This article is based on my personal observations. It is opinionated. It is not a scientific thesis and is not based on any data other than personal anecdotal ones.

It needed to be written.

Do I have to do science all the time?

How about some fun? Why do we eat hot pickle? Not for nutrition, I am sure.

Go on, pull my leg, use some choice expletives (by region, caste and creed) and carry on……….

Cheers.

I quote: “For example, people from the state of Punjab, who speak the Punjabi language are called Punjabi’s, while those from the state of West Bengal, who speak the Bengali language are called Bengali’s.” Punjabi’s what? Bengali’s what? I’ll take the professor seriously when he takes his grammar seriously.

However, there is a certain responsibility that those of us who undertake to take these discussions have; equally, arising from this, there is a clear demarcation between discussing difference and promoting discrimination. As a well-known academic, if Prof. Mitra had written the article in the spirit of challenging the stereotypes that exist of Indians today, I would have applauded his courage and welcomed the discussion. However, it is patently obvious that the article is not written either to dispel or to deconstruct these stereotypes critically, but to reinforce them in the most damaging of ways. And for an academic to turn personal opinions into generalisations that then masquerade as truths: that is not just irresponsible, it is downright appalling.

I have worked with different organisations in the social sector from across India, and for every ‘generalisation’ Prof. Mitra has made, I can give you examples of people who counter his various images. I am fairly certain this would be true of the tech industry as well. I hesitate to do so, however, because that would give credence to an analysis I find flimsy and absurd. As an activist and social scientist, I also find Prof. Mitra’s generalisations not just problematic from the point of view of perception, but from simple fact. Everyone in Tamil Nadu is not ’strictly vegetarian’ for example, just as not everyone in Andhra or Kerala eats fish and meat: vegetarianism In India is primarily based on caste and community (of which every state has a multitude, professing different life and food styles), but also, obviously, on choice.

Even a faint modicum of research and analysis - and an acknowledgment that these are Prof. Mitra’s personal opinions, not general truths - might have turned this article into an opportunity for a much more productive and interesting discussion. As it stands now, I am gravely disappointed, both by Prof. Mitra’s article and in Ulrike, as the editor, for supporting this kind of inadequate writing.

We have a unique sense of national pride in which we tend to label any criticism of
India-Shining, as unpatriotic.

I too feel Mitra is wrong in some of his generalizations but then his objective was trying to get us out into an open debate. Every man is entitled to have his views in a democratic plurality that characterizes our nation.

I often wondered why no one challenged these stereotypes of a hardworking emotional Punjabi and a lazy creative Bengali etc. Perhaps this was because it was never discussed in an open forum.

It is time we Indians put forward all our (perverted) opinions about us in one single platform and compared notes. Hope to see it happening in this web page.

A few interesting themes may emerge from these thoughts (generated from different individual point sources getting self organized) before they fade into oblivion.