It was the loudest and smelliest country I’ve ever been to.

I’ve never seen a country where the cross-country sleeper train bathrooms had literal holes on the floor to shit and piss out of. You saw the tracks wizz below you from the toilets. No plumbing, just excrete onto the tracks.

Chennai train station had the strongest most overwhelming diarrhea smell I ever experienced in my entire life.

Dudes were creepy as hell. They see you’re white and then you’re swarmed everywhere you go. People trying to scam, trying to appoint themselves as your tour guide and won’t stop following you and trying to guide you to “the mall”. Calling you Harry Potter because you wear glasses. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I was a woman there. I shudder to think.

Crossing the street means walking into oncoming traffic and hoping and trusting everyone to just drive around you. Absolute fucking chaos. The people are not warm or friendly. They stare and get too close and touch you all the time. I kept having people touch my shoulders and try and touch my face when I was in public or queuing.

I never ever want to return to India ever again. I don’t recommend any of my friends go there. There were very few positives about that trip other than it being an eye opening experience as to how over 1 billion humans on the planet live.

At a risk of downvote oblivion, this is what comes to mind to me. Keep in mind that this is just what I perceive about India through all the media I've consumed so it can come across as a bit prejudiced. I'm sure there's more nuance.

The good:

• Amazing food, rich culture
• Seemingly big into tech.
• Very colorful.
• People seem generally friendly.

The bad:

• So. Insanely. Chaotic.
• Basic sanitation and infrastructure seem stuck a few decades ago.
• Female emancipation is lacking as far as I can gather.
• A lot of inequality in general.
• The weather seems like hell to me.
• Even though they're big into tech, it comes across to me that the government and general population is still stuck in the mid 90's regarding devices (pc's etc, smartphones excluded).

So from the perspective of being in the United States. Remote Indian work it's cheap but of extremely low quality. This ranges from call center workers to programming and engineering work.

This is usually a sign of the company trying to cheap out and having poor products in general. So it's kind of a compounding problem.

Politically India seemes racist, nationalist, and terrible on climate change. I'm from the USA so yes I know we are not great on these topics as well.

Having been to India a few times from inside here it's what I've noticed in the country.

The poverty and wealth gap between Indians and westerners means almost everybody wants money from you and to up charge you. From beggars, to chai vendors, to high end stores and hotels. They also love hidden fees and you have to be vigilant about details. This puts me on a constant tense alertness when dealing with people that gets very draining.

I've also spent time with an indian family during holy. My western friend was dating a member of the family and we went for a visit. The family was very generous and welcoming. It was the only time in India when I was relaxed and able to chat and enjoy the company.

Racism and classism abound. The ways different ethnic groups treat each other and try to force the use of their language on the other group. For example a Hindi and Malayalam language standoff when I was in Kerala.

Or when at a store that sells stone art has two clearly miserable lower cast people working a human powered cutting tool for the tourists when you can hear the sound of high speed electric tools from the back room.

Animals other then cows are treated horribly. Elephants in particular always looked miserable and broken.

People with government jobs are arrogant and lazy. From customs and immigration to the national parks. I arrived 20 min before closing at a national park to buy tickets for a late night tour that was latter that evening. The ticket both was empty with one other person waiting. Two minutes before closing the guy came to the window in a towel because he had been showing before getting off work.

The belief in crap science abounds. I got an ayurvedic massage that wasn't a very skilled massage and then the guy tried to give me medical advice. Several people tried to explain that the ayurvedic guys were just as good as doctors. On way out another of the ayurvedic "doctors" tried to sell me a medicine that he assured would remove belly fat and regrow hair. This from a fat bald man.

The fiet time I was in India Modi had just won his first term as Prime Minister while I was there. There was a huge procession of angry young men yelling and pushing people out of the way. I assumed they were from the losing party. My driver informed me that no they had just won the election.

It was clear that this wasn't a jubilant celebration of success. It was a angry group that now had the power to do what they wanted.

I know i've been negative and there is a fair amount of nice things in India but they always are fleeting and overshadowed by something. In the multiple times i've been to India i've never had a bad meal and there are a lot of nice people. I just think they are constantly at odds with each other.

The most Indian moment I had was drinking tea while enjoying the smell of the spice fields. Then the wind shifted and all I could smell was the stench of shit and diesel from the cesspool over the hill.

India is one of the last places I'd like to visit. This is based on how India has been portrayed in various travel shows over the years (Amazing Race, Top Gear). It looks crowded, dirty, and the locals often aren't very friendly, especially towards women.

One of your main exports to the west is scam calls. It's a huge PR problem and your government refuses to address it. Your other main export right now is Russian oil.

Indians used to have a fairly large online presence in English-speaking spaces with mixed results. There were a lot of helpful tech bros on YouTube, but also a lot of horny dudes on Facebook. I don't really see much of either of those anymore though.

