What do you think of Indians?

Question

I saw a recent thread about everyone's thought on Chinese people. I would like to learn what is the general perception of the world community about people from India.

Lostcity · Accepted Answer

most of the people from India are very clever but some of them are a little lazy i think. they have a genius in computer program as well as a fanatical respect to the ox.

David · Answer

They have the same basic needs as all human beings. They are the only ones who can talk about their culture. Apart from that anything else would be a generalization since they are all different and special in their own way. Many good mathematicians. India must be one of the most beautiful places.

Badasstronaut · Answer

I like Indian food. Lots of curries and spices<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Leandro_tami · Answer

I love Shyamalan movies<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> And of course I would like a lot to visit the Taj Mahal.

Guest · Answer

I have an Indian friend who is a young lady. She is the kindest, most sincere person that I have ever talked with. I have actually never met her in person.. but we have talked hundreds of times. She is really dedicated to her job in New Delhi. Sometimes when we talk I get embarassed at what I have and compare it to her posessions which are few. And still she is the one who has contintment in her life.

Eagle · Answer

I would put here some facts about India rather than Indians,

5,000 year old ancient civilization
325 languages spoken- 1652 dialects
18 official languages
29 states, 5 union territories
3.28 million sq. kilometers - area
7516 kilometers - coastline

Parliamentary form of gov.
Largest democracy
3rd largest standing armed force
2nd largest pool of scientists and engineers.

Science of Yoga
the science of yoga was born in an age when mankind as a whole was more enlightened, and could easily grasp truths for which our most advanced thinkers are still grasping.
Today the word yoga is much used and much mis-understood these days, reduced from its on the control of the conscious to that of the control of the body.

The only society in history which has never known slavery.
Never invaded other country in last 10,000 years of history.

Robert Clive's personal wealth amassed from the blunder of bengal during 1750's was estimated to around 401,102 pounds

Amount of treasure that British looted from India had reached 1,000,000,000 by 1901. Taking in to consideration interest rates and inflation this would come around $1,000,000,000,000 in real terms.

Vedic philosophy:
The vedic philosophy are the oldest written text on the planet today. They date back to the begining of Indian civilization.
Veda means knowledge in Sanskrit.

Rig Veda- Knowledge of Hymens, 10,859 verses
"There is only one truth, only men describe it in differnt ways"

Yujur Veda- knowledge of Liturgy,3.988 verses.
Sama veda- Knowledge of classical Music, 1549 verses.
Ayur Veda- Knowledge of Medicine, over 100,000 verses

Four Kinetic ideas behind Hindu Vedic spirituality:

Karma- The law of universal causality, which connects man with Cosmos and condemns him to transmigrate

Maya- The world is not simply whatit seems to the human senses. Absolute reality, situated somewhere beyond the cosmic illusion woven by Maya and beyond human experience as conditioned by Karma.

Nirvana- The state of absolute blessedness, characterised by release from cycle of re-incarnation; freedom from the pain and care of the external world;bliss

Yoga- Implies integration; bringing all the faculties of the psyche under controle of the self.

Upanishads:
Jyotisha- astrology and astronomy
Kalpa- Rituals and legal matters
Siksha- Phonetics
Aiterya- Creation of the universe, man and evolution.
Chandyoga- Reincarnation , soul
Kaushitaki- Karma
Kena- Austerity, work and restraint.
Dhanur Veda- Science of archery and war
Mundaka- discipline, faith and warning of ignorance.

Sulba sutra- knowldge of mathematics and counting
yoga sutra- knowledge of meditation
Kama sutra - knowledge of love and ***.

Famous Books and Epics:
Surya Sindhanta- A textbook on astronomy of ancient India, last compiled in 1000 BC, believed to be handed down from 3000 BC by aid of complex mnemonic recital methods still known today.
Showed Earth's diameter to be 7,840 miloes,
compared to modern measurment of 7,926.7 miles.
Showed the distance between earth and moon to be 253,000 miles,
compared to modern measurment of 252,710 miles.

Ramayana : The first epic consisting of 24,000 verses divided into 7 books, composed about 6500 years.

Mahabharata : Longest Epic in world literature with 100,000 two-lined stanzas, first composed about 5000 years ago.
***

Words of Lord Krishna in Bhagvad Gita:

After many Births the wise seek refuse in me , seeing me evrywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare.

Your very nature will drive you to fight, the only choice is what to fight against.

On action be your interest, Never on its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, Nor be thy attachment to inaction.

