Living abroad is more like being asked to play Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with no monetary gain, but the fleeting satisfaction of educating a deeply misguided person as the ultimate prize. And so, there are times when their questions and statements about Indians and India have kept me befuddled, confused and clueless.
Most common Inquiries:
- India still has a caste system and has serious hate towards people of the lower class, with acts of lynching and killing. To which I say: I know it’s a social evil and every country is fighting against it through laws, education and cinema and yet, there’s always someone who has to deal with such issues.
- You guys are always brown, right? To which I say: We come in all colours, shapes, and sizes from North to South to West to East.
- Aren’t all Indians supposed to wear a red dot on their forehead? To which I say: No, not necessarily, it’s not a lifestyle choice, it mostly happens when we are praying in the temple.
- How do you speak such good English? To which I say: We have been colonised for more than 200 years, and it’s our first language. I have had this conversation with Brits who have actually apologised on their country’s behalf to me. Plus, most of the documents are in English, since we don’t have a National language.
- Is the language that Indians speak called Indian? They reason that since Italians speak Italian, Germans speak German, and Indians must speak Indian.
- Do you eat food with your hands? That’s so unsophisticated. And you chew too loudly? Sorry, I have been taught to chew my food, not gulp it, and have not been shamed for it because it’s good for healthy digestion.
- Why are you guys so loud? Because Karen, we come from a country where people own their own houses and everybody lives on different floors. We shout because we can!
- Why do you have multiple foods in a day? Because we might be a developing country with the highest population, but we do eat a lot, like 3 courses of a meal in a day (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) with 2 to 3 tea times with snacks.
- Do all Indians do Yoga? No, definitely not. We might be known for it, and yes, we are quite flexible to do yoga and sit on the floor, but still, a Big No.
- You guys find cows sacred? Yes, because cows give us dairy products and also, Goddess Earth is always pictured as a cow in most of the methodologies and tales. That’s the reason why we don’t eat Beef in India.
- You guys really enjoy singing and dancing in the movies? Well, that’s how it’s always been. For us, movies are a means of escape from life. The Big 3 in India are Politics, Cricket and Cinema – Indians live for them.
- Are all Indians Hindus since PM Modi is all about Bharat and being a pro-Hindu? No, we are a mixed country with numerous religions, and PM Modi is a politician who might be representing the country on the International level, but he doesn’t speak for us all.
- How many languages do you speak? We have 780+ languages and 1600+dialects. Although, as per the Constitution of India, there are 22 languages and most of the people speak and understand 5 to 6 languages. Note: English is a language that connects North to South and West to East.
- Aren’t you a little too tall for an Indian woman? Yes, I am (166 cms), but here I am quite short.
- They always go saying they love Indian food like Chicken Biryani, Daal, Chola Bhatura and more. But they don’t have the spice tolerance, unlike us. To which I say: I am a disgrace as an Indian person when it comes to eating spicy food.
- I have gotten numerous compliments about my beauty, and once a guy proposed to me for marriage on behalf of his brother, saying: He would love to have Indian genes in his family. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or be offended.
- I take a certain pride in explaining how deeply we value Education – especially when I see how casually it’s sometimes treated abroad. Even when jobs are scarce, most of us are taught to read, write, and speak not just one language, but often several. That’s not just schooling; that’s survival.
- You guys get married really early, like at 18 or 20, right? Not exactly. While early marriage still exists in some rural communities, most of us marry only after achieving financial stability, which these days often means well into our late 20s or 30s.
- Do all Indians have Arranged Marriages? Many do, but maybe you would too if you spent years prepping for competitive exams with no time to date, or if you trusted your parents’ judgment as much as we often do. It’s less about romance disappearing and more about practicality and family taking the lead. But now, most people indulge in Love marriages.
- Are all people in India Vegetarians? No, they are not. It depends on their religion, beliefs and lifestyle choices.
- I take pride in how easy-going medical services are in India. Here, you need to book an appointment, which you have to wait for days. And if you go to the emergency room, you have to wait 4 to 5 hours to get your shoulder fixed.
Heavier Assumptions: Guilty as charged, 1.4 billion Indian people!
- We only eat Indian dishes. We don’t branch out to other cuisines much. Because, unlike you, who have Greek, Italian, Spanish and more restaurants in the open, we have Punjabi, South Indian, Fast food chains like Dominos, KFC, McDonald’s and more restaurants. We do have Korean, Chinese and more restaurants, but they are more of fusion foods and are present only in the Metropolitan cities.
- Why is India buying Oil from Russia? Doesn’t India understand Russia is the bad guy? To which I always quote our India’s Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar – “Europe needs to realise that Europe’s problem is not the world’s problem”. I do know war is bad and disturbing, but Europe woke up when war was in their neighbourhood; before that, they weren’t paying attention to what was happening in the world.
- Are all Indians Islamophobic since we are indifferent towards Pakistan? We do have a painful history with mostly them doing terrorist activities in India. But that doesn’t mean we hate Muslim people. We are just very privy to Love Jihad cases where women from different religions are trapped and forced into converting to Islam on the pretence of love.
After all these conversations, I’ve realised my role isn’t just to answer. It’s to complicate the single story. I’m not a spokesperson for a billion people, but I am a witness to our complexity. So, ask your questions – but be ready for real answers, not just convenient stereotypes. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll ask you a few things in return.
Also Read:
– The Outsider’s Warning: Inside Europe’s Right-Wing Uprising
– Let It Snow! Let It Snow In Berlin!
– EGAL: Why Fit in When You Can Stand Out?
– Berlin: A Passably Average City
– Best Day Ever in Berlin, Guess Not!