My wife works in software testing and has regular interactions with Indians. Some are really nice, but others are really not. Misogyny is far too common and when Indians are rude they are boldly rude.

The things that come to my mind are

-The country has a set goal to improve in tech industry, aiming to rival big countries like China.

-The people definetly know their spices. While they use it a bit too much at times, it certainly works well.

-The country is overpopulated, leading to talented people having harder time to succeed.

-If you're watching an Indian man's tutorial on any topic, you can assume it'll work well.

-It has a noticable split in religious beliefs.

-fuck the remote scammers operating from Kolkata. The people in India also hate these people.

I know India has a booming tech sector and produces tons of great engineers which is cool. I hate their scam call centers its disgusting.

I've never been but I've seen traveling vlogs and the news and it looks so unbelievably polluted and gross. With all the money and education I would expect basic infrastructure to be in every city. The country still has a lot of natural beauty and historical sites well preserved, big respect for that.

As for generalizations about the people. I see a lot of videos of indians mobbing and doing crazy acts. When they are abroad they tend to mostly interact with other indians and shut others out but generally follow the law and arent violent. Women's rights are pretty awful. Sellers are too pushy.

In general my perception of Indians normally comes from the ones I've met who grew up in New Zealand and I have a good perception of them. When I have to exclude that and only think of India as a country my perception is very negative.

India gets my respect for its very long history, and the fact it invented buddhism.

But Indian code is terrible. It degrades my respect for the country because it’s just consistently really bad.

A lot of Indian code seems like someone tried to fix a broken car window by caulking a fish tank into place. You confront them and they’re like “What? It’s glass isn’t it? It’s exactly the same”

Now I haven’t seen a lot of Indian code. I’ve seen the output of maybe ten different devs in India, and of that sample it’s all bad. Like really bad.

They work hard and get shit done, but it’s always some kind of hacky kluge made from copy-pasted code.

It’s unclean. It’s full of tech debt. It’s redundant. It’s often not even indented correctly.

I'm in a Western country and 9 out of 10 phone calls I recieve are scam calls from India. Right now in my country, there are Indians with temporary working visas protesting because they don't want to return to India.

India does not seem like a place I want to visit.

Like any place, there are pros and cons, and since I've never visited, I haven't been exposed to enough to form a proper opinion. However, here are some of my thoughts:

• The culture seems to appreciate intricacy and beauty, with rich colors, complex spicing of food, and gorgeously detailed textiles. Minimalism seems anathema on an aesthetic level.
• The Indians I've known have mostly been very warm, kind, patient, pragmatic people.
• There is a worrying divide between the sexes, which IMO is unhealthy and contributes to sexism, sexual assault, and loneliness. I don't get it because you guys invented the kama sutra!
• I'm not sure why this is, but there seems to be a huge tolerance of unsanitary conditions. We've all seen footage of people wading in horribly polluted rivers, or beachfronts covered in trash and human poop, or filthy public bathrooms covered in feces or period blood. Same goes for unsafe conditions - massively overloaded trains, deadly chaotic traffic, etc.
• It seems to me that it must be hard to get ahead in a country with so many people because there's a massive amount of competition, plus limited opportunities. I think this is why Indians are some of the hardest working people I've ever met, and also why some of the Indians I've known are willing to undercut the next guy to get ahead.

Norwegian here. Not that often I think of India tbh, but here is a short bullet point list

• Massive overpopulation
• Rich and dirt poor at the same time
• Castes
• Politically governed by nationalists
• Rape stories
• Massive market thats the only reason we care about India
• Good tech industry (moon landing?)
• Don't go to Kashmir
• Holi
• Bollywood
• "Indian" food (know that some protein in some sauce with nan and rice is not all an entire subcontinent can offer)

Last show I saw about India was that James May show on Amazon

• large
• tap water can be dirty
• great curry
• massive population
• caste system
• makes many YouTube tutorials
• has some beef with Pakistan
• likes to bob their heads
• arranged marriages
• spices
• really hot and humid
• as other people have mentioned, can be a bit unruly at times

To be fair, every country believes their culture is superior in some way, partly because it’s beneficial for governments to instil a sense of nationalism in its citizens. India’s not alone in that.

Fantastic food. Entirely too rapey.

I don't see much about India in the news. I have a friend who worked in a small town for a month during medical school and talks about the poverty and the number of people she saw sleeping on every flat surface in the city.

I work in public education in the US. With Indian families I've seen two very different attitudes, which leads me to believe that culturally they either serve others or expect to be served. Most are kind, pleasant, and very appreciative of anything we do for their kids. Others expect us to bend every rule for them- start and end times, attendance, bus times/routes, etc. Our Indian families tend to carry and feed their kiddos longer than others and it seems like little kids (especially boys) 'rule the roost' as parents often say things like - he won't go to bed, won't stay at the table to eat, won't get up in the morning, etc. You want to say, "He's 5. You're the mom. Set some rules."

