By Lotus Chen
Indian British writer V.S Naipaul said, too many books written by westerners are full of prejudice against India which is unfair. Therefore, Naipaul decided to visit and write objectively about the country his grandfather comes from. My motivation is similar to Naipaul.
When I first came to India, like most Chinese people, I had little understanding of India and the real situation of the contemporary "Tindu". Most of what I learned was full of prejudice. To some extent, the media in China, especially biased and self-righteous agenda setters has misled people. The Chinese journalists based in India are often amused by some of the topics sent to them to write about by editors in China.
The longer you stay in India, the more you find out Chinese misunderstand Indians’ work and life.
In my opinion, when you are faced with an unfamiliar environment, the best attitude is to examine this diverse and complex world with the most friendly and well-intentioned attitude, with no prejudice like a blank slate. However, I came to India with prejudice I got from books and heard from Chinese . However, as a journalist who adheres to principles of "objective, fair, and balanced" journalism, I tried really hard to climb over the fence of prejudice and ignorance---India is dirty, lousy, full of “Asan”, stingy , unreliable, and hopeless.
India may not get much attention from China, but it is not without merit. As photographer Yan Ming said, " In China, those things which are concerned with the soul but do not make profit, appear to hurt ecosystem or in a risky situation, people who content with poverty feel less confused”. However, in India, concepts like soul, spirit, religion and faith seem normal and common, and the air is filled with the lightness and fullness that are missing in the material world. While the Chinese, especially in big cities, struggle for money and material goods, Indians are more willing to live in poverty, and their gross national happiness Index is significantly higher than that of Chinese.
When I came back to my homeland, I felt uncomfortable and even missed the good parts of India. I missed the details of life in India.
I love watching Indian movies, both Bollywood movies (Mumbai-centric Hindi movies), for example, the glamorous and showy love stories, and the brutal, true documentaries and independent films. I like listening to Indian music, whether it is Bollywood dance songs, or folk music or yoga music. I missed the freedom, the irregularity, the fun, the passion, the romance, the laziness, the slow pace. India is like wild grass that is full of life. I missed the attention, even preferential treatment I got there. Indian greetings like "Hello, Madam! ”and praise of me often echoed in my ears.
People who focused on self-improvement, always say that when we put ourselves in other's shoes to experience what they have experienced, we can connect with each other and there is no barrier to communicate. Experience itself is a kind of growth, a kind of learning. India has given me this valuable experience.
My process of understanding India is a process of getting rid of confusion and dispelling prejudice. How I wish I could share this process with you, because there is so much we Chinese don't understand about India.
The Italian symbol scholar and writer Umberto Eco said, "Only in the modern world we have the opportunity to reach out to each other and to understand each other. To understand each other is not to agree with each other, but to understand our differences. Don't lie to the children, saying we are all equal. Actually, we are not equal, we are different. Even if we do not have world peace, we need mutual understanding to decrease the probability of war happening. China and India also need to understand each other and their differences.
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