Breaking stereotypes

by Aaliyah Zahra, posted in Opinion

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.

97 thoughts on “Breaking stereotypes”

  1. 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!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. 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.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. 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!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. 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!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. 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 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      6. 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.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. 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.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. 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 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    1. 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 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. 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! 😉

        Liked by 1 person

    1. 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!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. 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!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. 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.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. 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!!)

        Liked by 1 person

  16. 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 ! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. 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

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. “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. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  22. 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.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. 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.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  24. 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 😀

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      1. 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.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. 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.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  27. 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

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      3. 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 ❤️❤️

        Liked by 1 person

      4. 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.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment