A Western foreigner in Puttaparthi implies that "regular Indians" are cheats; Was my reaction appropriate?
Yesterday, a western elderly foreigner man at an outside-ashram Puttaparthi eatery, got overcharged for some dish. He asked about it at which time the eatery owner said that he had thought that he had taken some other dish, and the owner then paid him the additional money owed. Then this Western foreigner said words on the lines of, you are behaving like a regular Indian (by overcharging/cheating), implying that "regular Indians" are cheats.
As I was standing next to him at the payment counter, I could not tolerate this barb and told the foreigner in a calm tone that his comment was very offensive/objectionable. The foreigner did not apologize or say that he had mentioned it jokingly, and did not withdraw the words.
I then told him that I could complain about him to the police. He laughed at me and said that he has lived in India for twenty years!
I did not want to exacerbate the issue and actually go to the police to complain about a foreigner who is making racist comments against Indians. So I walked away from the guy and the eatery. But this guy walked behind me (as he too had finished his payment) and was continuing to lecture me! I walked away faster so that I would not get bugged to the point of actually complaining about him to the police. But I did tell him that he was a white racist fellow and that he should go back to his own country.
Later I discussed the matter with an Indian friend of mine and asked him whether I did the right thing. He agreed that I did the right thing. We both felt that foreigners who live in India (particularly Puttaparthi where I live) should not make generalized negative comments about Indians or "regular Indians" while they are living in India, and that Indians should let such foreigners know that such comments are not welcome. Being critical of Indians who are cheaters without generalization is fine. It is the generalization that gets into racism territory.
I have lived in Western European countries, USA and even South Korea for some months/years and have visited Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong & Japan. While I did find some things that I did not like in these countries and did have unpleasant experiences with some people in some of these countries, I NEVER GENERALIZED it to "regular Americans" or "regular Europeans" having some negative traits like cheating or being racist or being alcoholics etc. Further, as a visitor/guest to their country I was always conscious that I should not abuse that country's permission to allow me to stay in/visit their country.
Is it not fair of me as an Indian to expect foreigners who visit/stay in India to not generalize about "regular Indians" having negative traits like cheating? If such foreigners do not take back their words when objected to, is not fair of me, as an Indian, to tell them that I could complain about them to the police (which could have a negative impact on the Indian authorities' permission to them for staying in India)?
Yes, India does have many problems like poverty, lack of cleanliness in many places etc. Foreigners should have the freedom of speech to talk about these problems but without putting a racist aspect to it. I have seen places in Western European and American cities in the late 80s itself which were pretty dirty (now there would be more such places due to the economic squeeze that Western Europe & USA is facing). An Indian friend of mine living in New York City in the 80s was mugged and had a hatred of some crime infested (and drug abuse infested) parts of New York City, the financial capital of the USA. Some Indian friends of mine in UK at that time faced some terrible racism from white Britons. I myself have had racist abuse hurled at me and a couple of my friends simply because we were brown skinned guys, by British football fans (white guys) returning to UK via ferry from Oostend, Belgium to Dover, UK.
So I guess the Western world has its problems and India has its problems. But one should avoid making negative generalizations about countries or its people, unless one is really sure and has solid data to back up the statement.
As I was standing next to him at the payment counter, I could not tolerate this barb and told the foreigner in a calm tone that his comment was very offensive/objectionable. The foreigner did not apologize or say that he had mentioned it jokingly, and did not withdraw the words.
I then told him that I could complain about him to the police. He laughed at me and said that he has lived in India for twenty years!
I did not want to exacerbate the issue and actually go to the police to complain about a foreigner who is making racist comments against Indians. So I walked away from the guy and the eatery. But this guy walked behind me (as he too had finished his payment) and was continuing to lecture me! I walked away faster so that I would not get bugged to the point of actually complaining about him to the police. But I did tell him that he was a white racist fellow and that he should go back to his own country.
Later I discussed the matter with an Indian friend of mine and asked him whether I did the right thing. He agreed that I did the right thing. We both felt that foreigners who live in India (particularly Puttaparthi where I live) should not make generalized negative comments about Indians or "regular Indians" while they are living in India, and that Indians should let such foreigners know that such comments are not welcome. Being critical of Indians who are cheaters without generalization is fine. It is the generalization that gets into racism territory.
I have lived in Western European countries, USA and even South Korea for some months/years and have visited Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong & Japan. While I did find some things that I did not like in these countries and did have unpleasant experiences with some people in some of these countries, I NEVER GENERALIZED it to "regular Americans" or "regular Europeans" having some negative traits like cheating or being racist or being alcoholics etc. Further, as a visitor/guest to their country I was always conscious that I should not abuse that country's permission to allow me to stay in/visit their country.
Is it not fair of me as an Indian to expect foreigners who visit/stay in India to not generalize about "regular Indians" having negative traits like cheating? If such foreigners do not take back their words when objected to, is not fair of me, as an Indian, to tell them that I could complain about them to the police (which could have a negative impact on the Indian authorities' permission to them for staying in India)?
Yes, India does have many problems like poverty, lack of cleanliness in many places etc. Foreigners should have the freedom of speech to talk about these problems but without putting a racist aspect to it. I have seen places in Western European and American cities in the late 80s itself which were pretty dirty (now there would be more such places due to the economic squeeze that Western Europe & USA is facing). An Indian friend of mine living in New York City in the 80s was mugged and had a hatred of some crime infested (and drug abuse infested) parts of New York City, the financial capital of the USA. Some Indian friends of mine in UK at that time faced some terrible racism from white Britons. I myself have had racist abuse hurled at me and a couple of my friends simply because we were brown skinned guys, by British football fans (white guys) returning to UK via ferry from Oostend, Belgium to Dover, UK.
So I guess the Western world has its problems and India has its problems. But one should avoid making negative generalizations about countries or its people, unless one is really sure and has solid data to back up the statement.
Sai Ram Brother,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Brother on some points but you see we need to understand an outsider's view first. You see our Country is our Country no matter what it is. And it is true that outsiders do face problems. My friend recently saved a foreigner couple from paying extra to a shop owner. You see my Badi Maa and Bade Papa who came from Canada faced similar problems when they would go out for shopping. I mean they would actually be charged more than what the product's price would be, in one case I myself noticed it. It was only when my father would accompany us that we would get best prices. Otherwise, even in showrooms, the prices would get fluctuated at will of the salesmen. So, this was one thing which they complained but this does not hold true for poor artisans and small shop owners. Also, many showroom owners have ethics and thus they keep up their business ethics to retain their customers. So, what that foreigner said does not hold true for all Indians. And that remark by that foreigner was also offensive because it seems as if it was applied to all. He would have just said that he appreciates people being fair and honest. You see such generalized remarks are very bad. All people are not alike. But at times you see we need to understand behaviour of people psychologically. When people face similar experiences again and again (which is coincidental) then they usually form stereotype notions. So, to make sure that we eliminate those stereotype notions we need to replace their negative notions with positive notions. If people blame a Politician, just for the sake of blaming him or her just because he or she is a Politician then that Politician should see to it that he or she creates such a positivity that people are forced to change their opinions and embrace his or her positive aura and accept him or her as their leader.
Sai Ram.
The issue at hand was his generalization. It is true that foreigners do get typically charged more by many shopkeepers especially in tourist and spiritual-tourist type towns. But generalizing it to "regular Indians" gets into racist stereotyping territory which is what I objected to.
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