What you've always wanted to know about india, but didn't know whom to ask...

[arvind_sampath]

Hello folks!

first of all, huge props to all the great people at filesharing talk. i've been here only a few days, but from what i've seen, i think this is "the" place on the web, both for learning and sharing, and for finding maybe the most helpful, nicest people out there!
i'm not much of an expert on technical matters (atleast not compared to many here), so i decided to give something back, something which is more my cup of tea, to all the wonderful people who've helped, and continue to help in so many ways.
i thought, hey, if there's anything you've always wanted to know about india (information from an insider)...be it about our music, our films, our culture, anything, please feel free to ask away, and i'll try to do justice here.
btw, as you must have figured out already, i'm from india...chennai actually, from the south.

so bring it on...:D

[colt45joe]

whats up with the whole idea of the untouchables? you treat these people badly or something? that really true?

[arvind_sampath]

whats up with the whole idea of the untouchables? you treat these people badly or something? that really true?

hi colt45joe!

you've gone straight for the dirtiest skeleton in our closet, haven't you? :)

well, it's a long story...

when the class system of india was started a few millennia back, it was with the aim of preserving the lineage of different communities' traditions. for example, this ensured that a priest's son, was also trained to become a priest, thus doubly ensuring his place in the social framework, and the preservation of all the unique traditions and skills that belonged to that particular group. it was similar for all the groups...be it potters, farmers, warriors, etc.
but of course with time, this class system was misinterpreted by many to serve their own ends, and to privilege a certain community or communities over the others. until a few decades back, things were still very bleak. the "untouchables" were not allowed near temples, not allowed inside the upper class ghettoes, not allowed to drink from the same glasses as the others in the local tea shop, and so on.
but today, this is very rare, and one can only see it if one ventures into the hinterlands, and into remote villages, and that too,it's nowhere as bad as it used to be.
the reason for this: the increasing upward mobility of the "lower" classes in india. today, the only class that controls things (and this works pretty much anywhere in the world) is the new "moneyed" class, to which many members of the so-called lower classes are being constantly added. if you fit into this new elite, other older class biases will be ignored.
but when did this start changing? a few decades back, many new laws were introduced, to make compulsory the reservation of a stipulated "quota" of seats for the backward classes, in all educational establishments, and government organizations. though this has resulted in alienating the upper classes, who started losing the monopoly they had so long enjoyed in knowledge accumulation and transfer, it did a lot of good too. it started bringing many thousands from the till-then "backward" classes into the mainstream, where they would be considered equals with all the other classes, and would compete for the same jobs and lifestyles.
now, many decades into this scenario, the caste system doesn't even exist in my daily life, but that's also because i'm writing from chennai, one of the urban centres. it still exists in rural india, and will for some time, as it has been mixed into our blood over so many millennia.
but as i said, the cities have left it behind. for an example, and it is a common one, most of my friends are from the "backward" classes, there is common inter-marrying, we all study, work, drink together, and this would have been unimaginable a couple of decades ago, because i come from a brahmin family (the highest caste). many others will share similar stories, i'm sure.
as i said earlier, the newest, most powerful and dominating class is the "moneyed" class.

[Squeamous]

That's actually very interesting. I always got the impression the caste system was entrenched and unchanging, but it seems like most things India is moving on.

[Biggles]

Hello folks!

first of all, huge props to all the great people at filesharing talk. i've been here only a few days, but from what i've seen, i think this is "the" place on the web, both for learning and sharing, and for finding maybe the most helpful, nicest people out there!
i'm not much of an expert on technical matters (atleast not compared to many here), so i decided to give something back, something which is more my cup of tea, to all the wonderful people who've helped, and continue to help in so many ways.
i thought, hey, if there's anything you've always wanted to know about india (information from an insider)...be it about our music, our films, our culture, anything, please feel free to ask away, and i'll try to do justice here.
btw, as you must have figured out already, i'm from india...chennai actually, from the south.

so bring it on...:D

Welcome - India certainly seems to be blossoming in the global internet garden.

This is a very sensible place to make your introduction by the way. The Lounge is altogether rather more rough and tumble than the Drawing Room and many a newcomer has found it a little unforgiving. The Lounge is a wonderful place to observe FST in action though.

[arvind_sampath]

Originally posted by Squeamous
That's actually very interesting. I always got the impression the caste system was entrenched and unchanging, but it seems like most things India is moving on.

