Indians are a minority in the Western World. Scratch that, I meant Indian representation is low in the Western world. There are certain stigmas and stereotypes associated with us Indians that I would like to clarify doesn’t work for all of us. We are all not the same. So why generalize? Below are a few points that I would like my fellow white people to read and grasp. Also, not all Indians worship cows and not all Indians have the accent and we all don’t do the head shake bob thing.
- I am an Indian but I can’t tolerate spicy food. My eyes, nose and ears get red. There is waterworks everywhere.
- I am an Indian and I hate bangles. They always make sure you are aware of their presence at the most inopportune moments and somehow literally feel like a load lifted by my hands.
- I am an Indian and I can survive without eating curry. Really, I can.Pasta over paneer.
- I am an Indian and a Muslim (shocker, I know).
- I am an Indian and can converse in,read, write and understand fluent Urdu.
- I am an Indian and I don’t speak Hindu (fyi Hinduism is a religion and Hindi is the national language so technically no Indian you will meet will speak Hindu and yes I do speak Hindi).
- I am an Indian and I wear an abaya instead of sari. So yeah I don’t “look” like the typical Indian.
- I am an Indian and don’t like wearing gold.
- I am an Indian but do not know how to dance Bollywood.
- I am an Indian but I don’t watch Bollywood movies.
- I am an Indian and no Shahrukh Khan is not my neighbour. Neither is Shahid Kapoor nor Salman Khan nor any other celebrity.
- I am an Indian and I don’t hate Pakistanis.
- I am an Indian and will not get forcefully married to my cousin. I guess I shall be conforming to the stereotype of an arranged marriage but neither will it be forced nor will it be with my cousin.
- I am an Indian and I live in a nuclear family.
- I am an Indian and I am not a cricket lover.
- I am an Indian and I am not an IT professional. And neither am I a doctor.
- I am an Indian and my degree is not fake.
- I am an Indian and I am not cheap/stingy. I don’t dine at restaurants because of halal issue not because I am a miser.
Yes, such Indians do exist.And yes, there are Indians who eat spicy food and can’t survive without curry. Point is : there are all types of Indians.And all are cool and awesome.
lovely and refreshing post!!! Well i think its not the rest of the worlds mistake to have assumptions about India a lot of it also depends on how Indians are projected through movies or other world level forum. Its the same feeling like, i am born and brought up in the Andaman Islands but that doesnt count me as a tribal..but ppl do ask me this “:what we knw abt andaman are all tribal ppl” so you see its not their mistake,andaman has always been portrayed like that in news forums…!!!!
But then there are people like you and many other bloggers who make a difference with their writing and break that sterotype if not completely but for sure that is gonna bring in a sense to think about Indians differently!!
Glad to have stumbled upon your blog 🙂
Happy Blogging!!
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First of all I like your creative blog name.
Secondly, you are spot on with media enforcing and creating stereotypes.
And thirdly, thanks for stumbling across my blog. I had a quick look at yours too and it is bright and colourful. I shall be looking forward to your posts.
Cheers.
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Thanks a ton Aaliyah for the lovely comments. Would be happy to have on board my blogging journey.!!!
P.S – i like ur name ❤
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nice description
….#loveit
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Thank you.
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This so needed to be said.
Proud to be an Indian Muslim 🙂
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Glad you feel the same.
Woohoo hi 5 fellow Indian Muslim!!Thank you for stopping by.
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Total relate. Even though I’m Pakistani.
Total absolute relate.
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haha.. Aaliya.. I agree with all of them.. I too am an Indian and do all those things.. But I love spicy food!!!!! 😛 I guess I finally found a difference between us! 😛 haha!! ❤ I prefer Pizza over paneer! 😛 hahaha!1 even though ur dishes are a lot different, me being from Kerala! I still know what you mean!! Maybe that difference in spicy food b'coz I was born back in Kerala, was brought up there for a while too.. while you were mostly in dxb I suppose! 😛 And yes Shahid Kapoor being my neighbor… would have been a huge dream come true! 😛 I'm in dream world now! 😛 hahaha!
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Yaay hi5!!
I shall treat you to spicy chicken curry then 😉
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hahah I shall be waiting for that!! 😛
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It’s a deal 🙂
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OK 😀
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yay glad you cleared up the misonceptions!! ahhahaaahh are you sure you dont talk with an accent and head bob ahahh
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Assalamualaikum.. Greetings from Malaysia, Nice post and I very enjoying your post about breaking stereotypes. Looking forward for next post. 🙂
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Walaikumassalam sister. Thank you very much for stopping by and for your feedback. Appreciate it 🙂
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Sooo true all of them!!
I hate stereotypes. Especially the spicy stuff thing.
Why would I ever like something which makes me want to shove my face into a bucket full of ice cold water?!
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Yaaaay finally a fellow Indian who gets it!!
And yes ikr? Why would you torture yourself? I knew this family whose little kids like 4 year olds would be eating green chilli and sucking on lemons for snacks like whaaat??? Gangsta kids they were!!
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Wow. That’s next level gangsta!