This is how actions are done by the ancient seekers of freedom, follow their example, act, surrendering the fruits of action.

For certain is death for the born, and certain is birth for the dead; Therefore over the imevitable you should not grieve. (Remember Movie ***?)

For the uncontrolled there is no wisdom. For the uncontrolled there is no concentration, and for him without concentration, there is no peace. And for the unpeaceful how can there be happiness?
When a man dwells on the object of sense, he creates an attraction for them, attraction develops into desire , and desire breeds anger.

***
Reference- http://www.stephen-knapp.com
http://www.atributetohinduism.com
http://www.iskcon.com/icj/6_1/6_1klostermaier.html
http://shourie.bharatvani.org/articles/20030815.htm

Eagle · Answer

Annie Wood Besant (1847-1933) was an active socialist on the executive committee of the Fabian Society along with George Bernard Shaw. George Bernard Shaw regarded her the "greatest woman public speaker of her time." Was a prominent leader of India's freedom movement, member of the Indian National Congress, and of the Theosophical Society. Dr. Annie Besant was a housewife, a propagator of atheism, a trade unionist, a feminist leader and a Fabian Socialist.

She was also fundamentally instrumental in freeing the country she lost her heart and sublimed her soul to: India. Besant is an indivisible part of the composite struggle for independent India because she declared most passionately,

"I love the Indian people as I love none other. My heart and my mind... have long been laid on the alter of the Motherland."

(source: Hindustan Times 01/25/02).

Annie Besant, proponent of the philosophy of Theosophy, gave many a lecture in which she aired her views that India was a victim of the mischief wrought by Christian missionaries.

A friend of Swami Vivekananda, Mrs. Besant was trying to lead Indians back to their own gods and arouse their sense of self-respect and pride in the greatness of their religions.

This is what she said on India and Hinduism :

"After a study of some forty years and more of the great religions of the world, I find none so perfect ,none so scientific, none so philosophical and no so spiritual that the great religion known by the name of Hinduism. Make no mistake, without Hinduism, India has no future. Hinduism is the soil in to which India's roots are stuck and torn out of that she will inevitably wither as a tree torn out from its place. And if Hindus do not maintain Hinduism who shall save it? If India's own children do not cling to her faith who shall guard it. India alone can save India and India and Hinduism are one. "

Annie Besant thought that "among the priceless teachings that may be found in the great Indian epic Mahabharata, there is none so rare and priceless as the Gita."

"This is the India of which I speak - the India which, as I said, is to me the Holy Land. For those who, though born for this life in a Western land and clad in a Western body, can yet look back to earlier incarnations in which they drank the milk of spiritual wisdom from the *** of their true mother - they must feel ever the magic of her immemorial past, must dwell ever under the spell of her deathless fascination; for they are bound to India by all the sacred memories of their past; and with her, too, are bound up all the radiant hopes of their future, a future which they know they will share with her who is their true mother in the soul-life."

(source: India: Essays and Lectures Vol. IV - By Annie Besant London. The Theosophical Publishing Co. p. 11.1895).

Mrs. Besant remarked at Calcutta: "India is the mother of religion. In her are combined science and religion in perfect harmony, and that is the Hindu religion, and it is India that shall be again the spiritual mother of the world."

(source: Hindu Superiority - By Har Bilas Sarda - Besant's lecture at the Grand Theatre, Calcutta on Jan 15th 1906).

“During the early life of a Nation, religion is an essential for the binding together of the individuals who make the nation. India was born, as it were, in the womb of Hinduism, and her body was for long shaped by that religion. Religion is a binding force, and India has had a longer binding together by religion than any other Nation in the world, as she is the oldest of the living Nations.”

(source: Hindu Rashtra-What It Means - By Prof. V. Rangarajan).

Besant held Hinduism in high esteem and very well advised in her book, In Defense of Hinduism:

"Based on knowledge it need not fear any advance in knowledge; profound in spirituality, the depths of the spirit find in it deeps answering into deep, it has nothing to dread, everything to hope, from growth in intellect, from increasing sway of reason."

(source: India Rediscovered - By Dr. Giriraj Shah p. 31 Abhinav Publications New Delhi 1975).

Eagle · Answer

Jules Michelet (1798 -1874) French writer and the greatest historian of the Romantic school said:

"At its starting point in India, the birthplace of races and religions, the womb of the world."

