‘Smoking the house, checking shoes’: Russian woman reveals 11 ‘strange’ habits she’s adopted in India

A Russian entrepreneur living in rural India has revealed 11 “strange” habits she has adopted in the country. Anastasia Sharova, founder of Happy Bellyfish, took to Instagram to share the small habits that have now become a part of her daily routine. She also gave a special mention to one habit that surprises people the most. A Russian woman reveals the ‘strange habits’ she has adopted since moving to India(Instagram/@anasharovasingh) Sharova grew up in Russia, graduating from a Moscow-based university in 2008. According to her LinkedIn profile, she worked in Russia, South Africa and Germany before moving to India. The 11 strange habitsSharova said the first ‘strange’ habit she adopted in India was beeping shortly before a blind turn. Living in India, she is also used to taking off her shoes before entering a small shop and oiling her hair. “Letting other family members put oil in my hair, and doing the same for them,” she wrote as point 3. The Russian woman said that “smoking the house” to get rid of mosquitos every day at 5 pm is now a part of her routine. She keeps a jar of pickle on the table and now moves her head slightly while saying “achcha”. Another Indianism she has adopted is “Drinking water without touching the bottle with lips and always carrying a steel water bottle with me”. Sharova said that the habit which surprises people most often is eating fennel seeds or cardamom pods after every meal. (Also read: ₹1.2 lakh for 1 BHK in Gurgaon: ‘They say life in India is so cheap’”>Russian woman claims she pays ₹1.2 lakh for 1 BHK in Gurgaon: ‘They say life in India is so cheap’) At number 9 on her l is folding her hands in namaste instead of shaking hands. The 10th point is something that city-dwellers may not be able to relate to – “Checking if there is a frog when wearing a shoe or stepping in the bathroom. Once there was a snake. I live in rural area, city dwellers won’t relate,” she wrote. Finally, Sharova said that her last strange habit is giving or receiving money with the right hand only. The post has gone viral with over 2.4 million views and a ton of comments. “Wait, people in other countries don’t beep when there’s a blind turn? How do y’all not get into accidents?” asked one viewer. “I find doing namaskar to be more sanitized way of greeting anyone,” another commented. “Why are these strange? half of them are just cultural,” an Instagram user questioned.