• Biggest democracy in the world
• Wouldn't consider it a world leader, to me it often seems more like they refuse to take a clear stance in world affairs, so they can continue positive relations with authoritarian countries like Russia
• Rapid development, but still a lot of extreme poverty and inequality
• Chaotic cities
• Great food, especially for vegetarians like me
• Religious extremism/conflicts seem prevalent

When I think of india, I think of scam centers disguised as tech support.

I've been working with many Indians remotely who were in India and on site in Sweden and Germany. None of them ever said anything like you describe, most of them were very humble and hard working. Sadly often they would just keep their head down and work into the wrong direction sometimes for a long time not reaching out to others.

But if I'm honest, the people from India were as diverse as any other group of people. From very religious from small villages to atheists from rich families. The division between them was bigger then between them as a individual and me a European. They didn't even speak the same language and had to use English.

Warning: sweeping generalizations ahead. These are the kinds of opinions I would normally keep to myself.

Based on what I've heard from my Indian coworkers, I think India has a culture of ignoring rules that leads to a lot of government corruption. They praise the ability of many people to hire domestic help, but of course they're the kind of people who can afford it and not the ones providing it.

Based on what I've seen in the news, India has a huge problem with Hindu nationalism, which is basically just Indian flavored fascism from what I can tell.

Based on news about the US, I gather the caste system is so pervasive that rules against caste discrimination are being put in place in some parts of the US with large Indian populations. The caste system appears to be a sight variation of overt racism.

Culturally I view India a lot like I view Brazil, The Philippines, Hungary, and Turkey. Economically I view it as similar to China, only a decade or two behind.

I'm not surprised Indians are irrationally proud of their country; Americans are the same.

• exceptional food
• cheap workforce (the next major factory of world after China is becoming "too expensive" and competitive)
• hinduism
• religious segration
• caste system
• extreme poverty and extreme wealth
• racist towards dark skinned people (also due to caste)
• anti-queer
• lots of potential, but also among world leaders in corruption
• hot
• noisy, polluted cities
• very influenced by external forces

I'd like to visit, but Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, and Japan look more enticing.

On India itself, its impressive that it's the world's largest democracy. Indians are well educated relative to similarly poor countries and have high English literacy, which is why many believe it could outpace China.

I admire their charitibility. My local area has a large Indian population as I live near a large hindu temples in the US. There is always cheap, high quality food for those in need (1$ for a large plate of food). The kitchen is operated by volunteers and rely on donations and food banks. I Believe this is also common practice in many temples within India proper.

There are plenty of unsavory things such as the caste system but overall harbor a lot of respect for the country and people.

One of the largest countries in the world and a hell of a lot of ethnic diversity, so it's hard to make generalizations. Kerala and, say, UP are very different. But here's my attempt.

Geopolitically as an entity it's currently suffering from some of the same things the world's other largest countries (China, US, Indonesia) are suffering from - namely: populist leaders and a large group of poorly educated people in the population propping them up.

Consequently there is way too much militant nationalism and complacency about aggression towards other nations, territorialism, persecution of certain ethnic minorities, religious fundamentalism. All the biggest countries have those traits at the moment, so it's not specifically a reflection on India.

In terms of resource and development it's dealing with a similar situation to other ex colony LICs - years of resource exploitation left it with a low GDP per capita and consequently major challenges when it comes to provision of infrastructure (eg pollution management), health, education, living standards etc.

India has made huge strides in the past but the current wave of populism relies on leveraging social conflict (as it does elsewhere in the eorld) so I think that growth has slowed. For the same reason the fault lines along ethnic, religious, caste lines - which colonialism entrenched or deepened within the region - are still a big aspect.

My personal experiences with Indian people is that just like from anywhere else there are good and bad. Cultured, well educated people are easier to deal with because there is more shared knowledge. Statistically speaking, many of the world's worst arseholes you are going to meet are going to be from India, China and the US, and that holds up.

I grew up in India's abusive ex (UK). My impression was that people have a

Most people have no problems with Indians and British culture is pretty heavily influenced by India (or at least more so than other countries). Most Brits like Indian food and everyone drinks tea. Vindaloo is especially popular with people who are very drunk, and also happens to be my favourite meal generally (they might ban it in Denmark soon). My experience is that Indians are pretty chill people.

All the news we get from India paints the north as being full of insane zealots/rapists. Stories about whole villages pinning a man down so they can saw off and steal a man's "holy leg" or young girls getting brutally gang raped etc. I know this probably isn't the whole story but you need a decent pr team.

Narendra Modi is a twat.

