Russian woman shares 9 things that ‘just make sense’ after living in India: ‘Saying bro to everyone’

Moving to a new country often means getting used to customs that no guidebook can really prepare you for. For Russian content creator Anastasia Sharova, living in India has meant adopting a series of everyday habits that once seemed unusual but now feel completely natural.

In a recent Instagram post, Sharova listed nine things that, in her words, “just make sense in India.” Her observations quickly struck a chord with social media users, many of whom said they could relate and even added a few habits of their own.

In the caption, Sharova explained how she has learnt to judge cooking time by counting pressure cooker whistles. “Knowing how many whistles on a pressure cooker it takes to boil chana, and how many are needed to boil a potato (and not mixing it up),” she wrote.

She also joked about adapting to Indian traffic, saying that driving here teaches you to “look in 4 directions at the same time”.

The rest of her list highlighted small but meaningful practices she has embraced while living in India. These included taking sweets to neighbours even if they are celebrating a different festival, drying clothes away from direct sunlight so the colours do not fade, and burning incense in rural homes to keep insects away.

Sharova also said she has learnt to trust directions from local people more than Google Maps, picked up the habit of calling almost every Gen Z person “bro” — something she admitted was the “hardesh to adapt” — and become comfortable switching between multiple languages in a single conversation. She also mentioned that offering a glass of water to anyone who visits the house has become second nature.

The post soon attracted hundreds of reactions, with users sharing similar experiences from everyday life in India. One user wrote, “Keeping eyes safe when beating garlic/chili for tadka or chutney.”

Another commented, “Yes, the water part was a shocker for me when I learnt water has to be paid for in some countries, especially Europe. Cos here water to anyone is a basic and a must thing, at least the normal water if not the bottle water… But again every country or culture has its own ways.”

A third user added, “Dry clothes inside out in the sun except for the whites, which are full out in the sun. Colours stay and dries quickly.”

A fourth person shared, “Touching feet to every respected and elder relatives. And also doing parnam to the books and all reading materials after you touch the feet of that studying material. For gratitude.”