An Indian’s dilemma

As the issue of Racism on Big Brother becomes household gossip, India creates news in every medium and Shilpa Shetty had her 5 days of fame.

As i argue this issue with my friends a very interesting topic surfaces and then everyone here (UK) wonders about the India they see through the media lenses.

My friends are spellbound by a presenation about the type of pictures we show in Indian newspapers and here you can’t see a drop of blood in the news pages.

As the topic heats up I as a proud Indian proclaim there is nothing around that you wouldn’t find in India.

                                                             

Well my friends name a few things and they are all in India, right from snow clad mountains to deserts, draughts to tsunami and every religion to every kind of diverse culture and food.

So what doesn’t India have? Well India is Jack of all and master of none. The situation is a bit tricky with media portrayal of the country with rich culture.

I couldn’t believe my ears when i heard how people perceived my country and the impressions they had about it.

Imagine, you as an Indian are asked if you carry pots of water on your head everyday? I don’t deny that people in our villages still do that but not everyone in India does it.

But let me tell you of an incidence that a friend told me and that answered my question about why the world perceives India the way it does.

There is someone who explained to a European girl about India being governed by caste system and there being different classes and lowly professions.

And then the girl added that she was from a high class but now she mingled with friends who were also from low caste cause she was progressive.

When the European girl asked my friend if this was true none of us could control our laughter.

We couldn’t imagine someone painting such a picture of India and we call ourselves the ambassadors of a such a progressive country.

Though we explained to the girl otherwise and told her about India, I couldnt help thinking about the impression such things create in minds of people.

Guess India will always be a country that practices caste because of such people who want to say “I am upper class.”