I visited India back in 2008 and I loved it! However, since then I have realized that I am transgender, so I probably won’t go back unless the culture shifts toward being more friendly to queer people. That sours my taste for the country, unfortunately. I also escape fundamentalist Christianity, so I am very suspicious of fundamental and conservative religion, which I perceive as having a strong presence in India.

I don’t see India leading in innovation or technology. I see China, Japan, South Korea and the US as being leaders that way. I do see India as up and coming due to its population spike, it definitely feels like development is happening fast!

Culturally, not a fan, for many reasons others have mentioned - and the whole caste system thing tends to sour a lot of the otherwise positive aspects.

That said, the food is EXCELLENT, and that must not be overlooked.

I’ve been working with many Indians remotely who were in India and on site in Sweden and Germany. None of them ever said anything like you describe, most of them were very humble and hard working. Sadly often they would just keep their head down and work into the wrong direction sometimes for a long time not reaching out to others.

But if I’m honest, the people from India were as diverse as any other group of people. From very religious from small villages to atheists from rich families. The division between them was bigger then between them as a individual and me a European. They didn’t even speak the same language and had to use English.

My general impression is that India are really good at scientific innovation and so on but only because the incredible inequality allows India to channel its resources so that it can be on par with other countries a fraction it’s size.

If they did the work required to lift the poor regions out of poverty, and sometimes just straight up feudalism, the country would become a proper superpower with far reaching cultural impact but right now India seem to slide further into Hindu nationalism so now it’s more of a worry for everyone else if India became another dictatorship like china.

To be fair, every country believes their culture is superior in some way, partly because it’s beneficial for governments to instil a sense of nationalism in its citizens. India’s not alone in that.

Had a talk with some friends a while back about this. Used to be this big far away country with wonders and crappy things. And it’s turning into scam center galore because the only contact we have these days is the weekly scammer. To the point we’ve come to associate he accent with the situation. It’s really an undeserved fate.

I view India as a rising power that has the potential to rival China and the USA. I think the culture is backwards in many ways and advanced in others. I don’t like your current administration, but I do think India overall has interesting politics. I mean, you guys have an active Maoist insurgency. Pretty wild for the 21st century.

I tend to get along well with Indians I meet in the states. I appreciate India long history and cultural impact (Buddha came from India for example). There were democracies in India before Athens was a thing.

All in all India’s a rising power with a lot of potential. Unfortunately I don’t think they will reach China-status anytime soon because they don’t exercise as much central control as China does.

In some ways this is good, Cultural Revolution wasn’t exactly a great experience for a lot of people. But in other ways it means the Indian government doesn’t have the power to reshape India in a way where it can successfully rival the European powers.

I’m sure thoughts are influenced by the fact that the company I work for has a sizable presence there, but the very broad view I’ve developed is ‘outsourcing superpower’. It rarely seems that India is the owner or originator of things, but they end up doing a massive amount in supporting companies from the USA during what is our night hours. They also seem to have an exceptional dedication to their work despite from what I’ve seen the managers being kinda over-the-top with the demands on them.

I used to work with a young woman who left one of the wealthy families there to get out of an arranged marriage who had all kinds of interesting tales on how things worked there. Talked a bit about their 'gold room’s where they stored all their savings and if they needed extra cash would just shave off a piece from a brick.

It was the loudest and smelliest country I’ve ever been to.

I’ve never seen a country where the cross-country sleeper train bathrooms had literal holes on the floor to shit and piss out of. You saw the tracks wizz below you from the toilets. No plumbing, just excrete onto the tracks.

Chennai train station had the strongest most overwhelming diarrhea smell I ever experienced in my entire life.

Dudes were creepy as hell. They see you’re white and then you’re swarmed everywhere you go. People trying to scam, trying to appoint themselves as your tour guide and won’t stop following you and trying to guide you to “the mall”. Calling you Harry Potter because you wear glasses. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I was a woman there. I shudder to think.

Crossing the street means walking into oncoming traffic and hoping and trusting everyone to just drive around you. Absolute fucking chaos. The people are not warm or friendly. They stare and get too close and touch you all the time. I kept having people touch my shoulders and try and touch my face when I was in public or queuing.

I never ever want to return to India ever again. I don’t recommend any of my friends go there. There were very few positives about that trip other than it being an eye opening experience as to how over 1 billion humans on the planet live.

I know very very little about India, but it seems like the country is going the neoliberal route of Amerika, bringing some limited wealth, but a heap ton of poverty and stress/competition for those who do have a job. I admire India for their educational system, how hard working and responsibly their citizens are, and how much their country has grown since independence (a difficult feat).

I know that not every Indian is a BJP member, but that’s gotta be embarrassing frustrating as MAGA is in the US. I’ve seen some center-right Indian friends go hard right these last few years. This seems to be everywhere now, though, not just India.

Don’t at me, this is from a place of profound ignorance.

Edit: changed a word so I don’t come off like a racist prick

It’s one of the World’s Great Civilizations, rather than just a country like Ireland is, it’s got more historical importance and influence.

I grew up in India’s abusive ex (UK). My impression was that people have a

Most people have no problems with Indians and British culture is pretty heavily influenced by India (or at least more so than other countries). Most Brits like Indian food and everyone drinks tea. Vindaloo is especially popular with people who are very drunk, and also happens to be my favourite meal generally (they might ban it in Denmark soon). My experience is that Indians are pretty chill people.

All the news we get from India paints the north as being full of insane zealots/rapists. Stories about whole villages pinning a man down so they can saw off and steal a man’s “holy leg” or young girls getting brutally gang raped etc. I know this probably isn’t the whole story but you need a decent pr team.

Narendra Modi is a twat.

Indians are stereotypically seen as either doctors or corner shop owners. Indians are typically seen as hard working. All tech support and telemarketing is outsourced to India and people don’t typically enjoy those things.

That said the UK does have it’s fair share of racist morons, who will always have a problem with Indians, but that’s because they weren’t raised right.

The caste system and arranged marriage are terrible. It doesn’t strike me as a good place for women.

I really respect the area of Kerala and its commitment to their public. Very robust educational system, healthcare, and a focus on access to clean water. That’s just from stuff I’ve seen and read though, I’ve never been to India, I’m American.

I hope the best for India’s future, but it seems worrying from what I hear. I would hope for greater collaboration with China and an easing of tensions with Pakistan. India is a massively diverse place though, with multiple languages and even multiple writing scripts, so sometimes it’s amazing it’s a functional country at all.

Most of what I hear though is about India dominated by very right wing movements, but there’s a strong history of Indian working class movements as well. I’ll try to be optimistic about the future.

I have nothing wrong with it, my parents are from off the mainland.

I wonder in what ways does India believe they are the world leader of anything? India is just another country America outsources things to. Its way over crowded, weather is insane and the people seem to be stuck in the past in terms of acceptable hygiene and women’s rights.

That being said, i still would love to eat some indian food and witness India’s culture as a tourist.