While seeking for the wisdom of ages, he cried at the commencement of his work, “The Bible of Humanity”: “The year 1863 will remain dear and blessed to me.” Why? Because he had read India’s sacred poem, the Ramayana.

"Divine poem, ocean of milk!"

cried Michelet on discovering this ancient Scripture.

In what moving terms he then wrote about India. We can but transcribe his burning words:

“Each year, it is necessary to respire, to take breath again, to revive ourselves at the great living sources that forever keep their eternal freshness. Where can we find them if not at the cradle of our race, on the sacred summits from where descend the Indus and the Ganges....?

(source: The Fragrance of India : landmarks for the world of tomorrow - By Louis Revel p. 16 Kitabistan Allahabad 1946).

This is what Michelet said of the Ramayana:

"Whoever has done or willed too much let him drink from this deep cup a long draught of life and youth........Everything is narrow in the West - Greece is small and I stifle; Judea is dry and I pant. Let me look toward lofty Asia, and the profound East for a little while. There lies my great poem, as vast as the Indian ocean, blessed, gilded with the sun, the book of divine harmony wherein is no dissonance. A serene peace reigns there, and in the midst of conflict an infinite sweetness, a boundless fraternity, which spreads over all living things, an ocean (without bottom or bound) of love, of pity, of clemency."

Such was the first and enduring impression made on Michelet by the Ramayana.

(source: Philosophy of Hinduism - An Introduction - An Introduction By T. C. Galav Universal Science-Religion. p 149. The Fragrance of India : landmarks for the world of tomorrow - By Louis Revel p. 16 Kitabistan Allahabad 1946).

" From India comes to us a torrent of light, a river of Right and Reason" ......

(source: Arise O' India - By Francois Gautier ISBN 81-241-0518-9 Har-Anand Publications 2000. p. 25 ).

" Whereas, in our Occident, the most dry and sterile minds brag in front of Nature, the Indian genius, the most rich and fecund of all, knows neither small nor big and has generously embraced universal fraternity, even the identity of all souls."

(source: La Bible de l'Humanite in OEuvres - By Louis Michelet (Paris : Larousse, 1930, vol. 5, p. 119.).

Eagle · Answer

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) was among India's most fervent nationalists, fighting for Indian independence from British rule. Gandhi rose to the eminence of being called “amoral genius” by no less a person than the celebrated British philosopher C. E. M Joad. (For more on Joad refer to Quotes301_320).

He was disillusioned by the hypocrisy of the Western civilization. He denounced England's devilish acts in India, and proclaimed it as a "Satanic Power'. Then, gave the cry for the 'Quit India' movement. While in London, Gandhi wrote: "Looking at this land, I at any rate have grown disillusioned with Western civilization. They spend, their days in luxury or in making a bare living and retire at night thoroughly exhausted. In this state of affairs, I cannot understand when they can devote themselves to prayers."

(Indian Opinion: Mahatma Gandhi quoted by Judith M. Brown. 1994:5 - Modern India: The Origins of an Asian democracy). It is said that Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western civilization, and answered that he felt it might be a good idea.

(source: OutlookIndia.com).

As is clear from the Mahatma's polemic against the Christian missionaries, he was first and foremost a Hindu, who opposed all designs to destroy Hindu culture.

He claimed: "I am a proud staunch Sanatani Hindu." He took considerable pride in this self-identification. Far from being a dirty word as it would soon become even for some so-called Hindu leaders, the word "Hindu" conveyed to him all that was noble and elevating. He did not feel that he was being "communal" when he called himself a Hindu. For him Hinduism was a a vast, spiritual vision beckoning man to rise to the highest heights.

He has further stated:

"Hinduism has made marvelous discoveries in things of religion, of the spirit, of the soul. We have no eye for these great and fine discoveries. We are dazzled by the material progress that Western science has made. Ancient India has survived because Hinduism was not developed along material but spiritual lines."

"Hinduism is a relentless pursuit of Truth. "Truth is ***" and if today it has become moribund, inactive, irresponsive to growth, it is because we are fatigued; and as soon as the fatigue is over, Hinduism will burst upon the world with a brilliance perhaps unknown before.”

(source: Young India, 24/11/1924 p. 390-396 and The Discovery of India - By Jawaharlal Nehru. Oxford University Press. 1995. pg 75).

"The tendency of Indian civilization is to elevate the moral being, that of the western civilization is to propagate immorality. The latter is godless, the former is based on a belief in ***."

