Hacker News Reader

Comment by kamaal | Hacker News Reader

Sorry, If you had a bad experience in our country.

Most people stare basically out of uncontrolled curiosity. In fact you get similar stares if you were to look differently than we do like for example say Chinese, African etc. This isn't just limited to white individuals but anybody in general.

Situation in many parts of Bangalore is better. The solution to this problem is to let both our cultures mingle more, than just stay in isolation.

View on HN

To add to your comment: Even Indians who grow up in cities get the same kind of stares when they visit villages. As an young child every year when my siblings and I visit a tiny village where my parents grew up, there are always people who live around the neighborhood peeping through our doors to see who has arrived and what we were up to. Even when we walk in the muddy roads or ride in an ox-cart to visit the farms,we noticed everyone lines up on the road to watch us.

And of course, this is more pronounced for woman. This is also part of Indian culture(good or bad).

But, this part of mannerism does not discount the extreme harassment the OP has experienced.

>This is also part of Indian culture(good or bad). How is it good? Btw just because a lot of people practice a gross behavior doesn't make it part of the culture. I hate it when people give excuses for behavior by saying it is "cultural". By the same logic, Bride burning, dowry and female foeticide is also practiced, Do you also consider it a part of the culture?

The main problem is with the level of education and mannerism 90% of the indians posses. These people are always in fear of god and trapped by their religions. They are not enlightened enough to make all the logical decisions themselves which causes the main problem. They try to objectify anything and everything they see. It's like a hungry man stealing food from shop. Without education and knowledge every society is equal to animals.

Even the highly educated in India go around temples and follow all superstitious beliefs. My parents quote examples of Indian scientists at NASA and their superstitious beliefs to make me believe in religion and the super powers. Their reasoning being there are smart people at NASA who follow the astrological calendar when it comes to events at their homes. So, I doubt education alone makes a person better. Character building and rational thinking is whole another ball game where Indian education falls short.

Ok, when I said it is part of culture I did not by any means justify the behavior. Cultural habits have their own downsides and upsides. They also evolve. So, right now that is the state. I wish it got better. If my comment sounded like I supported that behavior, I would like to make it clear that intent of the comment was not that.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com