Hi,
Many of you may find it a strange question but in my job (working with UN), I come across many foreigners (from various nationalities) and discuss India. Most of the people I meet especially the one who have never been closer to Asia cannot discuss anything beyond, India's poverty, population and all the negatives. Yesterday I came across a guy who was highly critical and kept repeating that most of our population earns less than $1 a day. He wanted to know from all the metropolitans, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, which one has more slums and poverty. I tried explaining him a lot of good points of India, our young generation, education standards, world class professionals, creativity and the artists (Satyajit Ray, Tagore what Calcutta has given us...because he was highly after Calcutta and its poor) but I think he was paranoid and kept repeating the trains full of people sitting on top of them.
My husband said I should have left the conversation but I could not and till end tried to make him understand that MY home is not what he thinks. My mood and day went off yesterday, have you come across such people, how do you handle them, ignore them, try to explain (like I did but of no use)....or leave the conversation politely?
Jona
next time you try this. Tell them the younger generation abroad are rude to their parents,leave them at old age, and back answer them etc and tell them in India, we slap such children and put them in boarding and you know how expensive boardings are.
In India, we don't change wives/husband's as they change socks everyday, so children are safe and secured and they repsect their parent anyday more than abroad children.The divorce rate is low.
Tell yes, population is more, that is why, all car manufactures etc are making money because of huge market in India.
last but least, tell them, since we asians have money and good saving that is why we enjoy coming abroad and they don't have savings so, they are not visiting beautiful India. That will get you his attention. He/she will scorn at you but you have given him something to mull over for next few days/weeks.
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The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Quote:
Originally posted by gopalpai
next time you try this. Tell them the younger generation abroad are rude to their parents,leave them at old age, and back answer them etc and tell them in India, we slap such children and put them in boarding and you know how expensive boardings are.
In India, we don't change wives/husband's as they change socks everyday, so children are safe and secured and they repsect their parent anyday more than abroad children.The divorce rate is low.
Tell yes, population is more, that is why, all car manufactures etc are making money because of huge market in India.
last but least, tell them, since we asians have money and good saving that is why we enjoy coming abroad and they don't have savings so, they are not visiting beautiful India. That will get you his attention. He/she will scorn at you but you have given him something to mull over for next few days/weeks.
Gopal what you have mentioned can easily be counter argued ( did happen with me). Things are on rapid decline in India on cultural and social front. We do see economic boom but whaen you visit India next time visit some rural areas away from big metros, conditions there are not as good as in big cities, and still almost 70% of India's population lives in smaller cities and rural areas.
Secondly, Indian government never try to market India to make foreigners understand that in India lots of good things are happening and it is changing.
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Dont help others because others have helped you,,,,help others because its the right thing to do!!!
http://www.indopia.in/
Its really difficult to say how people judge india..i know there are a few people who really admire india..albeit this number is few. I came across this Canadian guy this other day and he was telling me that he watched this show on tv about india that said that the world's best engineers come from IIT. I could see admiration. Nevertheless, the majority of foreigners have a really negative view of india..poverty, unhygieness etc. Whenever someone say anything negative about india i always defend it saying we come from a country with a strong history..we can trace our roots to generations back. We have strong values and beliefs (respect for parents and elders), each state is unique (different languages and cuisines..unlike canada). We are a country that is growing astoundingly, after all we have the 2nd fastest growing economy in the world. If poverty exists it is because of the population.
To be honest I feel that the reason the majority of the foreigners are so critical of india is because they are jealous. Wherever Indians go, they rise to the top and gain recognition, our families despite all sorts of problems stick together through thick and thin. Western culture has nothing that our indian culture has 
At my workplace they had the same impression so when I went to India the last time I took a lot of photographs and came back and showed it to them. After that they shut up.
Quote:
Originally posted by jonav
Hi,
Many of you may find it a strange question but in my job (working with UN), I come across many foreigners (from various nationalities) and discuss India. Most of the people I meet especially the one who have never been closer to Asia cannot discuss anything beyond, India's poverty, population and all the negatives. Yesterday I came across a guy who was highly critical and kept repeating that most of our population earns less than $1 a day. He wanted to know from all the metropolitans, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, which one has more slums and poverty. I tried explaining him a lot of good points of India, our young generation, education standards, world class professionals, creativity and the artists (Satyajit Ray, Tagore what Calcutta has given us...because he was highly after Calcutta and its poor) but I think he was paranoid and kept repeating the trains full of people sitting on top of them.
My husband said I should have left the conversation but I could not and till end tried to make him understand that MY home is not what he thinks. My mood and day went off yesterday, have you come across such people, how do you handle them, ignore them, try to explain (like I did but of no use)....or leave the conversation politely?
Jona
Was this just one instance? Or one of many you keep bumping into? Maybe just ignore the ignorants
The "educated" - as is not just a shriveled-brain-douche-bag with a univ-degree but someone who has read books other than text books and is well travelled - that I have bumped into (sadly there are only few) know and can understand.
The rest of the hicks and narrow-minded dinks are a dime a dozen. You can't let them faze you...just smile. I do...and it just pisses them off even more...
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If you have a gun, you can rob a bank.
If you have a bank, you can rob everyone.
- Bill Maher
Location: British Columbia
Posted on: 08-09-09 10:57:31
Quote:
Originally posted by gopalpai
next time you try this. Tell them the younger generation abroad are rude to their parents,leave them at old age, and back answer them etc and tell them in India, we slap such children and put them in boarding and you know how expensive boardings are.
In India, we don't change wives/husband's as they change socks everyday, so children are safe and secured and they repsect their parent anyday more than abroad children.The divorce rate is low.
Tell yes, population is more, that is why, all car manufactures etc are making money because of huge market in India.
last but least, tell them, since we asians have money and good saving that is why we enjoy coming abroad and they don't have savings so, they are not visiting beautiful India. That will get you his attention. He/she will scorn at you but you have given him something to mull over for next few days/weeks.
In my opinion, you cant generalize about the "younger generation abroad". Children as they grow are learning to assert their independance, and part of that is testing one's boundaries. It is the parents job to guide them into a balance - to learn to be independant and take care of one self as well as respect to others. A generation ago in North America it was considered appropriate punishment to slap a child on the face or behind but today its not considered appropriate. I cant answer to this because I dont have children, but I have seen people in both countries (here and when I visited India) taking slapping too far.
Is it only "younger generations abroad" that leave their parents? What about those that move abroad? Many leave their parents too.
India still does have divorces, so I dont agree with your second paragraph. How do you know that children abroad dont respect their parents? Respect doesnt always equal blind obedience. Your values are valid, but they are because of the culture you grew up in. The culture your children (or any 2nd generation) grow up in will naturally differ.
I also dont agree with your last paragraph either - how can one generalize that people living abroad dont have savings? please cite your sources if you have verified this information through statistics.
Being South asian does not make us better than anyone else. I have encountered people too who have only the image of india as poverty. What is your image of countries like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Ethiopia etc? Just continue to educate people - there is a lot of ignorance in the world unfortunately.
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~ Morning rain
