful for their target audiences. This was evidenced by long standing ovations both artists received. I am sure that it would have been a total disaster if one had just switched audiences. It is rather surprising to learn that audiences of both programs who work next to each other during the day could have so different ways of enjoying their evenings.
By Syed and Joyce Zafar
"Syed Zafar, president of Cultural Diversity Group, pursues his passion of
promoting intercultural understanding through keynotes, workshops and a
newsletter. Syed, born and raised in Pakistan, lived in Saudia Arabia before
coming to the US. He has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a decade
of corporate work."
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