The canteen in my college does that too. They sell green chillies with certain food and I am like “No no no no no no. Not gonna happen!!”
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This is an awesome post. Do you have any books that you believe give great representation of non-Western cultures?
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Thanks Steven. Try Premchand’s stories. He used to write short stories that brilliantly described the Indian society and beliefs. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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That is some awesome I will definitely check them out. This is a bit off topic, but I always like asking this, why did you decide to start blogging?
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I wrote this on my blog that my brothers insisted on me to write because they believe I am good at it and wanted me to write a book in the future. To improve myself,my vocabulary and expressions to an extent that I can write a whole book, they gave me the idea to blog.
I just checked out your blog after writing my above statement to investigate the reason for your blog and it made me chuckle. Will be following it for writer tips 🙂
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Lmao well thank you, and I just returned the favor. I can definitely see why they said you are good at writing. 🙂
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Thank you Steven.
And really? Gee thanks. I hope I can live up to the expectations 🙂
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I don’t think you have anything to worry about. 🙂 Btw do you already have an idea for the book that you want to write?
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Glad to hear.
Hmm no not yet. I would love to write fiction but I am finding it hard to write. I am much more expressive when it comes to writing non-fiction reality stuff. I am trying though.
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I see, I write fiction for almost everything and I use my blog for nonfiction. I think nonfiction is a bit easier to write, but I just love when I am deep into writing a story. It is a lot like reading fiction.
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Then I am glad to have come across your blog as it will be a help in writing fiction. And yes non-fiction is heaps easier in writing as you don’t have to describe everything in minute detail to describe a situation. Meanwhile in fiction, you have to describe the setting, the person’s appearance, everything counts. But I am working on it. I want to expand my repertoire 🙂
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I completely agree. So if you like writing nonfiction the best do you like reading nonfiction the most as well?
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Nope. I love reading fiction, and writing non-fiction haha.
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Thanks a very interesting and entertaining post. The west is terrible with stereotyping, but I would be interested to know what the Indian stereotype of an English persons is.
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Thanks for the feedback Eric. I shall try and have a look if Indians do stereotyping (pretty sure they do) and make a post. Maybe it won’t be the west doing terrible stereotyping anymore haha. Thanks for the idea 🙂
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No problem
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Hey Aaliyah! Your posts totally awe me and are incredibly good always. Reasoning thus, I’ve nominated you for a lovely blogger’s award. Please do visit my blog for the same.:-)
https://lavanyasaysblog.wordpress.com
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Thank you for the sweet compliment. And thanks for the nomination. I shall check it out soon 🙂
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I’ll be waiting for it!:-)
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Amazing !!💙
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Thank you 🙂
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Omg I found this from somewhere else and now I realize u wrote it aliyah! Yeah I m dumb xP Wow dude!! Such a cool post!
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Hahahaha that’s the Jade response I was waiting for. Thankoo 🙂
Wait, you found it from somewhere else? Wherrre?
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Welcome! That. I was doing a bit of stalking here and there? Hopping on to peoples blogs….Anyways the point is I read the post and was pretty impressed. Like wow this person is a cool writer and when I went to follow I saw your name! Haha damn girl I am prodda you! 😉
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Hahaha awww really? I impress people? Something to add to my resume 😛 Thanks bro. I appreciate it.
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Hahaha quick add it before its gone! Rare occurrence!
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Yes! I am an Indian and relate to most of them! I would even like to add Yes I am an Indian but I don’t have a red dot on my forehead. (Bindi)
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Haha yeah. People do get confused when I say Indian because they see my forehead, my mehendi-less hands,no sari. I laugh on the inside because they think back in India people are wearing sari, bindi, mehendi with gold jewellery on and dancing away in Bollywood films as extras!!
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Hahaha gosh its hilarious! They think we say namaste ALL THE TIME! Hahaha how do they think we even live? Like geez they think all the country needs are doctors and engineers? Na DA! Poor people are so clueless though. They have no clue about us. It is pretty funny in an evilish way!
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Hahaha yeah namaste in saris and bindis, it is so funny when you see their face fall after you say naah India doesn’t do fun stuff all the time, just weddings. Oh lol the doctor stereotype is so real, even Indians themselves are guilty of it.
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Omg yes! Its kinda evilsih fun watching their faces fall hahaha We hardely even do it in weddings anymore. Idk how long its been since I ve said namaste tbh ! That’s sad! That is what makes us stand out and we are losing it! Okay everyone is pushed towards the doctor or engineer stream in India. Like aunties think its not a doc or engineer its a useless job ( or u be a businessman!!)
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Proud to b an Indian Muslim 😉 Nice to read!
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Yaaay yes alhumdulillah :). Thank you
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hahaha, love it!! indeed being a muslim indian that too a Hijabi is a eyebrow raiser and also the cow questions I have faced them too, and accent as well !! Some even told me I am not that brown! excuse me I am not a chocolate ! 😉
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Hahahah ikr?
Lol chocolate!! Aaah good ol’ ignorance 🙂
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You crack me up every time, love this post!
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Glad I am able to Poppie 🙂 Thank you.
