1. India is NOT described by Slumdog Millionaire.

Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar nominee, showed a part of India that needed serious attention and aid. Although the movie was beautiful, it however also brought about a huge misconception around the world regarding the way of life in India. Most foreigners believe India is completely filled with the filth that was portrayed in the movie, which however, is not the case.

Although there is truth to the story, there is however another side to this. We fight against it, and we have succeeded to quite an extent.

2. “India is NOT a land of Snake Charmers.”

Is you okay, is you?

Long gone are the days when India was considered a land filled with black magic and snake charmers, but this thinking is hard to shake off of people who have never been to our land. IT is leading the world, and India hasn’t left any stone unturned either.

“No Snake Charmers Or Black Magic, We are Digital India” – Narendra Modi

3. Most arranged marriages in India are NOT forced.

It’s hard for most foreigners to accept the idea of not “dating” the person before getting married, and most feel people are forced into it. Although we don’t deny there are such cases, but most arranged marriages in India proceed only once both the bride and groom agree to it. With the changing times love marriage isn’t that big of an issue either. Small steps.

4. All Indian food is NOT hot.

Shake it off, shake it off!

Really, what is this misconception? Yes we have many curries that can be super hot but we also have the same number of different foods and curries that will totally sooth you, and no, they won’t make you chug a bucket full of water. #Draame

5. “The Indian Accent”

No.

Okay, just because Russell Peters got a few laughs out of our accent, this doesn’t establish that EVERY Indian in the whole country has the same accent. And to be frank, even if we do talk like this, it’s the easiest accent to understand, so win-win.

6. India is NOT filled with old buildings and poor infrastructure.

FACTS, BITCHES.

Really? Where do they even get this in their heads from? Yes there are a lot of places that are in need of some serious reconstruction but we really aren’t bad at all. We have the 2nd best airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport (25-40 million passengers per annum category) , in the world, the largest cloverleaf flyover, Kathipara Junction, in Asia and the 2nd largest concrete gravity dam, Sardar Sarovar Dam , in the world among many other world class examples. Poor what again?

7. All Indian food is NOT curry based.

TIKKAS!?

If this is what they have been thinking, then they are missing out on the most amazing food India has to offer (apart from the curries, obviously. We love our curries.) The northern and southern foods are different, the food in the east and west is different. Dosas, Appam, Jhaal Muri, Theplas, Tikkas, ah, the list is endless.

8. Do you speak Indian?

Bhai, kehna kya chahte ho?

This is like the most foolish thing we have ever heard. What the absolute fuck does that even mean.

9. Everyone does NOT wobble their heads.

Everyone that believes this deserves a punch in the face.

Again, Russell Peters is to be thanked for this. It’s a joke, why can’t they understand that? No, we don’t wobble our heads, and yes you need to come here to see that and maybe punch yourself in the face later.

10. Hindi is NOT the national language of India.

23 national languages. Common sense, what?

Even though a whole lot of us converse in Hindi, there is no one national language of our Country. With 29 states, and 7 union territories the languages go over 700 in number, but there are 122 that are mostly used and 23 out of those are the national languages of our country. There are parts of this country that do not understand a single word of Hindi. At least get your facts right, kids.

11. Indians Are NOT Poor.

How many times do we need to put our best examples out there to conquer the world until they understand we CAN beat their asses? We don’t deny, poverty is a very real issue in our country and needs to be dealt with, but to generalize poverty on the whole country is just plain stupid. Tatas, Birlas, and Ambanis are the living examples of that.

12. Most Indians are NOT illiterate.

Hello, 70.04% literacy rate?!

15 years ago if someone had said this, there would’ve been a slight chance we would’ve let them go. But this deserves a statistical slap- The literacy rate of India stands at 74.04% in 2011 from 12% after the end of british rule in 1947. The male literacy rate is at 82.14% and female literacy rate is at 65.46%. Kerala itself stands at 93.39% literacy rate. We still have quite a few mountains to climb, but India really is not a country of illiterates.

13. Indians DON’T travel on elephants.

wtf.

No we do not commute on elephants and no we don’t see them randomly roaming around on the streets. WHY would we? We don’t live in a forest, we have roads and we have vehicles. Jeez. But yes some of us do use them as pets, we’re just cool like that.

14. Everything is NOT filthy.

Yes, there are cities that really need to be cleaned, and yes we might be ignoring them. But that’s all because we are in the midst of cleaning other parts of our Country. Cities like Chandigarh and Mysore are the cleanest cities of India and you need to see them to believe. Apart from that, no matter how unhygienic the surroundings might be, the houses of even the poorest of people are the cleanest to their best abilities.

15. India is NOT terribly hot.

There are places in India that are very hot, no arguments there, but to generalize it over the whole country again is just stupid. India, because of it’s size, lies in different temperature zones and the climate therefore varies from place to place. There are places in India that are always covered in snow, like Sikkim, while there are places that are always hot/humid, like Chennai.

Yes, there’s still a long way to go till India is fully developed. There are huge negatives to this country, but there are just as many positives too. If we always look at the dark side, how will we know what the bright side has got for us? India is a beautifully developed country, under construction. And we love it.