Just because I’m Indian doesn’t mean I’m a business student

International students make up 17.7 percent of Emory University’s Class of 2019. In this current freshman class of precisely 1,368 students, there are 47 students with Indian nationality passports, here, at Emory College.

Most of them have had to answer questions or clarify stereotypical statements made by other students on campus. There are certain stereotypes about India, most of them untrue, that have held the imagination of people who haven’t visited India yet. I believe it is now time to break the “curry(ier)” code.

Below are few common stereotypical statements that have been heard on campus:

‘Oh wow! How is your English so good? Do you speak Indian/Hindu?’

Heard when/where: International Student Orientation. (Fall, 2015)

Fact: Majority of the schools in India follow English as a medium of teaching and so, we learn how to speak in and write English, about the same time that we learn “Hindi”.

About that, “Hindu” refers to anyone who regards himself or herself as culturally, ethnically or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. Hence, it is a religion. “Indian” is the term used to define the nationality. Therefore, neither is our language.

“Hindi” is the official language of India.

‘You’re from India? So, are you pre-business?’

Heard when/where: Student Orientation. (Fall, 2015)

Fact: Out of the 47 Indian students in the freshman class, only 21 of them are intended Pre-business majors.

That isn’t even half of the total number.

‘Oh wait. You don’t have ‘the accent”

Heard when/where: Comes up in conversation with anyone who is a religious follower of Russell Peters.

Fact: All Indians don’t have “the accent”. Out of the 125,226,449 English speakers in India, not all of them have extremely thick accents.

It definitely is not as thick as Russell Peters makes it sound.

‘Come on man! All Indian songs start with ‘Dinga, dinga, dinga.’

Heard when/where: The DUC. (Fall, 2015)

Fact: I have some serious personal experience with this one. The first time someone said this to me, I couldn’t come up with a response for full five minutes because I couldn’t stop laughing. The person in front of me thought I was laughing in agreement.

All I can say is, ” WHAT? Like seriously?”

‘So wait, how many kinds of curries are there in total?’

Heard when/where: In the queue in front of Bhojanic at Cox Hall and HSA Diwali Event. (Spring, 2016)

Fact: No, we don’t eat curry all the time. The Indian diet also consists of stir fried/baked vegetables, white rice, fish, meat and wheat based breads.

‘But dude, you live in India. It’s hot all the time there’

Heard when/where: Student Orientation. (Fall, 2015)

Fact: India does not have a single climate. It’s not hot everywhere and its definitely not hot all round the year.

Northern Indian states like Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh experience snowfall in the months of December and January and states in Central India experience all four seasons.

‘Indian society is very conservative when it comes to females’

A very common pre conceived notion held by a large number of students.

Fact: Indian society is not as conservative as it is portrayed to be.  Live-in relationships are legal and it is extremely normal to find women having a great time at night clubs.

Also, people don’t directly meet each other on their wedding day.  Dating has been part of the Indian culture for a while now.

‘All you Indians move your heads and hands so much while talking!’

Fact: No, not all Indians wobble their heads and move their hands when they talk. “The Great Indian Headshake” is certainly not a nationwide phenomenon.

And as much as I love Russell Peters, sometimes, he seriously over exaggerates it.

‘Is it true that a lot of people live in areas with huts and broken roads?’

Heard when/where: Student Orientation. (Fall, 2015)

Fact: No, cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Calcutta and many more contradict the above statement.

All of them have well maintained roads and houses made of brick and cement.

‘You must love ‘Naan bread’ and ‘Chai tea!”

A very common mistake.

Fact: The concept behind the above terms. The term “Naan” is basically a term in Hindi language that is used to describe a leavened, oven-baked flatbread.

Similarly, “Chai” is the Hindi word for tea. So, when y’all say “Naan bread” and “Chai tea”, you are basically saying, “Bread Bread” and “Tea Tea”.

As you can see that there is more to a person and their culture from what can be seen on the outside. There is always a greater beauty in getting acquainted with unfamiliar territory. And as for India, it’s one hell of an experience.

You should definitely visit sometime and we can get some Chai and Naan together.