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Such a great post! I hate stereotypes!! The world is so vast, yet it contains people with such small minds it truly baffles me. You cannot judge people based on what you think you know. You’d think what with all the information we have access to at our fingertips people would have more knowledge about the world…
Nihaad – the little blog of STUFF
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Exactly Nihaad. That was the point of this post. That we ARE not the same. No one ever is. Do NOT generalize or stereotype.
And its 2015. We have advanced in technology but not in brains.
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Add me to the list as another pasta lover! 😀❤️
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Yaaay #pastalovers
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I second everything! Although I do like a little spice in everything, I do prefer bracelets to bangles and I’m pretty sure my non-Indian friends watch more Bollywood than me!
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Saaame braceletes ftw!!
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That was so sweet. 😛
Really! Being angry with innocence is all I could feel with every word. 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
Haha yeah I was a bit angry when I wrote the post. Thanks for including the innocence bit 😛
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“You know a person when they open their mouth.”
Heard of this saying somewhere. Just ticked it in here.
I think I have started knowing you much better know. 🙂
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Yeah you are right. I guess I better close my mouth now 😉
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ahh…noo!!! ;(
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Oh I can’t stand spicy too! I’m so tired of cricket. And really fake degrees? That’s become a stereotype? That’s so sad!
Oh and another thing : India has no national language. We have more than a dozen scheduled languages though.
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It is sad. Google’s CEO is Indian and he didn’t get the job based on his “fake” degree right?
Oh yess, people here assume the national language is Hindu which is so hilarious but yeah we all don’t have a national language which is awesome.
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Haha this is so good Aaliyah
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Thanks 🙂
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These are hilarious, but I must disagree with you on one thing. Not all Indians are cool.
I mean, how can that person be cool who has like a couple of hairs on his scalp, and yet takes half an hour to oil and comb and dress those tresses? Oh, and as soon as he steps out of his home, a minor gust of wind blows them away and people start to sing “Urey jab jab zulfay teri, urey jab jab zulfay teri…”
Uhh, sorry for that lame joke. But seriously, how can you not like bangles? How do you bore your brothers or your father when you go shopping with them? Just kidding 😛
Lol about the fake degree though. Haha. Didn’t know that was a stereotype too 😀
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Oh my… I had to laugh at the creative use of song lyrics. Awesome work bro 😀 Thanks for adding some entertainment to my Sunday 😅😅
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Haha, you should see how much those idiots care about those two strands of hair. While talking to you, they’d casually flick their head to catch the gentle breeze and soon the soundtrack starts playing.
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OMG that zulfey song bahahhaa. And yes I have seen that stereotypical uncle who care more for their 3 hairs on head than we girls do.
I do wear bangles on Eid and weddings but I can’t wear everyday. I am trying to incorporate it more into everyday though. And I bore my dad and brothers with clothes. Aaahh the love for clothes and shoes and handbags will never die.
Yeah I didn’t know that one too. My friend told me about it that its a misconception that Indians have fake degrees.
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Oh yeah. I forgot about the clothes and shoes. -_-
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Haha a girl has million needs 😛
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😀
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Yeppie! Celebrating Indianhood! Loved it!:-)
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Thanks Lavanya!!
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You’re welcome Aaliyah!:-)
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Thanks for sharing all the things about stereotypes and glad to meet you Aliya 🙂
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My pleasure Izza and thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Really nice post sis! I loved the way you broke some stereotypes!
I could add: I’m NOT indian but I love bangles, spices, gold, sarees (Even if I don’t wear some because i wear abayas like you) curry and mehendi!! And bolywood movies.. Actually I love all indian stereotypes hahha
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Haha thanks
Oh yess I love mehendi and saris and traditional dresses with tikas as well. Haha I am glad you do love em 🙂
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My husband says I should have born an indian! Ahha
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Hahaha you should have. I bet you look gorgeous in saris and mehendi 🙂
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Haha yeah I must say I draw quite well mehendi 😉 but when it comes to sarees, I had only one and sadly my mother throw it when I converted to islam (years ago) because she thought I used it as a Hijab!
And today, my husband doesn’t want me to wear sarees ourside but I definitely will buy some for home 😉
But who cares about my life? Stop writing, Loubnanya!
Much love sweet sister ❤️❤️
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Yaaay, I am learning mehendi art as well.
That is sad to hear 😦 I shall buy you a sari when I visit India. And yes, definitely for home. You don’t need excuse to wear a sari 😉
No don’t stop. I love these interactions and I don’t mind.
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Hehe you are the sweetest!!! Thank you for caring about my lost saree ❤️❤️
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Awww I know how it feels to lose something. And it would be my pleasure ❤️❤️❤️
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Haha loved this. Can kind of relate. Man, imagine if Shahrukh Khan was my neighbour though…
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Lol ikr? One would get to see his famous hands outstretched pose on the balcony and it would be like a Bolly movie in reality 😛
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Allah re 😍
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Hahahahaha that Allah re tho!! You are cute ☺️
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Yes! I’m an Indian as well! And I love pasta more than paneer too! Awesome post! 🙂
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Woohoo hi5!! And thank you. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Anytime! 😀
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