It's easy for me to understand that you had that impression. Most people from outside india do, and the ones that don't, usually don't have an impression at all...they just find the whole caste-system-issue extremely strange and unapproachable. I'll also blame most of the Indian diaspora for this. I'm sure thousands of them all over the world (and mostly in the US), are trying to cover it up and recreate it for any curious foreign friends. After all, even if it hasn't yet been blown up to the status of a "racist" practice, i'm sure this new breed of informed and exposed indians, always have a niggling subconscious feeling that it isn't too far away from being seen as exactly that. So most of them must be on their best guard. It's only human.


Originally posted by Biggles
Welcome - India certainly seems to be blossoming in the global internet garden.

Glad you think that way. Yes, suddenly "India Inc." seems to be everywhere. If this is enabling people to better understand india, and vice versa, then i believe, it's a good thing, and we can all really do with a lot more of it.

Good wishes! :)

[thewizeard]

Hello folks!

first of all, huge props to all the great people at filesharing talk. i've been here only a few days, but from what i've seen, i think this is "the" place on the web, both for learning and sharing, and for finding maybe the most helpful, nicest people out there!
i'm not much of an expert on technical matters (atleast not compared to many here), so i decided to give something back, something which is more my cup of tea, to all the wonderful people who've helped, and continue to help in so many ways.
i thought, hey, if there's anything you've always wanted to know about india (information from an insider)...be it about our music, our films, our culture, anything, please feel free to ask away, and i'll try to do justice here.
btw, as you must have figured out already, i'm from india...chennai actually, from the south.

so bring it on...:D

Whatever gave you that impression?

Aight ..question 1. Do you agree with
Mahatma Gandhi's comment "I think it would be a good idea." when asked , "What do you think about Western Civilisation? " question 2. Is Maitreya returning in time for 21-12-2012 and last but not least (for now) What is the most popular forms of file-sharing in India and would you be so kind as to list some?
..thanks in advance, oh and a big welcome to "Teh Forum" :fst:

[arvind_sampath]

originally posted by thewizeard
Whatever gave you that impression?

Hi, thewizeard. I've been here only a couple of days, but from what i've seen, i really appreciate the fact that fst is a great hub for ideas, tips and news on the internet community. without it, i might have had to scrounge for all this information, in maybe, a thousand different places on the web. besides, i've met a few good folks here, people seem to be generally friendly and ready to pitch in; and i guess, on the internet as in real life, a few experiences to the contrary are inevitable. anywhere.


Do you agree with Mahatma Gandhi's comment "I think it would be a good idea." when asked , "What do you think about Western Civilisation? "


Ah, something not many people know gandhi has said. actually, he was a man of sharp wit and intellect, as i'm sure most of you must be aware. Now, let us first try to understand where those words came from, or what were the factors responsible for someone like gandhi, to, rather uncharacteristically, use them in reply to a harmless reporter's question.

Gandhi has also said about his concept of "civilization", and i quote:

“Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and our passions. So doing, we know ourselves. The Gujarati equivalent for civilization means good conduct.”

gandhi was one in a breed of unique indians (at the time), who understood the value of their unique traditional legacy, and thus, while finding themselves at the receiving end of extreme repression from the british, were in a position, from which they could articulate this repression, to the world at large. my belief is that if there had been more indians like him at the time, their views on western civilization, would have been quite similar. gandhi and the millions who shared pre-independence india with him, had seen the dark side of "western civilization", prompting them to question the very word "civilization" and what it meant. obviously, their sympathies were never on the side of the 'white man’s burden’ to bring ‘the light of civilization’ to the savage world.

This is, let me remind you, merely my analysis of gandhi's reason for having said that. your perspective might be entirely different.

as far as my opinion about this is concerned, i appreciate gandhi for his unshakeable adherence to traditional value systems, but find that, in today's world, with its opportunities for global understanding and exploration (like never before), this brand of passionate "ethnocentrisism" is just a waste of possibilities.
and besides, many like me have been brought up in a very different india, a changing india, if you will. so i do not agree with his views on this. i do not undermine the value of my indian inheritance, but at the same time, i am also more open to new ideas and culture from the west.
i like to take the middle path in this; call me a fence-sitter if you will, you are entitled to your opinion. to me, there are an equal number of things that the west can learn from us, as there are in the other direction. what exactly these things are, will of course change in everyone's list.