(source: Popular Hinduism: The Religion of the Masses - By L S S O'Malley p. 46).

"I believe that the civilization India has evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestry. Rome went; Greece shared the same fate; the might of the Pharaohs was broken; Japan has become westernized; of China nothing can be said; but India is still, somehow or other, sound at the foundation."

(source: Hindu Swaraj or Indian Home Rule Chapter xiii)

This is what Gandhi wrote about the Bhagavad Gita:

"The Geeta is the universal mother. I find a solace in the Bhagavadgeeta that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there , and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies - and my life has been full of external tragedies - and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavadgeeta."

About the Bhagawad-Gita, Gandhi, says: “Today the Gita is not only my Bible or my Koran, it is more than that—it is my mother... When I am in difficulty or distress I seek refuge in her bosom.”

(source: Harijan 24-8-1934).

Gandhi, the author of the Quit India movement was inspired by the teachings of Krishna in the Gita.

(source: On Secularism in India - By S Gurumurthy).

"Hinduism is a living organism liable to growth and decay subject to the laws of Nature. One and indivisible at the root, it has grown into a vast tree with innumerable branches. The changes in the season affect it. It has its autumn and its summer, its winter and its spring. It is, and is not, based on scriptures. It does not derive its authority from one book. "Non violence has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism.

(source: Hindu Dharma - M. K. Gandhi. Chapter on Why I am a Hindu p.1-8).

I think I have understood Hinduism correctly when I say that it is eternal, all-embracing and flexible enough to suit all situations. (Navjeevan 27-9-1924). Hinduism contains the essence of all religions. What it does not contain is not worth knowing (Navjeevan 17-9-1925).

Since Hinduism is based on truth and nonviolence , it can never oppose any other religion. Hinduism strives for the betterment of all religions, and through them of the entire world (From a speech made on 25-3-29 while inaugurating Shri Laxminarayan Temple.).

I am a Hindu because it is Hinduism which makes the world worth living. (source: Young India 1-12-26). I am a Hindu hence I Love not only human beings, but all living beings.

He considered the Bhagavad Gita as a book ' par excellence' for the knowledge of Truth (***).

Gandhi called the Gita the 'Gospel of Selfless Action'.

"India is to me the dearest country in the world, because I have discovered goodness in it. It has been subject to foreign rule, it is true. But the status of a slave is preferable to that of a slave holder."

“Hinduism is a living organism. One and indivisible at the root, it has grown into a vast tree with innumerable branches. Knowledge is limitless and so also the application of truth. Everyday we add to our knowledge of the power of Atman (soul) and we shall keep on doing so.”

He was a Hindu to the core. Defining his attitude to a prominent Indian Christian, Kali Charan Banerjee (1847-1902) he said:

"I am unable to identify with orthodox Christianity. I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism, as I know it, entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being, and I find solace in the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount....I must confess to you that when doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of external tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita."

(source: The Collected Works - By M. K. Gandhi Volume 27, New Delhi, 1968 p. 434-435 and India and World Civilization By D. P. Singhal Pan Macmillan Limited. 1993. p 258).

Gandhi wrote in his book Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth:

As "philosophically there was nothing extraordinary in Christian principles" no one, much less a Hindu, would ever give it a second look.

(source: Christian Conversions and abuse of Religious Freedom in India - By Brahm Datt Bharti p. 20).

Mahatma Gandhi told Romain Rolland in Switzerland on his way back to India from the Round Table Conference (1911) that Christianity is an echo of the Indian religion and Islam is the re-echo of that echo."

(source: India in Primitive Christianity - Arthur Lillie).

" I have no other wish in this world but to find light and joy and peace through Hinduism."

(source: Outlines of Hinduism - By T. M. P. Mahadevan - p. foreword).

"If all The Upanishads and all the other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Ishopanishad were left in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live for ever."

(source: The Upanishads Translated for the Modern Reader By Eknath Easwaran. Nilgiri Press. 1987. pg 205).

Gandhi has written: "The Gita "struck me as one of priceless worth."

(source: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Volume 39 New Delhi 1970 p. 32)

Gandhi was a proud and combative Hindu, his first and foremost loyalty was towards Hindu society and Hinduism, says Koenraad Elst in his book Negationism in India: Concealing the Record of Islam p. 84).

'The Bhagavad Gita is my mother,' he once said; and the name of Sri Rama was his shield.'

