More often than not, Indian characters in mainstream media are simply present for comic relief. With their exaggerated Indian accents and common, typical first names, they are reduced to a mere stereotype that is not even entirely true. Whether it is Apu, an immigrant who runs a convenience store from The Simpsons, or Raj Koothrappali, an intelligent astrophysicist from The Big Bang Theory, media has seen a fair share of these supposedly “Indian” characters who are portrayed in ways that fit the cliche stereotype of South Asians in American television.
Given the fact that India is the second largest populated country in the world with 1.35 billion people, I think it is reasonable for us to want to see a true portrayal of Indians and not be a ridiculed stereotype. Through this article, my sole purpose is to bust some of the myths media might make you believe about Indians. And if you, perhaps, have been guilty of believing any of these, I don’t blame you; media, unfortunately, often imposes incorrect assumptions on us. All I want to do is show you that there is so much more to India.
Myth Number 1: We can’t speak English well.
Wrong. So wrong. In fact, believe it or not, India is the second largest English speaking country in the world after the United States with over 125 million English speakers. That being said, I won’t deny that many Indians have a slight accent when they do speak English. But trust me, no one sounds like Apu. No one.
Myth Number 2: We all do yoga.
Incorrect. Yes, yoga originated in India over 5,000 years ago, but not all Indians practice it. In fact, I don’t know a single Indian who does yoga. Also, side note: There’s a lot more to yoga than simply sitting cross-legged on the floor and chanting “Om”.
Myth Number 3: Indians are forced into arranged marriages.
Nope. Although arranged marriages are still prevalent in rural areas, Indian parents don’t force their children to marry someone they don’t want to. In reality, the parents choose a potential “candidate” for their daughters and then they, the daughters, have the opportunity to get to know this potential “candidate” and decide for themselves if they want to marry them. It’s basically like having your parents play matchmaker!
Myth Number 4: Indian food is pretty much just curry and butter chicken.
Um, no. India is extremely diverse and so is our cuisine. Also, a lot of Indians are vegetarians, so we don’t all eat tandoori chicken. And if you have never tried Indian food before, you should get on that soon. You won’t regret it, I promise.
Myth Number 5: India is an extremely poor country.
False. Movies like Slumdog Millionaire and Lion often portray India as a poverty-ridden country. And while that is a part of India, it’s also a part of any country in the world. There is so much beauty in India that is simply overlooked.
Myth Number 6: We speak “Indian”.
Nuh-uh. We speak Hindi, not “Indian”. Just like how Americans speak English and not “American”. And also, India recognizes 22 major languages and over 700 dialects. So aside from Hindi and English, people from India may even speak Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Meitei, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu or Urdu. I know. That’s a lot of languages for a country about one-third of the size of the United States, isn’t it? Diversity. Told you.
Myth Number 7: India has a lot of snake charmers.
Sigh. I’m not even going to explain this. Sigh.
Every ethnicity has its stereotypes, there is no doubt about that. And yes, I understand that it is difficult to disprove the false assumptions people may have, but I believe that it is important to open our minds and realize that there is a lot more to a culture than might meet the eye.