Is Maitreya returning in time for 21-12-2012


you know it is very surprising, but this is another thing that there is almost no talk about in india. it reminds me of the thread about hindi music (which revealed my near-total ignorance..:), in the music part of this forum.
the india you see, is very different from the india i see.
and india has always had more than its fair share of priests and holy men, prophesies, religious cults etc. maybe if i were a part of a certain religious group or "cult", i might have been more familiar with this; in the absence of which, your guess is as good as mine. there is a cult, i think it's called the "kalki" cult, or something, that believes lord vishnu (one of our main gods) has taken an avataar as the main priest of the cult. so that kind of thing, is not entirely new.


What is the most popular forms of file-sharing in India


from what i've come across so far, most people here seem to be really into trackers with indian film content (bollywood is only the most popular; we also have thriving film scenes in tamil, telugu, kannada, punjabi etc.) some trackers like BW torrents and Desi torrents, for the films and the rest of the package: music, propaganda etc. there are many into the english-content private tracker scene too, though i don't know any personally. Most of the rest, are just happy sharing files on CDs and DVDs; remember, this is india, you still get most movies and music on pirated DVDs and CDs, all over the place.

cheers! :)

[thewizeard]

Thank you very much arvind_sampath, for your comprehensive and lucid reply. I apologise, for what my fore-fathers have done to your land and country folk.. and also thank you for the veneer of civilisation that we have" inherited" due to the close contact we had and still have, with each other. I also thank you for curry and chips and Buddha. Let's hope you will remain here longer and become a part of this community...now it's time to enter The Lounge (http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-lounge-10) ...:O .. fear not..:unsure:

[arvind_sampath]

thewizeard, it has touched my heart that you apologize for something you aren't in any way directly responsible for. of course, from your words, i can see that you have left the cruel and biased world-views of your forefathers far behind, just in the way that many of us here have moved on from the dogged traditionalism of our pre-independence times.
We have a saying in india for people like you. We keep saying that it is because of the (few) good people left in the world, that it continues to rain every year; the belief being that the rains are a divine gift that god sends us, in reward for our good actions. Without these few good men, the world would slip into chaos, drought and deep moral rot.
So thank you, and may your tribe increase, thewizeard!

As far as coming into the lounge is concerned, i will be there when i can (the fact that most of the action happens there, when i'm fast asleep, because of the difference in our time zones, is a bit of a problem though..:).

Cheers!

[dnero73]

what music is the most popular right now in India ?

[arvind_sampath]

hello dnero73!

that's a slightly complicated question to answer when it comes to india. let me try to explain. while most other countries (even those as large as or larger than india), have one common language which is spoken almost all over, india has nothing like this. india is a country with 20 smaller countries in it. you ride 400 miles in the car, cross state borders, and suddenly, people speak a different language, the food smells different, the people are either lighter or darker depending on which direction you're travelling in, and ...you get the picture..:)
so, like i think you must have guessed by now, the music obviously changes too.

while (i think) bollywood music is our most recognised musical export, almost every state has it's own film industry, and it is very rare to see the local people of one state listen to the music of another...so you have tamil music in chennai, where i stay, telugu music in andhra (hyderabad), hindi in bombay and so on.

so if i have to do full justice to your question, i will have to make a detailed, state-wise listing, but instead, i'm going to try to list the music that is pretty much universally popular all over india, or atleast familiar to most, all over india.

of course, like any other non-western country in the world, india also has its fair share of western music fiends (rock, indie, pop, not so much jazz and classical), but i'll stay away from them for now.

1.) the latest bollywood blockbuster's music:________(just fill in the blank)it changes every week or so, and i for one, am woefully out of touch, but the last time i checked, "jab we met" was topping charts..i think. himesh reshammiya's music is also really being talked about. he makes music for hindi films, but is lately in the news for his tamil soundtrack for the film, "dasavataram" (ten avatars; this is the real deal buddy, not these avatars here..:).

2.) a.r.rahman's music: he composes music for the hindi, tamil, telugu film scenes...is one of our best, and very popular.

3.)lucky ali is an artist i like for hindi pop, though i don't know how popular he is now.

4.) for ghazals (semi-classical songs), jagjit singh, pankaj udhas, ghulam ali.

5.) for south indian classical, sudha raghunathan, t.m.krishna, nithyashree mahadevan.

