We have read and agreed to
both versions of Jane Von Rabenau (loves India )
and Michaela Cross (traumatized by India ). We have discussed the
incidents described by both till death, defending experiences and incidents.
While Jane takes a very
logical approach of not generalizing situations and incidents, Michaela does
have a very personal view of things that happened to her.
But are their experiences
unique only to their white skin?
Being an Indian in India is not
without its pitfalls. Yes, groping in busy places happen. Yes, men do stare,
uncomfortably. Yes, rapes are increasing. Yes, people are warm and open when you
travel away from busy metros. Yes, Indian weddings are fun events. What do you
do in such situations? You ignore most cases, and show your outrage in others. One
cannot generalize, one doesn’t have a right answer, nor does one take sides.
But being brown skinned in
a country obsessed with white skinned people sees me waiting for more than 20
minutes everyday for a cab. I stay in an area where a fair amount of expats
have also made their home. And every cab or auto wala chooses them over me.
This happens everyday.
If a ‘Gora’ presents an
idea at work, it has to be way superior to what a brown skinned brain can
conjure up. If a meeting is scheduled for international partners of the
seriously cutthroat corporate job you have, then you have to be in time and
have to dress sharp. If it’s just a meeting with regular Indian working class
then the meeting get re-scheduled, sometimes cancelled.
Being brown skinned in a
bustling metropolis like Mumbai means that if you want better service at top
notch restaurants, arrive with a white skinned phoren and tables magically
appear.
If you haven’t partied
with atleast 1 foreigner then you have a lot of catching up on the way to
becoming cool.
Comfortable clothes that
you like are made for sizes suitable to a western body, desi food is customized
to a western palate, and queues are magically cut for the poor foreigner. While
this does show the hospitability of us Indians, it also adds that 2% more
competition on to the plate. Didn’t I elbow out competing classmates,
colleagues, cabbies to be there first, should I have to try again coz the best
spot has now been offered to a ‘guest’?
Jane Von Rabenau
Michaela Cross
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