When I got a book about India from the library, just to know what is written there, I was somewhat surprised. Nowhere in the book the the educated,white colored people were picturised. No modern cities were photographed. All I could see inside were the photographs of pilgrims, sadhus and villege people only. The eating habits also were not presented correctly. The festivals, the common one all over the country; Diwali, Dashahra, Navaratri were not at all mentioned. Instead a rare festival not celebrated nationwide and among the uneducated was picturised. It is the authors, I would criticise to misguide the readers about our country. If I would not have born and brought up in India, as a foreigner I would have received a very incorrect picture of India.
RE:Yes, I have also experienced it in US
by Rakesh Nandakumar on Feb 29, 2008 12:59 AM Permalink
"Nowhere in the book the the educated,white colored people were picturised".... educated, white colored...
RE:Yes, I have also experienced it in US
by Mayank Agarwal on Feb 29, 2008 12:57 AM Permalink
Was that a baniya festival Mr. on !! I am very sorry for that !!
RE:Yes, I have also experienced it in US
by Mayank Agarwal on Feb 29, 2008 01:03 AM Permalink
I am loving your treatment !! It makes you happy, isn't it ?
a recent survey revealed 60 percent of the people does not have toilets, we call ourself greatest nation and our civilization is one of the oldest civilization, then what is going wrong why people does not have besic amenties like toiletris etc. it not something can not be offered you can build a toiled with rs2000-3000, when we are claiming we belongs to greatest nation and we had gr8 civilization but now we do not have common civic manners like spitting on the wall,urinating whenever where ever they want, going for toilet in open places, we dont give spaces to other anybody passing by us, racism,castism, etc..etc.. tell me how we can justify that we belongs to a gr8 nation, gr8 civilization.
AS LONG AS WE FIGHT AMONG OURSELVES ON LANGUAGE, CASTE ETC... THE BAD PERCEPTION ABOUT INDIA IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE MUCH.
AS FAR AS OTHER THINGS LIKE PIZZA, BURGER IS CONCERNED WE NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT WEATHER INDIA HAVE PIZZA, BURGER... WE HAVE MUCH BETTER FOOD AVAILABLE IN INDIA.
RE:We fight among ourself
by bombay on Feb 29, 2008 01:09 AM Permalink
dont tell that u never had pizza or burger man????LOL just go to nay mall.its like any fishm market or station... even the housemaid goes out and had a burger!!!
A prominent NRI was asked about this conflicting and confusing India phenomenon and replied %u201CWhatever you hear about India is true. The reverse is also true%u201D
We are ranked 127th from 183 countries in Human Development Index. We have the world%u2019s highest number of poor, disabled, malnourished, blind and illiterate people. We do have lots of economic and medical wants and suffering despite having the second largest medical set-up after China.
We do have the world%u2019s largest and highly progressive middle class. We did surprise the British by becoming third largest investor in UK and second biggest investor in London after US last year and Australians by becoming their second biggest importer (BBC news stories last year). We do have electricity, but God only knows how many villages do not have it or have it for the name sake for a couple of hours a day. We do have world%u2019s busiest and largest train network and Indian Railways is world%u2019s biggest employer. We are growing and hopefully will erase poverty in 20-30 years.
An American is not wrong when he thinks India is poor. He is not fully right also. A prominent NRI was asked about this conflicting phenomenon and replied %u201CWhatever you hear about India is true. The reverse is also true%u201D
RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by Suresh J on Feb 29, 2008 12:57 AM Permalink
No sir you wrong. Its important to preach the greatness of indians. Its true we have poor amoung us. But remember an Indian was the richest person in the world couple months back before his market cap tossed him down. But thats not it. India is full of eager minds, go getters and intellectuals. They are just waiting for the right investement to come in and take them. I was in US for the last 6 yrs and i am back for good now. I have seen people who asked pretty much the same questions. They were surprised and felt how wrong they were when i said india sends its own satellites and launch them by itself. Indian Remote sensing satelites are the 2nd best in the world. India is one of the few contries to have achieved stable plasma in a tokamak fusion reactor. 3rd largest Army, 4th powerful army, 5th largest Airforce and 6th largest Navy. We are one of the 5 countries to posses a Aircraft carrier. has a reasonable advanced nuclear engineering.. the list goes on. They felt how sorry to have called india poor. They do have one question. Why is India still poor. WHY IS IT? I felt i am part of the reason.
