Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

The other day I was asked a rather… surprising question: How do the Indians see the French??

 

It surprised me, because firstly it is really egocentric, and quite typical of a French! (But well I guess every people genuinely feel that the world evolves around it…).

 

I thus answered that, for the large majority of Indians, there is India and the U.K. And maybe America. No France! Question of perspective…

Cf my Indian physician who tells me “ah France! It is next to Vietnam isn’t it?”

I also found myself once in a situation which I perhaps already told:

-          Vèrrre from?

-          France.

-          Vèrrre?

-          Mmhhh Europe?

-          Vèrrre??

-          The U.K.?

-          Ahhhhhhh! (with a look like why didn’t you say it immediately??)

 

Those who have been to France will (in general) remember 2 things: we do not speak English and our food is bland; besides it is very difficult to find vegetarian food.

Some also know the world-famous clichés: most guys are gay, we eat cheese, we are arrogant, revolutionist.

 

In Bollywood style, they know of our political community only Carla Bruni.

 

And in the news recently, they are outraged enough by prohibition to wear the burka.

 

In short a French, before being a French, is a (white) foreigner. And if you want to know how Indians see foreigners than there is lot more to say!!

 

Cf: http://www.indiandacoit.com/archive/2010/09/27/the-world-according-to-the-indians-and-the-french.html

Note: the following remarks come from personal experiences and exchanges and if it is very general, I think that it is quite true. One can certainly say also a lot on the French who travel…

 

First: choosing the destination. The Indian is not an explorer at heart and will prefer to avoid the unknown regions – so if parents, friends went there (or better even better live there), it is preferable.

 

Second: the visa. Indians need visas to go about everywhere. And though in the majority of the countries the procedure is not too complicated – and on top of that most of Indians use the services of an agent, time management to get a visa is not easy easy. As for everything else, waiting for the last minute is preferable.

 

Once on the holiday spot, the paramount question will be the food. If the Indian is vegetarian, I don’t want to even mention the situation… In any case, after a couple of days, the Indian will want to visit about all the Indian, or Chinese, restaurants that he will come across. He will not force his partner to share his dinner, since anyway eating is about eating – you really have to be French to think that dinner is more a moment of sharing, talking, than just gulping food.

 

Very recently, my “own” Indian really played with my nerves (this is my point of view, not his obviously). After obtaining his visa in a record time (4 days before departure), he looked at the weather on Internet, discovered that the monsoon was starting there and panicked – and yes we had checked before and we knew we could expect some rain but not to the point to ruin holidays (apparently he forgot that)… So he mentioned changing the destination. Or at least suggested that I call my friend who lives there (yes, even if she is on holiday in the Vietnamese countryside, she has access to facebook not?) so that she tells me the weather. One week in advance…

If I did not have him, I would have to invent him…