I would like to know how Indians perceive Europeans, Americans and other foreigners.?

Question

What made you "perceive" them , the way you do? Did you have any particular experience that confirms your perception? It may either be positive or negative. It is still a predominantly "free" world but no expletives please.

Answer 1

As an American, presently in India workinng on Projects, I can share some of my experiences with you.

Like most people I went there expecting filth, cows on the road, half naked Hindu Fakirs and, boy, did I find out I was wrong?

On the flight, I was accompanied by an American lady of Indian Origin who could easily be mistaken for another cafe au lait Cajun beauty. None of the "saree" and dot and all that and flawless English! She enlightened me that "Fakirs" are Sufi Muslims and they don't go around half naked. It seems this has its roots in the derogatory term used against Gandhi by some Brit, long ago!

The airport, where we got off at Bangalore, was chaotic because there three or four flights landing one after the other and as many taking off!? So much for the "poor", "backward" country!?

Outside, there was a sea of Chevrolets, Hyundais, Mercedes Benz and world class cars. The roads were three laned! Lined with hig rise buildings with Intel, Hewlett Packard, AMD, IBM and many other Worl Class Companies there!? I saw Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Macdonalds, TGI Fridays, Baskin Robbins et al, on the way to my Company Apartment which was in a township which had it's own pool, clubhouse, gym, jogging track and the works!?

Not exactly the picture you'd think when you've seen "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", eh? Oh, by the way, the Indians were laughing their heads off at that one, by the way.

It seem that most Hindus are vegetarians and consider eating meat, when there's the plethora of fruits and vegetables available to feed their hunger ... as something downright barbaric!? In fact this is the home of the veggie burger, veggie pizza and veggie fast foods!? So, you can imagine how they felt when they were depicted as people who ate slithering snakes and monkeys brains!?

However, what I liked about them Hindus was that they had not made a row about it but had merely laughed at the dumb cluck Yanks imagination!? Had it been about Islam like saying Muslims eat pigs, I think Harrison Ford and all of them would have been conmdemned to Death, by fatwa!?

Now, I've met a lot of Indians here. Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Muslims and Sikhs in varying sizes and shapes and hues. Seeing Black, Brown, Yellow and White people here is not at all strange and a lot of the "White" people I met there turned out to be Anglo-Indians, who were actually locals!? You can imagine how surprised I was when the 6' 6" Black guy turned out to be a local from a tribe of Negroes who'd settled there generations ago, called the Shiddis!? And many Chinese people whom I met were third generation Indians!?

You see, you could literally say that this is a "Melting Pot" like we like to call ourselves.

Regarding the outlook of the average Indian towards the Westerners, I found them to be very well informed and very understanding. I found them very friendly, accomodating and helpful.

They are surprisingly candid and are not ashamed to discuss what we might have thought they'd consider "offensive". While the Hindus have no problems with people entering their Temples and taking photos and so on, I was cautioned by the Muslim Friends to be a bit careful about visiting a Mosque. The more educated Muslims seemed to be apologizing for the semi-literates animosity towards the "murderers of Saddam Hussein" which was the cause of Propaganda by some clerics here. However, I was assured it was only in some slums and ghettoes and that I should avoid those areas like all other locals do.

I would say that if you've got preconcieved nothions about Indians and Hindus, India will prove to be an eye-opener.

Do have a great day.

Answer 2

India has been a melting pot for over hundreds of years..... human beings right here have come (as investors, refugees, warriors, wanderers) and settled on account that long. for many, the roots would be traced returned to africa, europe, suitable asia (yet it may be a hard job to achieve this). yet, because of the fact of inter-mingling, there's a undeniable volume of homogenity interior the society. I many times tell my american pals that throughout few centuries, u . s . will grow to be what India is....esp. on account that, it somewhat is the melting pot for the in demand international. If one is to seem at europeans, human beings or different foreigners with this thought, it somewhat is extremely obvious that India represents their destiny and that they characterize India's previous in many aspects.....it somewhat is barely a count of time while the subsequent wave of human migration starts off and optimistically this time while it stops for a breather, many of the international will resemble India.....