PROUD to be Indian !

It's 1am on a Monday night. random facebooking led me to find a very old string of comments on one of my friend's profile pictures. the comments startled me to no end. it was all about why indians are smelly, poor, black, lazy and what not. it went on to say that we are unworthy people who do not speak english, and tend to live off our parents money until we get married. it went on, but i'll stop here. what disturbed me what not the fact that our race was insulted. what annoyed me was the fact that we are living in the 21st century, and still have uneducated, uncivilized people who have no better jobs to do but stereotype people like that. dont they realize? we live in a multi-culture world and our race is among one of the vastest one to explore.

so for all of you who still think of us as one of the above, if you have a heart, read on. if not, go back and stay in your rat hole.

First of all, we are not all about the slums! if you're dumb enough to think India is nothing but "slumdog millionaire", go back and google Taj Mahal, The Golden Temple and The Pink City. The country is among the quickest to develop and boasts some of the most beautiful scenic environment. Parts of India, yes, are slums, but dont be so quick as to classify us as poor people living in dirt.

Second, we are not all uneducated. The country produces the most doctors, engineers and software analysts annually. Go ahead to IBM in the US. Go and see south indians filling up the office floors. No joke.

Food-mongers, not all indian food give you stomach ache. they dont serve you crappy, dirty food. not all of them, at least :p. if you can't handle the spice, go and eat your usual dose of boring. *I really have to recommend chicken biryani, butter chicken and cheese naan and pani puri!*

One of the most recent notion is that indian women must stay home and be a housewife. not true. some of the brightest pediatricians, dentists, designers and chefs in india are women, they have full time jobs and do more than just providing their family. and one second, even if they all turn up to be housewives, let me just say this. they do EVERYTHING without household help. they act as nurses (we aint got no babysitters!), caretakers of their inlaws (yes we stay with out inlaws and love them as much as our parents), look into the house (clean, sweep, mop, cook, wash, iron, dry) and so much more. that's power, people.

we most certainly do not smell. for God's sake, im not even going to try to explain this one.

Bugger of on the accent! at least we can speak English without missing out on 2nd grade grammar.

we live with our parents until we marry. we do not move out when we are 18. we do not move out when we go to college. although that is personal choice, we believe that a family should stay together. we believe in unity, togetherness and the value of a family.

we are so much more than "kuch kuch hota hai". we hate walking on the street and being called with the theme song. it's not funny anymore.

i guess that pretty much sums most of the disgusting stereotypes ive recently heard and seen. this post does not mean to offend anyone in anyway. Tt was all about taking a stand for my people, my country and myself.

much love xx