RE:RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by bombay on Feb 29, 2008 01:06 AM Permalink
people like u only talk amognst urself,suresh man! wats the use of bragging among urself, u can brag only if someone asks u na??
RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by shaheed sant on Feb 29, 2008 01:04 AM Permalink
there is one scale called as human development assessment. have you seen where India is falling in 2007? 128th!
RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by talk fame on Feb 29, 2008 12:50 AM Permalink
Dude..why are you making comments against baniyas? Did they harm you in any way? This is exactly the problem we face as Indians. I am not trying to be a preacher here but come on..cut some slack!!
RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by on Feb 29, 2008 12:58 AM Permalink
talkie-talkie,
Baniyas didn't harm me but they harmed my country!
Gandhi not only helped in the formation of porkiland but made the Indian government pay porkiland 55 crore rupees in 1947 (can you imagine what kind of money that was?)!
Why?
So that this pathetic baniya would be remembered as a saint instead of the third-rate people, he and his kind is!!
RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by Mayank Agarwal on Feb 29, 2008 01:00 AM Permalink
But even if that is the case it should be "A baniya" not "Baniyas" !! But I know you are right somehow in hating all the baniyas !! :)
RE:CAN ANYONE WRITE ON REDIFF???????
by bombay on Feb 29, 2008 01:04 AM Permalink
hey "by" i totally agree with u on gandhi issue...he sure used india as if its his sasural ka prprety..
It would be wise to spend time to reinforce the bonding between people from different parts of India. How many people from north india show interst in learning a south indian language and vice versa. How much you are comfortable in travelling to north-east or north-east people in other parts of india. India is a big county with lot of diversities. If you are passionate about the value of diversity , you will enjoy the commonalities and celebrate the differences. Its a sheer waste to think about how americans or europeans are thinkning about us. We dont really need to spend time on this. We have a strong foundation based on culture and civilizations, I think if we can preserve some of it and follow the principles to some extent , we are successful.
RE:who cares!!
by Mayank Agarwal on Feb 29, 2008 12:39 AM Permalink
I am in South...to be precise in Hyderabad and despite sometimes getting marginalised I try to speak telugu...still cant :)
RE:RE:who cares!!
by Mayank Agarwal on Feb 29, 2008 12:53 AM Permalink
Yes but I believe restraint needs more courage then temper or anger !! I hope it doesn't take away happiness that I gave you till now.
Living outside India, I am an Indian who cannot tolerate if Indians are seen as poor, backward, dirty people. I would die to protect my Indian-ness. Living in India, I am an Indian who cannot tolerate our fellow Indians from other states/religion/region. I think Biharis are dirty and theives. I make fun of sardars. I make fun of south indians, north indians, baniyas, doodhwalas. Who am I?
RE:Who am I?
by Mayank Agarwal on Feb 29, 2008 12:36 AM Permalink
to add to it...on rediff messageboard love to blast every other person on the basis of religion caste region and anything else
I am in NZ and once one of my female Colleagues asked If we have Toilets in India? I explained her "Yes we do". One thing for sure every tourist in India travel by train and being an Indian we all know some Under privilege people Use Rail tracks as their Toilets. This should be banned. Tourists will always capture something that they don't normally see in their country.
Nice article Dhruv, but you're still learning and one thing that will become obvious to you over a period of time is that not just in America but all over the world and that includes India, loads of people have a very narrow world-view.
Nothing to bother about, because what they think/know or do not think/do not know about India does not change the basics of What India Is, which you, me and a whole load of our countrymen know is one of the greatest nations on Earth, and one that is going to dictate world direction in the next 50 years.
