A Zambian engineering student who moved from Zambia to India for higher education has gone viral for her humorous and thoughtful reflections on adapting to Indian life. Through her Instagram account, @mercy_jo123, she documents everyday cultural discoveries from navigating chaotic auto rickshaw rides and decoding the Indian head wobble to understanding why tea is treated like a social necessity.
Her observations, recently featured by publications such as The Times of India and The Economic Times, have sparked widespread online engagement, with Indian users welcoming her candid takes. While no formal statements have been issued regarding her posts, education officials continue to promote India as a global study destination through initiatives such as Study in India. Her story reflects the layered experience of studying abroad where cultural adaptation unfolds not in dramatic moments, but in daily interactions, humour and quiet resilience.
From Traffic Swerves to Tea Rituals
When she boarded her flight to India, she carried textbooks, winter clothes and what she describes as “quiet confidence”. What she could not prepare for, however, were the everyday cultural nuances that would shape her education just as much as engineering lectures.
One of her earliest observations centred on fashion and representation. Walking through her university city, she noticed young women dressed in crop tops, oversized shirts and globally trending styles outfits that felt familiar and contemporary.
Yet when she watched popular Indian films, she sometimes saw a different portrayal, where female characters oscillated between bold modernity and sudden modesty depending on the storyline. The contrast intrigued her. It was not criticism, she clarified, but confusion at how cinema and street reality could feel like parallel worlds coexisting in the same society.
Then came the auto rickshaws an experience many newcomers describe as an initiation into India’s urban rhythm. The three-wheeled vehicles dart through traffic that appears, at first glance, to operate without rules. Motorbikes squeeze into narrow gaps.
Cars edge forward with precision measured in inches. Horns create a relentless soundtrack. Sudden brakes and sharp turns challenge one’s sense of balance. “Your body has no idea which way is up,” she joked in one post. Yet over time, what felt chaotic began to resemble coordination an unspoken system understood by those within it.
If traffic was adrenaline, tea was grounding. Back home in Zambia, tea was simply one beverage among many. In India, she found it woven into the social fabric. Morning chai before lectures. Afternoon chai during study breaks. Evening chai shared with classmates discussing assignments and life.
Roadside stalls, fragrant with cardamom and ginger, served as informal meeting points. Refusing tea sometimes felt less like declining a drink and more like declining connection. In her words, tea seemed “treated like oxygen” constant, sustaining, quietly unifying.
Curiosity, Conversations and Cultural Exchange in Practice
As an African student, she also became aware of lingering glances in markets, small shops and public spaces. The attention, she notes, was rarely hostile mostly curious. In many parts of India, meeting someone from Zambia remains uncommon.
What could have been isolating often turned into dialogue. Strangers asked where she was from. Some wanted photographs. Others simply smiled and moved on. She gradually realised that curiosity, when met with patience, can open doors rather than close them.
Language offered another learning curve not English itself, but non-verbal communication. The famous Indian head wobble puzzled her at first. A subtle tilt, a gentle sway, a movement capable of meaning yes, no, maybe, or simply “I understand”.
Early conversations required mental replays. Did that nod signal agreement or polite listening? Over time, context became her translator. Tone, facial expression and situation clarified what the motion alone could not. What once felt indecipherable slowly became instinctive a small yet powerful sign of integration.
Bargaining in local markets presented yet another cultural script. In many Indian bazaars, prices are flexible starting points rather than fixed amounts. A shopkeeper quotes a figure; the buyer reacts with theatrical disbelief. Offers and counteroffers follow, accompanied by laughter or mock outrage. Initially unsure how to participate, she soon recognised that bargaining is not confrontation but engagement a social exchange as much as an economic one.
Midnight street food rounded out her evolving portrait of student life. Long after sunset, stalls remained open, serving spicy snacks to students and night owls. Back home, late-night street dining was uncommon. Here, it felt almost routine. Hesitation about spice levels and hygiene gradually gave way to curiosity. Each dish became a memory, each shared plate an extension of belonging.
Her experiences unfold against a broader backdrop of educational exchange. India has actively promoted itself as a study destination for international students, particularly from Africa, through scholarship schemes and outreach programmes under the Study in India initiative.
The High Commission of India in Lusaka has, in recent years, highlighted academic and cultural collaborations between the two nations. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, educational cooperation forms an important pillar of India-Zambia relations, reinforcing people-to-people ties beyond trade and diplomacy. While her Instagram posts are personal reflections rather than policy commentary, they inadvertently illustrate how such initiatives translate into lived experience one student at a time.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
At its heart, this story is not about traffic or tea. It is about adaptation without resentment, observation without mockery, and curiosity without prejudice. In a global climate where migration and difference often provoke suspicion, her narrative reminds us that coexistence is built in small, everyday moments a shared cup of chai, a patient explanation of a head wobble, a laugh over a bumpy auto ride.
Studying abroad is demanding. It requires intellectual stamina and emotional flexibility. For international students, every day involves subtle translation not just of language, but of norms, gestures and expectations. When communities respond with openness rather than defensiveness, these exchanges become enriching for both sides.
