I mentioned advertisements commonly found in India and I'd like to dedicate a whole post to them. First of all, nowadays advertisements have severy degraded and there are very few if any, which are actually witty or have a line worth remembering. But apart from that, advertisements reflect the superiority of the English language embedded in us as I mentioned in the last post.
I don't exactly remember which product but I'm sure all of you have seen the ad which focuses on a boy who comes to the village to see a girl, and as long as she talks in hindi/punjabi he thinks of her as a silly village girl. But as soon as she starts talking with an accent, he decides she is a very educated, smart girl. Education is necassarily associated with English. There is perhaps less fault in the advertisement, or in any person who thinks so and more fault in the system. Learning English has become such an essential part of getting a good job and earning money, that no one will ever consider doing something in Hindi or for that matter, any other language.
Apart from that, ads, as I mentioned on fair and lovely, fair and handsome are of course, widely prevalant. Then ads on cement and such focus on making India a carbon copy of the U. S. or Singapore or such countries. Make something original!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Still racist?
Britishers left our country a long time ago but I can't help thinking that there is still an element of white superiority embedded in each one of us. The fact is made painfully clear with each new advertisement. Fair and lovely, fair and handsome, the fact that talking English makes you superior. Bad pronounciation, in English is always looked upon as a sign of inferiority. Waiters and people at call centers are painfully instructed to talk in good English.
The undying hypocrisy of the middle class in India is reflected in this. They are very nationalistic, but very few still would rate someone who talks fluent English and someone who talks fluent Hindi on the same level. In fact, recently, by not going to foreign countries to get jobs, people seem to be doing a favour to their country. They proudly announce something which should be looked upon as natural! They seem to be contributing to the economic development of our country by working here but blindly ignore the economic disparities present! People who criticize the country are labelled as unpatriotic. The country should be blindly supported. I personally think people who criticize the country manage to do more for it than those who succumb to blind patriotism. There seems to be a feeling that patriotism and pride for nationality will overcome the problems posed by the Indian system of government.
But back to my topic on white superiority. There is a subtle change in attitude in third world racism and first world racism. Third world racism, wherever present, seems to concentrate on an attitude of hate, and almost seems like hate against superiors. First world racism meanwhile concentartes more on an attitude of contempt, contempt towards inferiors. I think this difference in attitude makes the whole difference. Whites coming to our country are treated with supreme politeness and stared upon curiously as wonders. Asian people visiting white countries are merely ignored.
The fact that I'm writing this article itself in English goes on to show that I'm more comfortable in expressing my views in English rather than Hindi. I know that, and I'm ashamed of it. I try my best to improve. Atleast, bad English is not something by which I judge perosn.
The undying hypocrisy of the middle class in India is reflected in this. They are very nationalistic, but very few still would rate someone who talks fluent English and someone who talks fluent Hindi on the same level. In fact, recently, by not going to foreign countries to get jobs, people seem to be doing a favour to their country. They proudly announce something which should be looked upon as natural! They seem to be contributing to the economic development of our country by working here but blindly ignore the economic disparities present! People who criticize the country are labelled as unpatriotic. The country should be blindly supported. I personally think people who criticize the country manage to do more for it than those who succumb to blind patriotism. There seems to be a feeling that patriotism and pride for nationality will overcome the problems posed by the Indian system of government.
But back to my topic on white superiority. There is a subtle change in attitude in third world racism and first world racism. Third world racism, wherever present, seems to concentrate on an attitude of hate, and almost seems like hate against superiors. First world racism meanwhile concentartes more on an attitude of contempt, contempt towards inferiors. I think this difference in attitude makes the whole difference. Whites coming to our country are treated with supreme politeness and stared upon curiously as wonders. Asian people visiting white countries are merely ignored.
The fact that I'm writing this article itself in English goes on to show that I'm more comfortable in expressing my views in English rather than Hindi. I know that, and I'm ashamed of it. I try my best to improve. Atleast, bad English is not something by which I judge perosn.
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