‘Are there elections in India?’: NRI blocks US media with 17-word reply

“You can’t get lasagna and other table treasures in India,” the Reddit user wrote, adding, “I was at a dinner party recently and a co-worker’s cousin (the quintessential redneck) made a series of incredible comments. I wanted to share them here to see if anyone else has encountered this particular brand of confident ignorance.”

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The conversation took a strange turn when the man, who apparently believed that 1.4 billion people were completely cut off from the global cuisine, claimed with all sincerity that “you can’t get lasagna in India.” What follows is a puzzling question about the “yellow animals” that Indians use to commute.

The tone becomes condescending. American Casually remarking that he had no problem with immigrants “as long as they work”, the NRI found the comment ironically insular given his own professional success. The man further expressed his confusion, asking if it was possible to “go” to India, making it unclear whether he was questioning travellers’ freedom or basic transportation in the country.

The “finale” comes when the man asks if there are elections in India. Recalling the ensuing conversation, the NRI wrote: “Are there elections in India?” This was the third time I had heard this statement in the United States (the previous two were from Uber drivers). I just looked at him and said, “Yeah, that’s why we have a prime minister, not a supreme leader or a king.” It’s exhausting that some people here live in an absolute bubble about the rest of the world, especially when it comes to the largest democracy in the world. “

One person wrote, “Haha! You get real illiterate comments. Mine was ‘you speak English very well’ and I thought ‘you too’. I’ve started throwing the same comment back at them. ‘So, could you ever want to go back to India?’ – ‘yeah we’re not settlers’. The silence after my reply is like a drug to me now.” OP responded: “Awesome, I love these responses. My barber once said, and I quote – ‘So, you’re from the richer side of India, right? Because your English is… I mean, if you don’t tell, I won’t know. Because I know most of India People unfortunately live like in the movie…um…I can’t remember the name…Slumdog Millionaire’. I then laughed it off with “well, good for you” but now I have a great response, thanks a lot for those damn “poverty porn”.

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Another commented: “OP, you need to develop a backbone.” OP responded: “What do you mean? What does this have to do with my spine?” The Reddit user replied, “These questions are not that bad, ignorance is not uncommon anywhere, in fact I have come to realize that the more ignorant you are, the happier you will be. Also, my wife is white. When we visit India, she gets more questions from her Indian relatives than you can imagine.”

OP responded: “You’re right. There’s nothing particularly surprising about it. This happens in rural India too. The average middle class Indian is equally ignorant and uneducated about anything outside their small town and local community. Cultural isolation breeds the exact same bubbles around the world. Yet. , the purpose of this article is not to emphasize ignorance; but to emphasize the condescending tone. I assume that your Indian relatives may not ask questions of them. Ordinary middle class Indians are usually very humble when talking to strangers, especially when they know that the other person is well educated and doing well for themselves.”

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content on social media. HT.com has not independently verified these claims and does not endorse them.)