6.) in the club circuit, lots of remixes have been going around...dj mixes of old r.d.burman (70s music director) songs, nadeem shravan (late 80s-90s music directors) songs, kishore kumar (60s-80s singer)songs etc.

this is all i can think of right now. i'll add to it if anything comes to me.

cheers! :D

[j2k4]

Welcome to FST, Arvind...glad for your generous offer to inform.

We could use a bit more of that from other areas, I think.

Hope the burden doesn't become onerous...;)

[arvind_sampath]

hello j2k4.

thank you for your response, and feel free to ask me whatever you want about india. i will try to help as best i can. and by the way, onerous it definitely is not, more a privilege actually.

cheers! :)

[Squeamous]

Arvind, is it true that most Indians live on a largely vegetarian diet? I've heard that goat is popular....what about chicken? Do Indians often eat the larger cattle or does their religion preclude that?

[arvind_sampath]

hello squeamous.

it has never ceased to amaze me how differently india is perceived by those living outside it. perception is a very strange beast. of course as i said earlier, india isn't exactly what you would call an easy subject, for those interested in her.

i will have to start an attempt at answering your question, by reminding you, that contrary to popular perception, india isn't, atleast not anymore, a country peopled only by hindus.

we have, and are very proud to have, many minority communities, with sizeable populations, that have always involved themselves in, and contributed great and numerous things to the creation of the indian ethos. the most notable of these are the muslims, who i think at last count, numbered at around 150 million, making them the largest minority in india, and believe it or not, helping india achieve the unique status of being the country with the world's fourth largest muslim population, preceded only by indonesia, pakistan and bangladesh, the latter two, which i suppose some might recall, were once a part of india too.

following the muslims, we have over 25 million christians (roman catholic, syrian catholic, protestant, some local offshoots like the church of south india, etc.), sikhs, who number over 20 million, buddhists, jains, zoroastrians, and also a small community of jews. yes, it wouldn't even be too far-fetched if i were to say that we were "cosmopolitan" even before the word was invented.

if you are wondering why i'm giving you an introduction to indian religion, when your question was about indian food habits, let me explain. in india, food habits are largely a function of two things. one is religion(the caste within that religion also pays a role), and the second is location.

but of course, like you had noted, there are millions of hindus, who are purely vegetarian; some of the more austere brahmins from past generations (people from my family, like my grandmother) would even stay away from onions and garlic, considering them "impure" vehetables. my grandmother for one, even goes squeamish when she sees an advert for packaged chicken on t.v...:)but this traditionalism has largely become a rarity. just to use my habits as a counterpoint to hers, i would like to say that i am a brahmin, but you would be hard pressed to find that out from my food habits. i enjoy chicken and goat, and am especially fond of seafood, though none of this culinary exploration happens at home...:) and if you're thinking, ha, this guy must be an exception, well, you couldn't be more wrong. most of my (brahmin) friends are as liberal (or spoilt, depending on which side you approach this from) as i am. and the millions and millions (actually they are the majority, amongst hindus) of "lower" class hindus, have never shared the brahmin's taboos, so they are all very regular in their meat eating. amongst them, chicken is the most popular, goat and fish are tied at second place.

another community that shares the (traditional) brahmin's aversion to meat, are the jains. without much doubt, i can say that they are even more rigorous in their opposition, and even jains of my generation very rarely venture out of the safe four walls of their vegetarian existence.

amongst the muslims, goat wins hands down. their recipes for mutton (goat) are legendary and theories abound that most of these have been been passed down from the great royal kitchens of the mughals. to this day, a well-made mughal biryani (a spicy rice dish with well-marinated mutton)remains one of the muslim community's most well kept secrets. of course, they are also very fond of beef, and the best beef dishes you will taste in india, will definitely be made by able muslim hands, beef being still "the big taboo" to almost all hindus.

after all, it is this idealogy that has no doubt given rise to americanisms like "holy cow!". yes, to hindus anywhere, the cow is believed to be "gau mata" or the cow mother...she is respected and revered as a provider (much like a mother is), and as the vehicle of the god shiva (most gods in our pantheon have different animal vehicles). most traditional festivals like the south indian harvest festival called pongal, begin with offerings and prayers made to her. so, for most hindus, even thinking about eating a cow, is sacrilege. and there are much, much fewer hindus (even the experimental ones) that would take to beef, in the same way that they would to say, goat, chicken or fish. but that said, beef is quite common, and also quite popular if i dare say, with the "lower" classes of hindus. if that comes across as a bit of a paradox, i don't know what to say. that's india for you...:)

now travelling to the south western and western coastline areas, where there are dense concentrations of our christian population, in places like goa (once under portuguese control), mangalore etc., an entirely different culinary landscape is revealed. goans are very serious about their pork, meat that most hindus detest, and muslims consider as big a "taboo" as beef is to hindus.

