The Indian complex
I might be generalising the complexes which we Indians have on this post. I am aware that each society has their own complexes. So I will try to be as accurate as possible about the complexes which we have.
In one of my posts, i have mentioned about the complexes which Indians have about our skin colour. Recently i became curious about what other complexes we might have.
During these years i have been living in Poland, i have always felt that You Polish people/ Europeans are much more beautiful than we are. You are more fair, have straight hair, blue/ hazel eyes. Genetically You are much more muscular, taller and have more physical capabilities than an average Indian .
Whereas we Indians on the other hand? I am brown, come from an Asian country where there are too much people, who are known to be defecating on the side of the road, have less hygiene, are less educated etc. Most Indians above the age of 30/35 have big stomachs, are not physically active, and don’t take much care about their look(if some one from India is reading this, please don’t be angry at me)
According to us Indians, European are more smarter, and are more civilised. You dress well, get the best education possible, and travel the world more often than us. Europeans have a higher standard of living because You earn much better. When we compare ourselves to You, we feel that we belong to the third world.We look upon Europe as the centre of the civilised, developed world.
During the writing process, i bumped upon one of my biggest problems, which i am pretty sure many Indians could relate to me with.
The biggest difficulty i have while living in Poland as an Indian, is the urge to explain to everyone that I am not the typical Ahmed/ Mohammed from middle east. . I have this need to explain that I am not a chauvinist, nor the fact that i don’t think that a woman’s position is below his man etc.. The urge to prove, that I am as forward thinking, and as like minded as any other European man can be. Or else i am doomed to be just another brown man with beard on the road. People might automatically assume-‘oh here comes Ahmed!’ I have been fighting with this problem since i have landed foot in Poland. I ask myself constantly in my mind. “Man, who are You kidding? What is it that You are doing here? I can never be as sophisticated as these people. Stop trying!’’
What is funny is when i land in India, i don’t feel this way. I am much more relaxed and don’t have to prove any one about myself or my personality. I even feel that I am much better than many Indian people that i know of.(weird huh?)
I am not saying that Ahmed’s and Mohammeds are people who are worse off than us Indians. But we all know that Western people are generally not a big fan of the muslim religion and/ or their culture. The first thing that I do when i meet any one new, is try to convey to them(maybe not directly), that I am a much more sophisticated, civilised person than i might seem to be(even though I come from Asia). I might have many complexes about my heritage, but i still try to act very cool. Sometimes i even stoop below for others, by ignoring my own feelings, by ignoring my opinion, with the hopes that i could be accepted by Polish people(How dare i raise my voice against a European??)
Now while confessing my feelings to a friend, i started wondering… How would i behave/ feel if I was for example, a British man living in Poland? If I was British i would feel much better. I wouldn’t have to worry about looking different from Polish people. I would have better financial position, better standard of living. People would automatically be interested in me. I wouldn’t have to jump any hurdles or overcome any stereotypes which an Asian man would have otherwise evoked in people in the first place. Which brings me to the following topic.
What do we think about people from other continents?
North America
When we think of North America, we think of Industrial development, higher standard of living, people with more life expectancy, better education, better paying jobs etc. All the latest technological, economic developments happen in USA right? We look upon american people as better than us.
South America
Many Indians when they think of south America, think of Mexico, Brazili and Cuba. Cuba is known for fidel Castro, communist regime, and cheguera. Brazil? Amazon rain forests, poverty, Football, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho. Mexico, people who do all the physical labour like cutting grass or working in restaurants for US citizens. We dont think there is any difference in societal status between us. We dont look upon South Americans as idols or anything
Middle east
Oil rich, powerful people. We think of them highly. Many Indian people have been working in the gulf states for a couple of decades now. Indian dias in the middle east sometimes suffer racism, and bad treatment so that they can send money back to India and help their family back home. People have respect and are afraid of the middle eastern people, because they possess power and money.
Africa
I am deeply saddened to say to You that, African people face bias in India. It is very interesting to know that in a country which is divided by castes and religion, we have people who dont think very positively about blacks. When we think about blacks, we think of slavery, people who are poor, lazy etc.
In my next post, i would like to write You about some complexes which i think Polish people might have, from the perspective of an Indian 🙂