I am an Indian and I have noticed that Indians are way too proud of their country for some reason and at the same time lack any civic sense towards it, they are extremely loud and extremely proud. We feel like the world revolves around India and our culture is superior to that of others. Also, a considerable chunk of the population has been sold the “India is a world-leader” myth and they think India is somehow leading the world in innovation, science and technology, human development etc.,
Now, I know for a fact that this is not true, when I try to gauge the perception of Indians abroad on Twitter, I get pretty negative results, but Twitter has nothing good to say about any group of people, so… I kinda wanted to know what you people though of India, don’t base it upon the etnic Indians who might be your friends and are decent people, but base it upon the news you read, the stories you hear from those Indians, etc.
It was the loudest and smelliest country I’ve ever been to.
I’ve never seen a country where the cross-country sleeper train bathrooms had literal holes on the floor to shit and piss out of. You saw the tracks wizz below you from the toilets. No plumbing, just excrete onto the tracks.
Chennai train station had the strongest most overwhelming diarrhea smell I ever experienced in my entire life.
Dudes were creepy as hell. They see you’re white and then you’re swarmed everywhere you go. People trying to scam, trying to appoint themselves as your tour guide and won’t stop following you and trying to guide you to “the mall”. Calling you Harry Potter because you wear glasses. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I was a woman there. I shudder to think.
Crossing the street means walking into oncoming traffic and hoping and trusting everyone to just drive around you. Absolute fucking chaos. The people are not warm or friendly. They stare and get too close and touch you all the time. I kept having people touch my shoulders and try and touch my face when I was in public or queuing.
I never ever want to return to India ever again. I don’t recommend any of my friends go there. There were very few positives about that trip other than it being an eye opening experience as to how over 1 billion humans on the planet live.
They stare and get too close and touch you all the time. I kept having people touch my shoulders and try and touch my face when I was in public or queuing
This is more of a culture thing, I used to do it a lot when I was younger (it’s considered friendly)
To someone from my culture and to me when I was there, I hated it. It felt the absolute opposite of friendly. It felt predatory. I didn’t feel safe, I felt uncomfortable, I felt I was a freak and an oddity and it made me embarrassed to go anywhere. And this was with Indian-American guides who were familiar with which places to go to and which to avoid for tourists.
I say this to you with no disrespect to you as a person. I’m just trying to state things without sugarcoating them. I appreciate you explaining the cultural perception.
It felt predatory. I didn’t feel safe, I felt uncomfortable, I felt I was a freak and an oddity
I feel no connection to this culture whatsoever, I would happily follow your cultural norms if ever am lucky enough to visit the West, so you are not offending me, and I appreciate the honestly too :)
Since no one else mentioned it, The Baha’i Lotus Temple in New Delhi is on my bucket list to visit. Absolutely gorgeous architecture.
An architect that was based in London when it was built said of the project, “such a building would be extremely difficult to build in London. In India it will prove impossible.” Not only did you guys build it, but there were 0 workplace fatalities in the process of building it.
Generally, I think of India positively, but your march towards authoritarianism worries me. The last election lessened that worry a bit, but I still feel nervous about a regional nuclear war* between you and Pakistan or a land war with China, particularly as the region dries out.
As long as India strives to be a democracy and outlooks between you and Pakistan lighten, I feel pretty good about you guys.
*a regional nuclear war could cause seasonal disruptions to the entire planet, like some massive volcano eruptions that have dimmed the planet for a decade or more.
My background is US.
I still feel nervous about a regional nuclear war* between you and Pakistan or a land war with China, particularly as the region dries out.
Neither will happen. Both our politicians and Pakistani generals love sabre-rattling. Both also love their wealth and status too much to do anything stupid. And while China can really hurt us in a potential war, they can do at least as much damage by stopping exports to us.
- Massive potential
- Nationalistic
- Somewhat racist
- Unfair caste system
- Not enough bathrooms
- Poverty and hunger
- Extremely rich people
- Excellent food
- Food poisoning
- Nice people
- Misogynistic
- Rich history
- Modi vs INDIA election
- Smart pivot to service sector
- Tata steel
- Lots of languages
- Diverse nature
Going to be a superpower soon if they manage to create a robust middle class and get some nice institutions up and running. India is doing good but it’s hard to manage a country on that scale without being, like, China.
A massive tangle of diverse kingdoms that have never quite hit their full potential. Current political situation is grim and disappointing and I am not particularly optimistic for them.
