this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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[–] eaterofclowns@lemmy.world 106 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Well I don't want to get all controversial about it but the thing about India is it's a country in South Asia with a land area of approximately 3.3 million square kilometers and a population of roughly 1.4 billion. And that might be a hot take, but also we have to keep in mind its primary exports are petroleum goods and textiles. Don't even get me started on how its borders are the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal.

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 38 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's crazy when you put all those things together. But that's just literally how it is.

[–] TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago

Once you realize how the dots connect to make a border, it just all comes together.

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Fuck, that's very sobering.

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[–] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 72 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I travelled to New Delhi, Jaipur, Rajhastan, Goa, Bangalore, and Tamil Nadu in 2011.

I hated every fucking minute of that country. It smelled so fucking loud there, lots of open raw sewage, very different interpretation of personal space, if you are non Indian you’ll be followed around by scammers trying to pretend to be your tour guide or sell you things.

You’d see huge marble houses that were very ornate and their next door neighbour would be lying on the ground underneath a thrown together tin tent structure. The wealth inequality was sickening.

I would absolutely never return to that country/subcontinent for the rest of my life. Once was more than enough.

[–] DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I couldn't agree more - I felt ashamed when I looked at the beautiful hotel I was staying in (business trip), after seeing a father kiss his kids goodbye under the makeshift tarpaulin tent they lived in, on the side of a busy, noisy, smelly road.

Only place that was (somehow) worse was Bangladesh. Same wealth inequality problems as India, but the blatant abuse of the poor was completely on show. I saw police beating beggars on the side of the road, after they knocked on windows of cars, asking for money.

[–] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 year ago

Oh you’ve reminded me of all the police stops for bribes. That to me was so fucking wild. Police pull you over and ya gotta hand them money or else they’ll give you a hard time.

[–] Albin7326@suppo.fi 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Oh. It's really bad experience πŸ˜…

[–] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Very much. It was a big culture shock. I was genuinely bewildered at some of the living conditions people had. It was really messed up. That, paired with seeing the visible caste system in real life. Dalits stooped low and disfigured sweeping the streets with brooms but built entirely out of sticks.

It felt like another planet to me.

[–] waterbogan@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This is what puts me off going, the poverty. Pity because I'd love to go for all the great vegetarian food, but I can get a lot of that here

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[–] OttoVonNoob@lemmy.ca 60 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Canadian here, who is aware of the seveirty of of currenr events. Modhi is a problem, popularism and authoritarian behavior disguised as a somber old fellow. The dude has a 2 part BBC documentary about the evil he's put in this world. He plays the victim in cold blooded murder in another nation. I believe it is hard to have a accurate opinion of India as a whole. As it is so diverse and is more of a country of British forced making, with a diverse set of cultures and religions. Pre British Raj I belive had 30-40 countries atleast. But the people whom I met are beautiful and generally kind. But keep in mind most are immigrants to Canada.

TLDR: Modhi is a scum bag and generally immigrant Indians I've dealt with are delightful human beings.

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 51 points 1 year ago (8 children)

India is a country that could be a superpower. They have the size, the population, the education, the industries, and the location. What they're missing is democratic leadership.

India has aligned itself with China, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa. All countries that have been kicked out of the international adults table because their leadership act like babies. India choose to make these alliances because these countries don't put stipulations on human rights as part of their agreements. Indian leadership doesn't want to clean up their country, they'd rather make friends with Xi and Putin.

This mostly comes from their population voting in religious nationalists, which I hope is a good lesson to everyone as to why that's such a bad idea.

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[–] dandroid@dandroid.app 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I visited in 2018. Fun trip. Lots of rain. Horrible drainage. Traffic was so bad that I ended up walking a half mile in knee-high water in the rain back to my hotel because the taxi wasn't moving.

Oh, and I got a taste of what it feels like to be a minority. People not wanting to serve me or charging me more for services. My hotel tried to charge me for my room that my work had already paid for. Once they saw I was white, they asked for more money. I think everyone needs to experience this so they know what people have to deal with literally every day of their lives.

Oh, my favorite part was how bad the power lines were tangled up.

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[–] QuizatzHaderach@feddit.de 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Everytime I see it in the media, the cities look like a constant traffic pandemonium on a garbage dump. Nature seems beautiful, but India is one place on earth, I intend to never go to, sorry.

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It has an interesting history and the amount of cultural diversity is fascinating. However, there's a 99% chance I'll never go there because of all the horrible stuff I have heard: misogyny, poverty, scammers, pretty damn serious child abuse, once again misogyny and poverty.

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[–] mim@lemmy.sdf.org 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fascinating country.

It's worth more than one visit, just due to its huge diversity. Food is amazing, and it's very lively. But you have to get used to it, and go with the flow. If you can't live without all the first world luxuries and/or don't feel comfortable stepping outside your bubble, don't go, it's not the place for you.

Would I live there? No. And I'm deeply saddened by the political direction it's heading in. But don't form opinions about countries you've never been to.

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[–] sara@lemmy.today 16 points 1 year ago

I don’t really know enough to have an informed opinion, but the first thing that came to mind is the news articles I’ve seen that Uttar Pradesh is very unfriendly towards women. There is an article that just got posted in the news community today that is pretty horrifying.

