Everybody acknowledges now that China is a future superpower. The Chinese economy is doing extremely well. But that is not the whole story.
China is conducting world-class research (especially so in Computer Graphics, which I follow). Chinese companies are opening offices worldwide and becoming truly global. And ofcourse, it is consistently winning a large share of medals in the Olympics. Finally, chinese pop-culture is earning revenue throughout the world. For example, the movie – “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” was a sensational hit by international box office standards.
India falls way behind in comparison. The development that is happening in India is very lop-sided, and hyped beyond reality. Further there are several areas where India has not made its mark yet. The research that is getting conducted in Indian universities is still sub-standard. And India would probably have the least ratio of olympic medal-winners per population size, in the entire world.
There is a critical difference in the psyche of both the countries here. And I think it is high time we noticed this and studied it with due importance.
China has a uniform race and language (excepting the minority regions of Xinjiang and Tibet). Secondly, this culture and language stands distinctly different from that of the west.
In contrast, India offers an enormous variety in language, culture and racial background. Further, it is extremely related to the culture of the western civilization. (Indo-Aryan languages are related to European languages, revealing a common past and a shared ancestry.)
In the current era of the dominance of Western/European civilization, this invariably brings in a marked difference in the psychology of Indians and Chinese.
When a Chinese person looks at an American (for example) he thinks that he is different from what he himself is.
Where as, when an Indian person looks at an American, he thinks the American is a better version of what he himself is.
The attitude of the Indians steps from the unquestioned dogma of the inferiority of Creole races (discussed and criticised in my previous post). This is evident in so many aspects of Indian life – starting from the alleged beauty of fairer skin. More about these in my later posts. But for illustration, let me give an example.
A Chinese woman thinks she looks different from a European woman. An Indian woman thinks she looks inferior to a European woman, and she feels insecure.
The Chinese people know that they stand different from the western civilization and identify that they both are competitors.
The Indian people think that they are inferior to the western civilization and would like to work as sub-ordinates.
Nowhere else is this contrast as vividly captured as it is in Singapore (where the population consists of Chinese, Malay and Indians) The Chinese people own most of the commercial complexes in the city. The Indians work in clerical positions for the western multi national corporations.
It is only when Indians realize that they stand different from the west (even though they are a mixed race) that they would understand the sense of competition and face up to the challenge of China. In order to do this, it would not help to rouse any pan-Indian nationalist identity because no such identity (Hindutva, Gandhian etc..) exists. We should accept the fact that the culture in India is rich and extremely diverse. But it is possible to face up to this global competition when we accept the fact that each individual is different from everybody else. This awareness and strong individuality will help India in performing well on global scene.
Hey Kiran,
Individuality and Communism are poles apart.
Certainly a wrong example to motivate individuality.
Fortune mag reported that India’s 40 richest persons’
collective net worth soared to $106billion in 2005;
by contrast, China’s 40 richest are worth a collective $26 billion.
I need not talk about the maturity of Indian brands and markets.
Return on Investment in China is low and their banking system is pathetic
with huge non-performing assets. Their economy is primarily FDI dependent
which is not all healthy.
The median income of Indians is next only to Japanese in US as reported by Census.gov
Individuality is pursued mostly in the western (developed) nations.
Chinese are in their way into being westernized. Look at Japan. Does any one in Japan sport Kimonos while Indians stick to Saree and such other ethnic wear.
Japan is highly westernized while India has a unique nature of assimilating external trends with out giving up the core.
China and India are very different models marching
on the path to prosperity. This is why all the economists
are having a feast watching how these models fare.
We should note that China is slowly moving towards a capitalist and free-market economy. But its not that easy for the politburo to give up political powers which is being translated into grabbing financial power as well. I seriously hope that this transition to be smooth and peaceful.
Please see that the Chinese model has fundamental flaws as well.
Having said all this, you did acknowledge the stark reality of perceptions among Indians wrt to ranking races, etc.. But guess what ? We are on the rising edge now and that should instill a sense of pride in us all as a fix for the inferiority complex buried deep with in.
hi santho
i am not discussing economics at all ! whatever you have said is valid.
I am primarily discussing the issue of race and its social aspects. I brought in China into the discussion because it gives a good contrast. Unlike Indians, the Chinese have no inferiority complexes related to race.
About Japan, what you have said is true, American culture made a deep impact there, and one primary reason is American exploits in the second world war and also its military presence in Japan.
