Now we are huge country, full of a rich and sometimes confusing diversity of cultures, languages, religions, cuisines, dance, romance, poverty, ideologies, politics, corruption, landscapes, riots and well, what not! We claim to be the oldest civilization in the world (why, that’s true, isn’t it??). We are the birthplace of some of the world’s major religions which all are not only surviving, but also enriching themselves in mutual co-existence (which is especially commendable given the frequency and amplitude (or magnitude) of riots that we have every year).
We take pride in being the largest democracy of the world, for which we will always be thankful to China since they never allowed a democracy to take effect in their land, thus effectively quitting from the competition. We have one of the world’s fastest growing economies which is clearly evident in the ever increasing number of millionaires, billionaires and trillionaires that this economic powerhouse is generating every week.
Well, an Indian’s interpretation of what goes on in India is bound to be affected by his personal opinions and ideologies which number well into the order of factorial of our ever increasing population. It becomes more interesting to see what the outside world thinks of us. Again, it’s not so easy to generalize, but a few things do stand out in an outsider’s description of our homeland.
Invariably, the western world at least, seems to have a fascination with our poverty and slums. A movie like Slumdog Millionaire has a 999 fold greater chance of winning Oscar than another equally good movie based on, say, Indian software industry, our economic boom or whatever else for that matter. A person visiting any other country of the world would take his time to capture the landscapes, culture, architecture etc, but in case of India you always find a highly pronounced and visible addition – the stark pictures of the slums, litter and the homeless.
The Call Center industry happens to be another such point of interest. So does the workaholic nature of our working class. I will shy away from being judgmental about these perceptions or the reasons behind them, because it there are already so many debates on these, and rather focus on the things factually and objectively.
An Indian abroad can easily be characterized by his appearance and behavior; one doesn’t need to a Russell Peters to notice that. An Indian student is always seen struggling with his luggage (and almost everytime he manages to exceed the Airline baggage limits though his ingenious tricks!). An Indian tourist will always try to avoid extra costs like public transport (instead, he prefers to walk because it is good for health), good food (because it’s a waste of time), museums(another waste of time, except when the entry is free), hostels(because having a night-out helps you experience the culture better) and several other such ideas of intelligent economics.
DDLJ effect has made Switzerland the favorite tourist destination for our rich. On some of the main train routes, the Indian tourist has outnumbered the ethnic Swiss guys, exactly the same way as our samosa and masala dosa have outnumbered frankfurters and hamburgers on the highest restaurants of the Alps. What differentiates the typical Indian tourist from the rest is his endless struggle – with kids, with his tummy and of course, with his luggage. But for an economy that survives on banking and tourism, this nuisance is something to be ignored; after all, most of the money in their banks comes through our desi products – Hawala and Ghotala, and their trains seem to run on the money paid by our struggler tourist.
Nevertheless, the most interesting spectacle is witnessed in ‘harbor’ cities like Amsterdam and Hamburg, where the Indian tourist has carved a niche for himself. For families obviously, there isn’t much to see in here, but still they come since the travel agencies often include the city tour in their package. The transition from Bollywood’s implicitness and Hollywood’s explicitness is not so smooth; and hence the families end up talking nonsense to the kids so as to distract them from watching what the city-streets, canals and window-boutiques have to offer.
An Indian software professional is the most respected of all. He is considered a wizard who knows Java and C as his mother tongue and can write computer programs the way William Wordsworth used to write poetry. Indians are also considered workaholics who can successfully give the westerners a run for their money.
Bollywood certainly deserves a mention. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it. Every once in a while one finds diehard fans of SRK or Amitabh, even Aish; and sometimes very unexpected ones. There are people who remember hundreds of Bollywood songs without understanding a word of them and if you happen to meet one of them, you get are awarded with a great conversation and respect.
So, broadly speaking, a westerner sees two different faces of India – one of a country rapidly developing its economy, its professionals and its millionaires, and the other of a land full of dirt, slums and of course, slumdogs. This certainly confuses them and they tend to think of poverty as one of our national treasures, something that has been so consistently visible that it has become a part of our heritage, our national identity. As an Indian who has to repeatedly answer questions related to this, I know how embarrassing it feels.
We talked about an Indian’s image abroad. It is easy to form stereotypes but difficult to remove them. Hence we tend to accept what the world has to say about us. But this is no less than unconditional surrender! After all, this isn’t the only thing what India is about. We know that, and as some of the most privileged people of our generation, we must take the initiative to change this clichéd perception. We are IITians after all; we are what others dream to be!
-Abhishek Upadhyay