No points for prying

In India, nosy questions often pass for “small talk”. From marriage to money, here are topics that should be off-limits

- SEEMA GOSWAMI

It’s been a while since this incident occurred but I still find myself thinking about it many years later. A colleague of mine (on the newspaper I then worked for) hung up on a phone interview with one of his sources, looking completely shell-shocked. On our asking what happened, he reluctantly shared the story. Apparently, once the interview was over and it was time for small talk, the man had asked my colleague, “Any children?” When my colleague responded in the negative, the comeback was swift: “Any problem?”