Kick-off event: Indian Evening about Social Development

The KnowledgeYatra team has been working hard in the last months in order to make something great possible: a unique study tour in India with a specific focus on Social Development, which is to take place this September!

In order to celebrate our work so far, present it to the public and give the space to talk about development issues in India, on June 14, 2010 we had our first event: an Indian Evening about Social Development.

Our lovely audience was welcomed by Julia Hüpfl, one of the founders of KnowledgeYatra, who opened the evening with words about the diversity of India, a country of many contrasts, colors, smells, languages and people; a country so fascinating that everyone should have the chance to trully explore.

Her opening speech was followed by an introduction about India given by Mr. Patnaik, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of India in Austria. He talked about his country with great passion and welcomed everyone to experience India, concluding that whoever goes to India has 2 options: to either love it, or hate it. There is no in-between. He showed his active support for KnowledgeYatra and we are looking forward to welcoming him again at our events.

His introduction was nicely complemented by our next speaker- experienced journalist and author Brigitte Voykowitsch who has very rich insights about India and social issues in the country. She gave an overview about the development of India, about the social issues facing the country in the past and the present. She shared the experiences she gained while travelling in different areas of the country, meeting locals, following social and political developments over the years. You want to know more? Well, you should have been there! :) Her useful insights outlined the major social development issues in India and raised a lot of valuable questions about the future of the country, about the development it needs, about the different sides of the social conflicts…

It is always hard to talk after such great speakers but we our best anyway. :) Julia Hüpfl and Steliana Kokonova gave an overview of the current activities of KnowledgeYatra and particularly the study tour about social development. We introduced the vision leading the project, the details of our study tour and tried to transmit the passion that stands behind it all.

After this we closed the evening with a lovely Indian buffet, kindly offered by our sponsor - the restaurant "Indian Food Land" (http://www.indianfood-land.com/). Well, the Mango Lassi was personally made by the team and trust us, we had a lot of it. :) Special thanks to Vijit Hooda for that.

And so our first official event was over…marking the beginning of many more great events to come…stayed tuned for more!

Stereotypes about India explained

The source of all modern day knowledge-Wikipedia says ‘Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions. Generally speaking, stereotypes are not based on objective truth but rather subjective and sometimes unverifiable content-matter’ However this is correct to a great extent, I would like to add that stereotypes are experiences over-simplified.

India being in the lime light for the past few years has had more people visiting and even more wanting to come here. People who have already been here take back their experiences and the ones that are in-line try to learn from these experiences. Another source of stereotypes is from Indians living abroad. Over the years I have come across many versions of how India and Indians are and most of them are correct in their own way and experiences of their believers, but to create a common stereotype for a country as diverse as India is a big mistake.
In the following the KYI team has tried to list and explain some (or 15) of the stereotypes from an entry by a Polish intern in Delhi on dillinet.ning.com. Hope you enjoy..!

1. Arranged marriages are very popular
Yes they are and the majority Indian youth still choose to get married with the ‘assistance’ and ‘help’ of their parents. The concept has evolved over the years. Originally it meant they decided who you got married to and you had to agree, but now they propose suitable matches and you get to choose after meeting the person and so on, depending from family to family.

2. Indians use hand right to eat, left hand to clean
This is a true stereotype, most Indians use right to eat and left to clean.

3. Some Indian men hold hands in the streets while they are not necessarily gay.
This is something that has always escaped my understanding too. This happens often & in a certain sections of society, mostly guys in smaller towns and low education backgrounds, but you will never see me and my friends holding have. :)

4. Rickshaw driver always says "no change" but if you insist on the change, they can find and give you
This is mostly for practical purposes when they don’t have any cash change and if you insist then they will ask others or anyone available nearby for the change money.

5. It is almost impossible to see Indian girls wearing sexy clothes
This is mostly a cultural & religious thing. Women in India are always raised to wear traditional Indian clothes or even if jeans or skirts, mostly very modestly. Wearing ‘sexy clothes’ will generally get you more attention than you can handle. But this is not a rule, things are changing fast in big cities.

6. Drinking beer in street will get you in trouble.
This is a social thing, alcohol is not widely accepted in public places although Indians drink a lot of beer and whiskey, but mostly in their homes or bars.

7. You can bargain even for the party's entrance fees
You can bargain for the entry into a club depending on how crowded is is in that club at that time and on its popularity.

8. Indians ask you about your qualification the first time you meet and they think they are better than you if they completed higher education than you.
Education is a very important thing for Indians at large and it is a symbol of success and hard work. Therefore the more educated you are, i.e. the more degrees you have, you are preserved as an accomplished and successful person. This is even more true in today’s social scene. The higher and more the degrees, the better the job, the larger the salary.

9. Going to shopping malls is like going to airport, you have to pass through the security and show your bag, but normally nobody really gives a damn on checking. In the past couple of years due to the terrorist activities and unfortunate attacks on the country by extremists from in and outside the country going to public places has become a matter of concern, therefore in most of the public places you will see a security scan at the entrance. Although sometimes they get a little lazy too and it seems like a hogwash.

10. In many public places (cinema/train station) there's often a separate line for women so that they don't feel harassed or simply uncomfortable squeezing with men.
This is primarily a gesture because the lines in India tend to get quite long and making separate lines makes it more comfortable for the women and it is a little bit of chivalry.

11. If you've been living for more than a month in India, you are becoming expert at decoding some sign language, such as:
- The infamous but awkward tilting of the head sideways, in between a yes and a no.
This is situational, it can both mean yes and a no.....I have always had a difficult time explaining this one. I guess this is just made for born and raised Indians :)
- The way rickshaw drivers sometimes tell you to hop in their vehicle (quick head movement towards the backseat, almost unnoticeable)
This is just a physical gesture to ask you to hop in
- The hand twisting, like unscrewing a light bulb.
This is a gesture to signal ‘why’ or ‘what’.

12. You can ask people on the streets for directions and sometimes even if they do not know, they will tell you something out of courtesy.
This is partly out of surprise and party out of courtesy.

13. You got a 5mins break in the middle of a movie in cinema.
This is called an intermission or interval. Mostly invented by the cinema operators to sell over priced popcorn, Coke, etc.

14. Teek hai (= OK in English) can mean anything between ok/ I will do it/I won't , but better say I will just to shut you up/yes, I know/I better pretend I know/...what is s/he talking about?
Very true…..it means many things in different situations, it is one of the most commonly used phrase. Advisable to learn it and even more important to learn to use it correctly.

15. In places like McDonald's or Subway they HAVE to have one of those signs that said that their products are not made of beef.
India is a secular state, but majority population is Hindu and Cows in Hinduism and other religions that evolved from it have a scared symbol and in India we like not to eat out sacred symbols, but all you hardcore non-vegetarians don’t worry, chickens and goats are not scared and we love to eat them :) also vegetarians in India means no meat-no fish, but a lot of dairy products. ‘Vegetarians’ here means everything but all living things.