Stereotypes: Causes & Effect

I’m back after a long break and guess my next article will be after a long break too. I have been working on few things and till they are done, I will be irregular here.

It’s been a while since I got back home and thought it would be good to post an article, based on some of my observations and experiences. Of course I don’t intend to advocate drinking bottled water, wear shades and a pollution mask to beat the Indian heat and polluted environment. I sense a fair amount of discomfort when hear stereotypes like these.

To begin with, a TV commercial, from country’s leading car maker, which goes by the base line, “Hindustani hai hum” (meaning “We are Indians”). There are three or four ads which go with this line, each of them portraying a less remarkable deed. If you do need to understand, what I’m talking about, check out the series of latest Maruti Suzuki ads on youtube. What are the effects of such ads? Firstly, semi-educated Indians, who leave India, befriend a couple of foreigners, proudly show them these ads and ensure our image is tarnished. Already the stereotype that exists is consolidated. I’ve lived almost all my life in India and have never asked to pack the leftover bits of food, from a restaurant. I bet you will find a whole lot of people like me. Is it an ‘unlike Indian’ practice that I’m following? Or aren’t there foreigners who asked to pack the leftover food at a restaurant? In such a case, why badmouth our culture and give a chance to build a stereotype.

I know Bangalore traffic sucks, sucks big time. I returned to the city after a while and was expecting the traffic to be lot worse than what it really is. I have been surprised more often than not by the congested traffic, which is better compared to many large cities around the world. The thing with us is that we channelize our energies to condemn our city, state, country, culture et al. Our media too seems to capitalize on this mindset.

I have set two rules for myself to overcome such situations. One, never focus only on negatives when there is fair amount of positives present around us. Two, unless in a position to suggest a solution and put it in practice, why bother commenting on the shortcomings.

Regarding stereotype, I too have my own. People are more or less the same, round the world, with more or less similar aspirations.