From the article: Top 10 Indian Stereotypes
Snake charmers, roaming cows, poverty. These are all common Indian stereotypes. What stereotypes bother you the most? Share your views here and read the views of others. Share Your Views
Too stereotypical for the broad minded?
- Everyone adheres to stereotypes, even intellectuals whether they admit it or not. Stereotypes are shortcuts for thinking and are based on what is true about a majority of a people, usually ingrained through formal education, socialization or cultural traditions. This web article is shallow for the subject matter. I wonder if any writers could provide more useful stereotypes on Indians for the anthropologically-minded reader. Answer: This is a travel website not an anthropological website. I think you're looking in the wrong place for in depth discussion on stereotypes. However, why don't you start by contributing some...
- —plasticshadows
It's true, India stinks
- Don't believe the hype, India is a country that is rotting. The grotesque stench is everywhere. Squalor is rampant and abject poverty is all around you. I will shoot the next person who says that India Is a worldwide economical force, only if public defecation, rotting garbage and open sewers become a currency!
- —Guest makkers1
Smell?
- I have dealt with a number of Indians in the US and have not noticed any odor in the majority of them. Some will smell like curry. Many people of differing ethnicities have diets of substances that permeate their bodies and will emit an odor. It is like Westerners are thought to have a stench to the Japanese.
- —Guest goldengrain
Dogs in metro stations/ Sewage
- I see lots of Dogs in delhi metro stations. Do they also sell train tickets to Dogs? ALso, Some parts in delhi smell like rotten corps, due to poor sewage system they have.
- —Guest Tipsy
jiten
- WHat you say is 90% accurate! (Rest 10% leaving because of a modest calculation adn to avoid the raised eyebrows of ProStaitsics ppl!) Thanks
- —Guest jiten
Cow worshipers!
- It seems where ever i go people always ask me "do you worship cows?" after I say that I'm a Hindu. The answer is no! Yes there is a form of god that has a cow (Nandi), but no we don't pray to it, we just respect it. The cow is somewhat equivalent to a horse in old time america. Back in the day cows were used for farming, milk, & traveling... in other words a great source of income, and why exactly would you eat money? So it became tradition and barely anyone eats beef in most parts of india....
- —Guest ekta
Vedic times
- This arrived when I googled slums in Vedic times. I have really researched and saw no proof that slums existed, probably as the country was then remarkably welloff and the population meager. Anyone know more? Thank you.
- —sagarikaa
Smelly India
- My visit taught me India has changed a lot. What I was told by my father, people eat in plates made out of leaves, they walk a lot etc It's not like that. Plastic and rubbish litters everywhere. Population needs be checked now or else indians will have new problem , i.e. over population. Overall, lots to learn. Indians are a great lot of people. Generally freindly and helpful and always smiling. Will go back soon but not by myself again. Can get a bit hard for female traveller by hrself. As I figured out, 90% Indian males especially in North India want to sleep with you if you are a white female.
- —Guest Angelina Stanton
u get used to it
- after visiting india 17 times i never stop being excited the smell is a mixture of india in all its glory and i love it
- —Guest alice
caste
- I disagree that the British introduced the caste system, it was in India long before then, and is strong today, India is very wealthy, but the wealthy seek to remain wealthy and keep the lower castes doing the 'dirty' jobs without a proper wage to better themselves. no nanny state in India, Very similar to old victorian values. I have friends in India. It is as though the poor are invisible. Ans: No, the British didn't introduce the caste system, but they made it more pronounced by conducting caste census.
- —pwincessjane
Indians Smell
- I always wonder why nobody addresses this issue. I lived in NYC for a few years and there was an area known as "little India" or (as my New York friends used to call it) "stinky town." Body odor was unbearable. I don't know if Indians don't use deodorant or their smell is so strong that it gets through it. About six months ago, I visited India. I was expecting unbearable body odor, but I found that the city itself stank even more than the people. The smell of urine, cow feces and rotting garbage was everywhere. How do you deal with this as a foreigner? Did you just get used to it? I found myself gagging half of the time I was there.
- —Guest Sarah
Answers the common "concerns"
- Very well written. As I am an expat Indian, I get flooded with questions on aspects covered in this blog. The next time, someone has a question, I will direct them to this post. :)
- —Guest Meera