But still, the Japanese are a proud culture and they preserve their language and their culture very well. Most importantly, the brand of Japan gives them a pride, which is absent in India.
One reason why women still wear sarees etc. in India could be the economic backwardness that we are in (so with men, many still wear dhothis) But maybe more than that, because saree is a beautiful garment and it effectively conceals the ugliness of a woman. Several women wear it because they think they won’t look good in modern apparel.
[...] Individuality – China and India Kiran writes on “What’s right with China ? What’s wrong with India ?” Everybody acknowledges now that China is the future superpower. Its economy is doing extremely well. But that is not the whole story. … Only when Indians realize that they stand different from the west (even though they are a mixed race) would they understand the sense of competition and face up to the challenge of China. In order to do this, it would not help to rouse any pan-Indian nationalist identity because such an identity (Hindutva, Gandhian etc..) does not exist. We should accept the fact that the culture in India is rich and extremely diverse. But it is possible to realize this global competition when we accept the fact that each individual is different from everybody else. This awareness of strong individuality will help India to perform well in global competition. [...]
oops.. I thought one reason why you mentioned chinese was to motivate some individuality in Indians. Then I took off and never looked back
)
Keep posting.
Dude,
Very well written. I really agree to most of your views.
I have very much observed it after coming to the US.
I am not the ‘india-blaming’ guy, but I do have a complaint that we believe in seggregation. We proudly say Unity in Diversity is what keeps us together, but in reality, Diversity is what exists in everybody’s mind and no Unity.
You are talking about a fundamental thing called race, when people are caught up in proving that more superficial things like a state’s culture is greater than other’s, or further worse, some city’s culture is better than others!! Of course, you have not got the concept of culture in your article, but why I mentioned it is that when things that are learnt or acquired (like culture, language, etc) are being disputed upon, no wonder that something as fundamental as race has this ’superiority/inferiroity’ associated with it
.
Whatever, great topic to write on, and great way to write too!!
Good Job.
Bye
Pavan
A Singaporean AND Chinese, I do not agree to some of your observation. I believe what you mentioned are your stereotype or perhaps of those that you are in contact with.
We are all speaking from experience since we are not exactly expert in this topic. We are not quoting from some publications or studies for example.
I had stayed in China, Europe and had been to India. The issue of race is real and I applaud you for opening up this conversation. What I see important is from your post other culture/nationality/race could get to know your point of view (which may or may not represent the majority of your peers).
BTW, this book is a pretty good read if you haven’t
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679752994/
Hey kiba… I won’t argue about anything else, let others fight but I’ll comment on the thing that I know… Computer Graphics. Sad story is that all the research comes from just one place… MSR Asia. The rest are just as bad as anywhere else. Well to be frank, I was not impressed by even the MSR Asia submissions this year. Most of them seemed rather stupid with no real novel content. I’d be surprised if they are accepted. Fact is India is coming up and with ppl like you around it most definitely will
. Keep faith!
@59 Ideas,
Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like a very interesting book. I’ll try to get my hands on it.
And I am very glad that you disagreed with my observations in Singapore. As a matter of fact, I did not stay for long in Singapore. And my impressions are from an elderly Malaysian lady who acted as our tour guide. What I have written are her very words !
@somu
Yeah man. I hope you guys in MSR do equally good work in Bangalore ! And I agree that MSR Asia is way ahead of other research centers in China. But still, I believe Chinese guys are doing much better than Indians with respect to quantity, if not in quality. Look at the number of PhDs they are producing !!
Dont u realise the impact of the imperial rule on india ??.
The only reason for the glorification the west or the fairer ones and the inferiority complex has been the plundering rule by the british …
@halley :
This is a half-truth. The issue of race has been ingrained into Indian psyche even before anyone has heard of Britishers. Please see my latest blog on the origin of the caste system.
I was very interested in your mentioning the inferiority complexes & race issiues ingraned into the psyche of certain countries & races.
I was wondering if you had any insight to this about the Mexican race.
I will only comment on the Olympics medals issue because it is quoted so frequently that I am tired of it. Despite excellent performance of China and other currently/former communist countries in olympics tell me any “popular” sports where they excel? The masses are not into atheletics so it is easy for countries obsessed with presenting a better picture of themselves on an international arena to handpick children with the right physiques and train them to excellence. But in case of popular sports the number of people involved is so large that no country can engineer its proficiency. despite being the birthplace of football, where does china stand in soccer? As I understand it, Chinese are more into games than sports, which is same as in india, except for cricket.