as an aside, i would also like to share a few other unusual culinary observations that i have made. on a recent trip to the southern state of kerala, i stumbled upon a joint which makes the most wonderful frog's legs(i'm sure most indians can't believe their eyes now..:)...and believe it or not, many hindus (including "high" class ones) were in attendance there. so there you go, another paradox.

and these are only the ones i know...i'm sure there are so many i don't.


cheers! :D

[100%]

Do they still show the flag and play the national anthem before every movie in the cinema?
(and everyone stands & holds hand over heart)

[arvind_sampath]

hmmm...100%, seems like you are quite familiar with india. maybe you've been here, 5-10 years ago (or have heard about this from a friend)? anyway, this has totally disappeared...the last i remember seeing it was maybe around 8 years back. and the holding the hand over the heart bit is quite an exaggeration (i for one have never seen that!), and it almost makes us sound like the nazis or something..:)..but yes, people do stand up(this is something we all have grown up doing during our national anthem; we're also expected to sing along, or atleast try to).

nice to see this question from you...i'm sure most indians have never thought about this. this indian, for one, has never thought about it, and about why it doesn't still exist...:)

and, flimsy as it may sound, the only explanation i can try to give you for this, would be that this is maybe, one amongst many things, that the waves of change (that have been sweeping through our country since the 90s), have forever taken away from us.

and as the cliche goes, we being in the midst of this change, might be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to understanding it, and might require the eyes of a foreigner, to really understand, and to see it anew.

thank you for your eyes, 100%. if there are other things (which i remember) that change has stolen from us, i will try to mention them here.

[thewizeard]

Welcome to FST, Arvind...glad for your generous offer to inform.

We could use a bit more of that from other areas, I think.

Hope the burden doesn't become onerous...;)

:slap: Perhaps a worthy candidate for mod for FST's Indian and central Asian operations..be prepared, arvind_sampath, for that coveted pm from rossco, who is a geek, in aboiut 5 years time... :bye:

[bigboab]

Welcome to FST, Arvind...glad for your generous offer to inform.

We could use a bit more of that from other areas, I think.

Hope the burden doesn't become onerous...;)

:slap: Perhaps a worthy candidate for mod for FST's Indian and central Asian operations..be prepared, arvind_sampath, for that coveted pm from rossco, who is a geek, in aboiut 5 years time... :bye:

I thought he was a Geek now.:)

[brotherdoobie]

thewizeard, it has touched my heart that you apologize for something you aren't in any way directly responsible for. of course, from your words, i can see that you have left the cruel and biased world-views of your forefathers far behind, just in the way that many of us here have moved on from the dogged traditionalism of our pre-independence times.
We have a saying in india for people like you. We keep saying that it is because of the (few) good people left in the world, that it continues to rain every year; the belief being that the rains are a divine gift that god sends us, in reward for our good actions. Without these few good men, the world would slip into chaos, drought and deep moral rot.
So thank you, and may your tribe increase, thewizeard!

As far as coming into the lounge is concerned, i will be there when i can (the fact that most of the action happens there, when i'm fast asleep, because of the difference in our time zones, is a bit of a problem though..:).

Cheers!


Welcome to FST. I like you already, and I enjoy your philosophy.


Peace, brotherdoobie

[arvind_sampath]

Welcome to FST. I like you already, and I enjoy your philosophy.

Brotherdoobie, thanks for the warm welcome. Do let me know if there's anything i can help you with.

Cheers! :)

[brotherdoobie]

Welcome to FST. I like you already, and I enjoy your philosophy.Brotherdoobie, thanks for the warm welcome. Do let me know if there's anything i can help you with.

Cheers! :)

I will. Thank you, sir.


-bd

[zedex]

i traveled in india for about a year so .... whats the deal with boys holding hands in the streets and huging each other all the time ? do they bang each other too ?

[bilkenter]

I will have a few questions.
What i wonder is mostly about ethnic position of india and the its relationships with Pakistan?

