#THROWBACKTHURSDAY

The place, Delhi. The date, October 2017. Just over two and a half years ago. I have mixed feelings about India. Or at least Rajastan, where we spent our fortnight. It’s part fantastic, and part shithole. Indeed, I don’t think it’s entirely unfair to say that India is a fantastic shithole. There are a few people that will disagree with me, of course. These people likely haven’t been to India. Those who’ve done the Golden Triangle, even those who loved it, will accept that some people will refer to the place as a fantastic shithole, and understand why.

India was brought to mind when I read an article earlier in the morning. An article which has caused me to jump to the defence of ‘casual racism’. The Twitterati who flocked to express their outrage at this casual racism have also clearly never been to India. Or for that matter, many other parts of the world. I didn’t see the show, but the quoted words that caused the outrage are:

“At the moment, we’ve just got loads of Indians on board so there’s a lot more men than women at the moment so all the girls are just getting stared at. You just don’t want to leave your cabin. You’re getting grief from people, you’re getting stared at.”

My instant reaction to that was ‘yes, that’s the India I know’ and ‘I’ll bet she’s putting it mildly – probably trying to avoid accusations of casual racism’. It is unfortunately the case that India is somewhat the poster child for misogynism, and for good reason. It was something Mrs P and I encountered daily. Unabashed, unashamed and unrepentant Indian males displaying the worst parts of their culture for all to see.  Mrs P was several times on the receiving end of it. 

People who have been to India will be able to tell the difference between casual racism and factual statement. Rajastan is all too often, I’m afraid, more #throwbackcentury than #throwbackthursday.