You have to look at the Dirt in order to clean it - talking about India's Drawbacks

While writing so much about my experiences and observations of Indian parents beating their children, I have obviously received quite a lot of comments and not all of them were in favour of my opinion. The accusation that I have heard of many Indians is the following: you always only talk bad about India! Stop spreading all this negativity about this great country and its wonderful culture!

Oh well, yes, I will once more dedicate a blog entry to this feedback.

First of all, this is not true. I have written a whole lot of good things about India, India’s culture, people, natural beauty and history. It is my home country however and while living here, I see everything around me! There is no benefit in seeing everything through rose-coloured glasses. It would be lying to yourself and not accepting the truth to pretend the impossible: that in this country everything is fine as it is.

This is what many people, and among them those who ask me such things, actually do: they praise India and its great culture while trying to hide all the cultural dirt under a carpet of hospitality, spirituality and of course religiosity.

When I write about that which is not right, I am giving you an insider’s observation of what is going on. People from the outside are interested in seeing the real face of this country. This means that they want to know the truth, not only the horrible scenes which they get to see on their news but also not a fake display of ‘everything is well’!

Such hiding of reality would not serve the purpose of writing nor reading. In fact, it would simply be wrong. If I see something that I believe is wrong and which has an impact on my feelings or mind, I share it. It is primarily for myself but if there are others who read it, think about it and maybe make their own change in their lives, there may be an unexpected positive effect. Things might actually change with more people thinking in this way.

And just to tell all of those critics who have obviously not been reading my blog for very long yet: when I am on my travels in the west, I write down my impressions from there as well. Positive or negative, you get a reflection of what is on my mind.

In the end, there is always one possibility to stop getting upset about my writings: simply stop reading. If you keep on reading, maybe just understand that it is positive if I actually hit a chord, if it gives a reaction inside you and others – because it may be the sign of a beginning change.

If you hide the dirt under your carpet, you will never get the room clean. You have to look at the dirt and throw it out!