As far as i know, India consists of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. At least, those are the major ones. There have been fights against those ethnic groups in the emergency period of Indira Gandhi who drived one group into another, and Pakistan has been founded because of those ethnic wars...There have been quarrels over Kashmir which is a zone between India and Pakistan
1) Is there still a huge tension between ethnic people?
2)Do they fight for Kashmir against each other?
3)Do you think arming of both states ,that is, India and Pakistan was a good idea for their defense?
4)Is there peace negotiations between those 2 aforementioned nations?

Thanks for your reply mate... :)

[zedex]

not being an indian but i will say

1) yes always forever
2)they would sure like to
3)have you seen a country that reacts different to danger
4)i guess like always : on and off

damn goverments !

[bilkenter]

so seems like Lebanon in terms of internal problems... only shie sunnie and moro smt but dont remember :D ok i looked for it on the wikipedia here it is Maronite Christians... :P

[mobile]

not being an indian but i will say
damn governments !

That was the kinda root of many things....people do want to change but cannot,cos of some F**King politicians(in both regions) who just use power to ignite more and more hatred.And even when the governments come down to negotiations they(more or less) always end up with no solution. :huh:

It has taken years and it will probably take a life time for these snail-paced 'leaders' to get some thing done for both the regions and let peace prevail.

[ksauron]

nice one mate...
seems like a one stop spot for getting all the info on india..... more of a dynamic kiosk
eh? LOL

keep up the good work .. :D

[maverick_andy]

@zedex
U are almost to the point :D

@bilkenter

1) Is there still a huge tension between ethnic people?

Outside it looks like there is a HUGE tension between these ethnic people but in reality it is an illusion:happy:. If u go depth of this, u will see the peaceful life going between these people. U will be surprised by it. As saying goes It can't be expressed it can be only feel by seeing it. Those ppl [who is greedy one, i can't take name of specific religion of a person because a greedy person don't have any religion, country] who wanted power will create a fuss to damage these ethnicity. Hence for outsiders it looks like a HUGE tension goin on. But there is universal saying goes which says outside and inside are opposite to each other. Hope u got what i wanted to say.

2)Do they fight for Kashmir against each other?

They means whom exactly you are refering?? If you are refering greedy officers,politicians then my answer is absolutely YES.
But when it comes to people of India and Pakistan, then I say NO. Sadly what is happening in both country is POWER IS GIVEN TO UNWORHTY, greeedy, selfish people.

3)Do you think arming of both states ,that is, India and Pakistan was a good idea for their defense?

I must say, both sides doen't get any benefits from it. I remembered my childhood story where A two monkies are quarelling @ each other and third one get its benefits:D

4)Is there peace negotiations between those 2 aforementioned nations?
As long as greediness politicians,officers,selfish people are there I think U might do paper negotiation to show negotiation but how can u do the negotiation betweeen MINDS

@Aravind

Nice work man.

Hope to see more countries threads where we get taste of this whole world. Vasudev Kutumbakam means that World is one family.:happy:

[maebach]

Great thread, I'll try answering questions as well. . .

[Snee]

Yeah, 'cos you're an expert on living in India, I'm sure.

[maebach]

i traveled in india for about a year so .... whats the deal with boys holding hands in the streets and huging each other all the time ? do they bang each other too ?

Well relationships are much different in India and Indian culture. We have no translation for the word cousin. My cousins are either my brothers or sisters. Same with my dad, his cousins are his brothers and sisters. It may seem like Im straying off topic but there is love within friends that you dont find here. 2 guys hugging here means they're gay, but there it could be a thanks (not for last night) or something along those lines. Even on the streets when shopping I remember the shopkeepers calling us brother and sister. There is no Sir, Mr. Mrs. in Hindi. THat's just what I can think of.

[maebach]

Yeah, 'cos you're an expert on living in India, I'm sure.

Im Indian and I do visit often.

[bornwithnoname]

Yeah, 'cos you're an expert on living in India, I'm sure.

Im Indian and I do visit often.

I think the proper term here is pwned.

[Snee]

Yeah, 'cos you're an expert on living in India, I'm sure.

Im Indian and I do visit often.

Last I checked, visiting now and then != living.

If that wasn't true I could claim to be an expert on Germany or Denmark or whatever the fuck. Which I'm not.

And don't get me started on people living in one country most of their lives, especially when they are born there (not sure whether that part applies to you, don't care all that much), but claiming to be of another nationality.

Not saying you can't know anything about it, but you'll have an outsider's perspective, and that should be noted.





Im Indian and I do visit often.

I think the proper term here is pwned.

Nice failure, but.