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Thread: So I have returned from India with my bowels in full working order

  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
    Oh, I had to take issue with a bolshie Indian bird the other day who was blathering on about my colonial privilege and how it was only right that 'white men' be made to pay for the sins of empire. I pointed out that my ancestors were starved and oppressed by the Brits quite as much as hers and you don't hear me moaning about it. She said that was because, as a white man, I was still benefitting from imperialism. I pointed out that, as the child of a rich, English-speaking Indian family who was earning a very nice living in England by writing stuff in English, so was she.

    After about an hour of back-and-forth, we agreed to differ.
    70 years of independence and they seem to have made the place worse.

    Also, it is just too bloody hot. I can cope in the South where it is a bit wetter but the heat in Delhi in unbearable.

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
    Yes, but I do wonder if our somewhat mystical, exoticised view of the place means we let Johnny Indian off the hook a bit for the utter fücking state of the place. Oughtn't we to be saying that perhaps he ought to think a bit less about his chakras and a bit more about not taking a dump in the street?
    Street shítting is a cultural oddity and is something that the Indian government and vast swathes of the population are actually addressing now. On the other hand I'm not sure we ought to be saying anything about it. If Johnny Indian wants to shít in the street and consider his chakras, who the hell are we to tell him what to do?

    None of which is relevant to my point, which is that 'different' does not mean the same as 'wrong. I find these places where things are 'different' interesting. This, apparently, makes me weird.

    Could I make you happy by only going on holiday to Magaluf and only eating in English restaurants?

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
    70 years of independence and they seem to have made the place worse.

    Also, it is just too bloody hot. I can cope in the South where it is a bit wetter but the heat in Delhi in unbearable.
    At one point, she appeared to be trying to blame us for the fact that, as a society, it is one of the most profoundly corrupt on earth. I pointed out that that was pretty much entirely down to them. She claimed that our colonialism had infantilised the Indian character to a point where no-one could possibly expect them not to rob each other blind.

  4. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Sir C View Post
    Street shítting is a cultural oddity and is something that the Indian government and vast swathes of the population are actually addressing now. On the other hand I'm not sure we ought to be saying anything about it. If Johnny Indian wants to shít in the street and consider his chakras, who the hell are we to tell him what to do?

    None of which is relevant to my point, which is that 'different' does not mean the same as 'wrong. I find these places where things are 'different' interesting. This, apparently, makes me weird.

    Could I make you happy by only going on holiday to Magaluf and only eating in English restaurants?
    Who are we to tell him what to do?! We're Englishmen, dammit! And, as such, his betters.

    Pinko talk like that is exactly the sort of thing that lost us the empire.

    I'm starting to have my doubts about you

  5. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by Sir C View Post
    Street shítting is a cultural oddity and is something that the Indian government and vast swathes of the population are actually addressing now. On the other hand I'm not sure we ought to be saying anything about it. If Johnny Indian wants to shít in the street and consider his chakras, who the hell are we to tell him what to do?

    None of which is relevant to my point, which is that 'different' does not mean the same as 'wrong. I find these places where things are 'different' interesting. This, apparently, makes me weird.

    Could I make you happy by only going on holiday to Magaluf and only eating in English restaurants?
    Far be it from me to judge any man but I am not sure one can just dismiss, or excuse perhaps, the concept of street shítting as a "cultural oddity".

    Can they not carry little bags like dog owners*?



    *dirty bástárds

  6. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
    At one point, she appeared to be trying to blame us for the fact that, as a society, it is one of the most profoundly corrupt on earth. I pointed out that that was pretty much entirely down to them. She claimed that our colonialism had infantilised the Indian character to a point where no-one could possibly expect them not to rob each other blind.
    Fascinating isn't it. They can make anything fit the same pattern but it ultimately comes down to the same point- a reluctance or outright inability to assume responsibility for anything or to accept accountability for it. Everything, including one's own mistakes, are actually somebody else's fault.

    Its the modern day religion.

  7. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by SWv2 View Post
    Fúck me, I don't think there is even a Quiet Man pub in Cong which at least could be used to fleece half pint caressing Americans.
    I was in Cong last year SW...place has gone full on Quiet Man since i was last there only a few years back..sad seens

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
    Who are we to tell him what to do?! We're Englishmen, dammit! And, as such, his betters.

    Pinko talk like that is exactly the sort of thing that lost us the empire.

    I'm starting to have my doubts about you
    You can **** in the street but you cant have a fag afterwards. That is a country that has its legislative agenda slightly arse about face.

  9. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
    Fascinating isn't it. They can make anything fit the same pattern but it ultimately comes down to the same point- a reluctance or outright inability to assume responsibility for anything or to accept accountability for it. Everything, including one's own mistakes, are actually somebody else's fault.

    Its the modern day religion.
    Basically, her point boiled down to the fact that she felt entitled to exploit us and deride us because her ancestors had suffered colonial oppression, but that despite my ancestors also having suffered colonial oppression, I was excluded from doing so because I was white.

    This seemed both unfair to me and - dare I say it - not a little racist.

  10. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
    You can **** in the street but you cant have a fag afterwards. That is a country that has its legislative agenda slightly arse about face.

    Quite literally imo.

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