We all know about India, right? It’s in Asia, and has a ton of different religions and languages, and is very diverse as well. As an Indian myself, I have been subjected to multiple comments because of the ever-lasting stereotypes. “It’s because she’s Indian, that she has a good grade in science” or “You must love curry.” Yeah, the last one wasn’t even a question. So, I decided that, I really dislike having to go through this! I really do. I don’t look at a Japanese kid and automatically assume they are going to be anime fans and are going to become a doctor or lawyer, though I do hope they are, because I enjoy anime. So enjoy the list of myths and facts, because I enjoyed writing them.

The first misconception is if you are Indian, you must speak Hindi. That’s not true. Yes, I do speak Hindi, but what about Tamil, Telegu, Gujarati, Urdu, Punjabi or Kannada? There are more dialects and languages but I only know of those few. Also, Indian is not a language. Would I go up to a Canadian and ask them if they speak Canadian? No. Would I ask an American if they speak American? No. Don’t ask an Indian if they speak Indian. It’s very annoying, so please don’t do it.

I hate this one the most. If you’re Indian, you must love curry, and it must be everywhere in India. Well, I don’t. I actually despise it. A lot. My favorite Indian food is either paneer, which is cottage cheese, and rajma, which is kidney beans. I also like maggi, which is noodles and vegetables and a few spices mixed in. I personally love it, though my brother’s friend, who is Australian, Brazilian and Japanese, thinks that too is spicy, but it’s not that bad. He just can’t handle spice that well. He couldn’t eat garlic noodles from P.F. Chang’s. But, even my brother dislikes curry. Yes, my parents may love it, as do most people I know, but not me. It doesn’t taste good, and it’s too spicy, which leads me onto my next point.

All Indian food must be spicy. The funny thing about this one is the fact that you can take spice away from a dish, and it will just leave it bland, but it will still exist. You don’t need spice, but it contributes to the taste a lot more. To be honest, I can’t handle spice either, but I still eat Indian food on a daily basis. If a junior me can handle the spice, so can you.

All Indians are vegetarians. All Americans are obese, McDonald’s loving people. Is that true? No it’s not. It depends on the person, the area of India, and how religious they are. Personally, I am a vegetarian, but I have many Indian friends who eat chicken, fish, and even beef. It’s all about choice, and some religions allow it. Speaking of religion, not everyone in India is religious. I’m not religious. My family isn’t really that religious. I have friends who can’t even speak whatever language their parents speak; how can you and you expect them to be religious? But yes, India still has a lot of people who want to protect their religion. The movie PK raised so many riots, that it’s no longer in movie theatres there. So, yet again, it depends on the family or person.

As you can see, there are a lot of misconceptions about Indians. And it’s very annoying to deal with. So please, get your cultures straight, and stop thinking of these false stereotypes created by movies you may have watched, or those few Indian friends you may have. It’s likely not true in the first place, and although a few of those do apply to some Indians, it doesn’t apply to everyone, so don’t treat people like they’re all the same. Everyone’s different.

Works Cited
Mathur, Hiteeksha. "10 Misconceptions about India." Hubpages. N.p., 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. .
Tripathi, Kush. "What Is the Biggest Misconception about Indians?" Quora. N.p., 15 June 2013. Web. 8 Jan. 2015. .

(The rest of the information was given to me by my parents and personal experience)