[–] mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

As an indian, Fuck india

Edit: nvm, its just because how corrupt the government is and we suffering from it, not against indians personally or so

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[–] yumcake@lemmy.one 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Rapid development has led to stark differences within that country, parts are modern, affluent, well-educated...and they live shoulder to shoulder with tribal, impoverished, and practically primal apes. It's the same issues every country faces when rapid development comes their way. It's going to be incredibly challenging for them to develop a healthy middle-class and egalitarian society.

It's more likely that the rapid modernization just leads to increased concentration of power to an oligarchy, and exploitation of the most vulnerable. Also fascist tendencies are all the rage these days on the international stage, of course those in power are looking on with interest.

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[–] homoludens@feddit.de 15 points 1 year ago
[–] jeena@jemmy.jeena.net 14 points 1 year ago

I know quite many people from there because I'm working in the Automobile industry with software, so I've been working with quite many people from different parts of India. I would even say that India would be better off if it split into smaller countries because people are so super different, starting with language and food all the way to culture and money. I've met the coolest people and the shittiest from India.

All in all I like that it's a to some degree functioning democracy.

[–] mke_geek@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've never been to India. Unfortunately I've heard mostly negative things:

  • Rampant rape of women
  • Too much garbage
  • Smells bad
  • Treating anyone non-Indian badly or will try to take advantage of them financially
  • Overcrowded
  • Poverty
  • Low wages
  • Culture that puts down women / treats them much lower than men instead of being equal
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[–] etchinghillside@reddthat.com 13 points 1 year ago

Don’t travel during monsoon season.

[–] hot_milky@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago

I'm European. My first thoughts go to immense and diverse cultural heritage, pollution, amazing food, food sickness...

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

I spent a month there in the late 90's. I was not quite 21, and it made a huge impression on me. I met many wonderful people, fell in love with the food, and have maintained an interest to this day. In college (much later) I studied Sanskrit and Hindi, and also some classes about Bollywood movies. I would love to return someday soon. I have heard that it has changed a lot.

[–] Lightsong@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whoa lots of bigot comments here.

I work in program in Canada where I see lots of immigrants, and many of them are from India. And they're some of pretty good people I've met. Some were very humbling, some funny as fuck, some cool as shit. Rarely I'd see somebody who's on the bad side. They're very respectful of women here and treat others with respect including people with disabilities, even went out of their way to help.

And yes, they acknowledge some dark side of India but there are also beautiful parts that they all love.

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[–] angrystego@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

It's huge and very diverse.

[–] Anti_Weeb_Penguin@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

An ex British colony that could have been a superpower but got partitioned and turned into 2 countries hostile to each other, preety sad if you ask me.

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[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago

Nice tech tutorials. My LineageOS version comes from an indian guy, total legend.

Awesome food, literally one of the best and healthiest ever. Vegans love it, its such a bless to always have at least vegetarian options. So spicey, diverse and not weird stuff like Sushi you dont really do yourself. Want to cook something? What about a coconut curry?

  • mustard seeds, cumin
  • ginger
  • garlic
  • onions in big pieces
  • tofu, mushrooms, anything
  • coconut milk
  • some paste
  • nice veggies
  • some spice mix

This is so easy to cook!

[–] Fallenwout@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Microsoft support comes to mind

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[–] NuPNuA@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

I'm looking forward to going over there and watching the test matches in the new year. I'll give a proper opinion after.

[–] dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

I kinda want to go there because of the amazing food and culture. But I will probably never go there, because I'm reminded of all the less great things about India considering pollution, poverty, heat and a guarantee of food sickness (which does not go well for someone with IBS).

[–] iamak@infosec.pub 7 points 1 year ago

As an Indian I would say India lacks in physical infrastructure - roads, public transport (although this is improving rapidly), etc. However having lived in Europe I will say that the technological infrastructure is very good over here - banking and payment systems (UPI is way better than the payment systems in Europe), online services, internet quality, etc.

[–] pizzahoe@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

As someone who actually lives here.

Good things include: nice food, diverse places to travel to, socialist programmes to support poor people so they don't die of hunger, simple lifestyle, fast internet connection, okayish job market.

Bad things: a huge population means lots of criminals as well, politicians here loot the poor, the cities are fucked with lots of people, little space to hangout, public transport sucks, culturally regressive society in regards to individual, women and trans rights, people are becoming more violent, Hindu vs Muslim bullshit rather than focus on making things better.

I rate 2.7/5.

[–] waterbogan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Having not been there I dont really know enough to form an opinion of such a huge country that contains such a diversity of cultures, but it does seem to be struggling with severe overpopulation which is at the root of many of its isssues

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Getting worse thanks to the news I receive being a drip-feed of violent gang rapes and increasingly worrying politics. I'm sure that's very biased and incorrect, but I wish I heard better things.

[–] atlasraven31@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They have a rich history but they live in the past, lacking modern sensibilities. Proud, arrogant, ignorant, short-sighted are some words that come to mind.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 20 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Hahaha thats 200% what my image of the USA currently is.

[–] atlasraven31@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

We can make a separate thread if you would like to discuss. I'm well aware my own country has shortcomings.

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 year ago

That probably actually describes many, if not all, countries/nations/peoples to some extent.

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[–] banana_meccanica@feddit.it 4 points 1 year ago

Irrelevant as european, i will never travel in probably. India to me its just a storybook word, a place that exist only in imagination.

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