Monday, August 6, 2007

Ridiculous Notions

I had to write these out. This are some questions and notions - ridiculous or no - people asked me /had about India. Being the only Indian in a small part of Okinawa, and being the only Indian some people/students of my town have or ever will see, is a big responsibility! (and task too!)

  1. What are the multiplication tables students have to learn?
  2. Indian are very intelligent.
  3. Do you eat curry-rice everyday?
  4. All Indians have elephants as pets, right?
  5. There are more people in America than in India.
  6. Do you have radio in India?
  7. Indians are overtaking in IT.
  8. Do Indians use cell phones?
  9. Why do you speak English?
  10. Do you have trains in India?
  11. Head bobbing sideways with hands joined over the head.
  12. Indian food is very hot and spicy.
  13. What is the red dot on the forehead for?
  14. Indians eat naan everyday.
  15. India is blistering hot.
  16. There is snow in India???
  17. You have beaches in India?
  18. Where in Indonesia are you from?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting Juhi, although I haven't been asked any such questions (cuz a lot of people still think that I am from America)
Here are some questions that I can remember we used to think about Japan and Japanese people( am also listing the answers from my own personal experience):

1. Do Japanese people wear Kimono everyday? Answer - No
2.Are Japanese people perverts?
Answer - Yes and no, but perverts are there in every country
3. Do Japanese people eat anything except sushi and rice? answer - yes, they do.
4. Is Japanese food land/tasteless compared to Indian food? Answer - hell yeah it is!
5. Are Japanese women the most polite/beautiful/graceful women in the world? Answer - NO, NO and NO
6. Is bowing too much a reason for the many elderly people with hunchbacks you see in Japan?
Answer - still don't have a clue.
7. Is Japan the cleanest country in the world? Anwer - YES and YES
(except for Mt. Fuji)
8. Are Japanese people really boring/unimaginative/reserved/xenophobic? Answer - well mostly yes with some exceptions.
9. Is there transportation system the best? ANswer - Yeah, probably
10. Are they Pachinko freaks?
Answer - Oh yes

High time the Indians started taking an initiative to ask questions about othe countries/cultures/customs. In short, start looking for what is worng/right with the rest of the world rather than being introspective all the time.