Western thoughts / views on India

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Linhares

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Hi,

After reading a few articles / replies on CAF. I’m very curious to know what are western views on India / Indians?

What do Catholics in the west think of India?

Even if anyone has a question, please do ask.
 
Hi! I’m from India. I’ll be watching this post to see the other’s opinions.
 
Hi,not sure if this counts as I lived in India for 6 months back in the 90’s.I stayed with nuns in Tamil Nadu
for five months and loved the experience and the people I grew to know.Mass was in another right but it was beautiful.The Catholics I met were all devout.
It took me a good three months to really apreciate India as the culture was just so different,but after then I thought I could easily live my life there.I had always intended to visit again,I know by now India will have changed So much but still I will .
God bless
 
I’ve never traveled to India, only have heard what people I’ve known who’ve traveled there have said. I also have an Indian friend whose parents are from India. I lived with her for a couple of years, so I’m fairly familiar with the Americanized Indian culture. My thoughts are thIs:

There are lots of pockets of people… the social and financial mobility is very difficult. This is unfortunate.My guess is that the caste system is the cause of the vast poverty there and that arranged marriage feeds the caste system. Although, I agree with arranged marriage to an extent because of its much lower rate of divorce. Despite India’s incredible technological advancements, the country, in my opinion, will still struggle with deathly poverty as a whole until they can free themselves from caste.

I’m not a huge fan of India’s art and music It lacks modernity and freshness, movies and styles seem 20-30 years behind. At the same time, there is something appealing about that. The unique style of your cultural visual and musical tradition is captivating and mysterious, and Ive noticed there is always an embracing of sex appeal and beauty in music and medias, even though the country as a whole seems very conservative, humble, and kind.

There seems to be a lack of infrastructure, laws… safety, military?
 
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I’ve never been to India.
I live in the US and have several Indian co-workers.
They seem to have very close, clannish families.
I also get the sense that there is a certain segregation between the sexes, i.e. Not a lot of male/female friendships.
They also work very hard and have a great work ethic.
They’re also very friendly.

One coworker in particular speaks fondly of when he goes home to India to visit, and there isn’t a lot of TV, so after dinner, everybody hangs out outside on their porches and visits with the neighbors.
I wish it was like that here.
 
It does count. Thanks a lot for replying. Yes it has changed a lot. Especially in the cities.

God Bless you too.

P.S: If you ever come to Mumbai, do let me know. Will show you around.
 
I wouldn’t want to visit India because I struggle with the heat.

I’ve known many Indians in my life and never had a problem with them.
 
Thanks for replying.

The social and financial mobility is very difficult. - This is changing now. The caste system exist but its slowly fading away. There are arranged marriages but again that’s also not very common. A lot of young couples are also living together without getting married.

Yes, poverty is a big problem but its not coz of the caste system.

As for the Music & movies even i’m not a big fan. I prefer Hollywood.

Lack of Road Traffic safety - Yes.
Lack of Laws - No, just a problem with their actual implementation & people abiding by them.
Lack of Military - A big no. You should Google this.
Lack of Infrastructure - In the rural areas, not the cities.
Daisy said:
Americanized Indian culture
Click to expand...
Raj from TBBT & and Apu form the Simpsons have totally ruined it!
 
Hi! So yes, the caste system is slowly fading away… Except in the villages. Every now and then honour killings and suicides of the so-called ‘low’ caste people creates a buzz. Lack of infrastructure- yes, sometimes even in big metropolises. ARRANGED MARRIAGES are pretty much the norm here lol. It’s still a sort of taboo. But yes, love marriages as they are called here are becoming more frequent. Traffic rules- you have them but only a few are very strictly implemented. The problems in India are sexual harassment, corruption, and sometimes insincerity. The Catholic Church in India is pretty strong. Very faithful people here. God is respected by most Indians. Be it any God. And dirt. Places are super dirty sometimes because no one wants to cooperate.
 
Also, sitting in the porches instead of watching TV happens in either in the villages, were all houses have porches, or in really expensive homes that come with porches. Most people live in apartments. Even people with separate homes don’t really have porches. They’re sort of out of fashion. Not all Indian families live together or get together in the same way that they used to. But large families do exist and they’re super duper fun.
 
Thanks for replying.

Ya form some reason Indian families are very close knit. Segregation is a thing of the past now. Yes we are hard working (but not if your a government employee 😆)

Every house has a TV now. In fact smartphones are even more popular. Amazon Prime & Netflix are also gaining popularity. No one hangs out after dinner now.
 
Thanks for replying.

You may want to visit between Dec & Feb. Its much cooler.
 
Some random thoughts:

I have friends who are from Kerala, our sons went to Catholic school here together.

I attended a 7 day silent retreat once led by a Carmelite priest from India, which was a blessing!

After the Beatles went to India, we got to hear Ravi Shankar and sitar music, some of which I enjoy.

I’ve read the writings of Bede Griffiths and Henri le Saux, Benedictine priests who went to India and immersed themselves in the culture. I’ve also enjoyed some of the late Jesuit Fr. Anthony de Mello’s writings.
 
No, a warning was issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith concerning some of his later writings. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack before he could clarify or defend those writings (the book in question, I believe was “Walking on Water”), but he was certainly not excommunicated.
 
It’s a multi religious, multi ethnic country with a lot of people. I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to think.
 
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