Indians are stereotypically seen as either doctors or corner shop owners. Indians are typically seen as hard working. All tech support and telemarketing is outsourced to India and people don't typically enjoy those things.

That said the UK does have it's fair share of racist morons, who will always have a problem with Indians, but that's because they weren't raised right.

The caste system and arranged marriage are terrible. It doesn't strike me as a good place for women.

Generally, I think of India positively, but your march towards authoritarianism worries me. The last election lessened that worry a bit, but I still feel nervous about a regional nuclear war* between you and Pakistan or a land war with China, particularly as the region dries out.

As long as India strives to be a democracy and outlooks between you and Pakistan lighten, I feel pretty good about you guys.

*a regional nuclear war could cause seasonal disruptions to the entire planet, like some massive volcano eruptions that have dimmed the planet for a decade or more.

My background is US.

• Massive potential
• Nationalistic
• Somewhat racist
• Unfair caste system
• Not enough bathrooms
• Poverty and hunger
• Extremely rich people
• Excellent food
• Food poisoning
• Nice people
• Misogynistic
• Rich history
• Modi vs INDIA election
• Smart pivot to service sector
• Tata steel
• Lots of languages
• Diverse nature

Going to be a superpower soon if they manage to create a robust middle class and get some nice institutions up and running. India is doing good but it's hard to manage a country on that scale without being, like, China.

bunch of daredevils that can somehow cross roads WHILE CARS ARE SPEEDING BY in expert fashion

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jun/15/the-architecture-of-modern-empire-arundhati-roy-review

Of Modi, who was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002 when more than 1,000 Muslims were slaughtered in an inter-communal riot, she observes: “The courts, the press, the parliament are not functioning as checks and balances. If they were, he would be in jail today.”

I am myself Indian

I think most Indians don't realise how large and diverse India is. Most Indians underestimate how foreign parts of thier own country are in terms of economy, culture, language, food etc.

If i m being honest I've been told and also it looks like it - Never go to India. Its filled with Diseases , Poverty and unhygienic people.

I'll share my perspectives on Indian colleagues. Not Indians raised Americans (who are more Americanized), but Indians who are from India.

Like others, I feel like this is a general sweeping comment that can be seen as racist and inaccurate. I agree. I try my best to keep it in check.

Indian women come off as entitled. They are both strong because men in India have been rude/off-putting to them, but also demanding. I recall one Indian woman tell me how she used to get catcalls and even had some pretty rape-y language thrown her way and she shrugged it off, calling those men pathetic. But then in her own words, "Would have been treated like a queen" by those toxic men.

Indian men come off incel-y. Not just the young ones, but the married ones too. My one "friend" made a pass at my 14-yo cousin. I now keep him at arms length. The married couple, the husband was a total creep to my wife. Then he defended himself saying that's normal Indian men behavior. His wife was upset, so maybe it wasn't? Either way, I didn't appreciate it.

I only know about a dozen Indian folks in my circle. And again, Indians born in America are completely different.

I view India as a rising power that has the potential to rival China and the USA. I think the culture is backwards in many ways and advanced in others. I don't like your current administration, but I do think India overall has interesting politics. I mean, you guys have an active Maoist insurgency. Pretty wild for the 21st century.

I tend to get along well with Indians I meet in the states. I appreciate India long history and cultural impact (Buddha came from India for example). There were democracies in India before Athens was a thing.

All in all India's a rising power with a lot of potential. Unfortunately I don't think they will reach China-status anytime soon because they don't exercise as much central control as China does.

In some ways this is good, Cultural Revolution wasn't exactly a great experience for a lot of people. But in other ways it means the Indian government doesn't have the power to reshape India in a way where it can successfully rival the European powers.

Had a talk with some friends a while back about this. Used to be this big far away country with wonders and crappy things. And it's turning into scam center galore because the only contact we have these days is the weekly scammer. To the point we've come to associate he accent with the situation. It's really an undeserved fate.

So speaking as an American, the Indian diaspora here is typically thought of positively, at least in the sense they tend to be responsible members of the community.

Unfortunately, Americans are pretty geopolitically ignorant, and so end up developing views on countries based on the behavior of their American communities.

So I would say most Americans impression of India is “vaguely positive”. This notably includes at least tacit approval from American conservatives, in that Indians are left off their “which minority group are we targeting today” bingo card.

This is probably mutually reinforcing with America’s geopolitical priorities, which is essentially deepening ties with India as a counterbalance to China.

As to your “too proud of your country” comment, obviously as an American I sympathize, but they’re not wrong in that because of your country’s size and growth, India will become more prominent in global affairs.

Unfortunately as you’ve noticed, that leads to some people having an inflated view of themselves. It’s just something you have to live with as a world power.

Anyway, the below article actually answers your question, and overall, generally positive is the answer (but what did you guys do to South Africa though?)

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2023/08/29/international-views-of-india-and-modi/