(source: Freeindia.org)

He accords the highest honor to Hindu scriptures - the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Gita, the Mahabharata, the Ramayan, the Bhagavata. He defends the "much-maligned Brahman" and entertains " not a shadow of doubt" that "if Brahmanism does not revive, Hinduism will perish".

He upholds the "spirit behind idol-worship" and is prepared "to defend with my life the thousands of holy temples which sanctify this land." For him cow protection "is the dearest possession of the Hindu heart" and "no one who does not believe in cow-protection can possibly be a Hindu." The sacred threat has "deep meaning for him" as it is "the sign of the second birth, that is spiritual." He says that varnashrama is "inherent in human nature, and Hinduism has simply made a science of it."

(source: Hindu Dharma - M. K. Gandhi p. 7-374).

"What the divine author of the Mahabharata said of his great creation is equally true of Hinduism. Whatever of substance is contained in any other religion is always to be found in Hinduism, and what is not contained in it is insubstantial or unnecessary."

(source: Young India 27-9-1925).

"Hinduism insists on the brotherhood of not only all mankind but of all that lives."

(source: Harijan 28-3-1936).

"Hinduism is like the Ganga,, pure and unsullied at its source but taking in its course the impurities in the way. Even like the Ganga it is beneficent in its total effect. It takes a provincial form in every province, but the inner substance is retained everywhere."

(source: Young India 8-4-1926)

" On examination, I have found it to be the most tolerant of all religions known to me. Its freedom from dogma makes a forcible appeal to me inasmuch as it gives the votary the largest scope for self-expression." He saw no reason to for changing his belief or his religion. He found it impossible "to believe that I could go to heaven or attain salvation only by becoming a Christian." "Philosophically there was nothing extraordinary in Christian principles. From the point of view of sacrifice, it seemed that the Hindus greatly surpassed Christians. It was impossible for me to regard Christianity as a perfect religion or the greatest of all religions."

(source: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Volume 34 New Delhi 1970 p.112- 261).

London Times editorial said on the day after his death: "No country but India and no religion but Hinduism could have given birth to a Gandhi."

(source: India and World Civilization By D. P. Singhal Pan Macmillan Limited. 1993. p. 258).

"Hindu Dharma is like a boundless ocean teeming with priceless gems. The deeper you dive the more treasures you find."

(source: The Essence of Hinduism - By M. K. Gandhi p. 205).

"Hinduism is like Ganges, pure and unsullied at its source, but taking in its course the impurities in the way".

(source: Non-Renunciation: Themes and Interpretations of Hindu Culture - By T.N. Madan)

He affirmed, again, and again not only the fundamentals of Hindu spirituality but also the framework of Hindu culture and social life. He valued "the spirit behind idol-worship" and declared his determination "to defend with my life the thousands of holy temples which sanctify this land of ours."

"Cow-protection is an article of faith in Hinduism. Apart from its religious sanctity, it is an ennobling creed. Cow protection is the dearest possession of the Hindu heart. It is the one concrete belief common to all Hindus. No on who does not believe in cow-protection can possibly be called a Hindu. It is a noble belief. I endorse every word of what Prof. Vaswani has said in praise of the cow. For me the cow is the personification of innocence. Cow protection means that protection of the weak and helpless."

(source: Hindu Dharma - M. K. Gandhi p. 108-18). For more on Gandhi refer to The Story of my Experiments with Truth).

"I bow my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in nature and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifestations of Nature with a religious significance."

(source: Glimpses of Indian Culture - By Dr. Giriraj Shah p. 106).

Thoreau and Gandhi both believed in non-violence, had religious temperament, were vegetarians, and admired the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. The appreciated poverty and lived the simple life. Webb Miller in his book I found no peace p. 240, wrote: “Gandhi received back from America what was fundamentally the philosophy of India after it had been distilled and crystallized in the mind of Thoreau.” The nationalist movement of Congress, and its political vision of a free India, was as thoroughly suffused with the spirit of Hinduism. Nationalism and religion were thus allied in Gandhi's teachings. Gandhi found the substance of India's life in Hinduism. His political vocabulary of Ram rajya, ahimsa, satyagraha, swaraj, bharat mata, swadeshi etc. He passionately rejected the British project of Westernizing India.

(source: Hindu Scriptures and American Transcendentalists - By Umesh Patri p 98 -135 and Dharma, India and the World Order - By Chaturved Badrinath p. 166 -169).

(For more quotes by Gandhi refer to chapter on Conversion and GlimpseVI).

Candle · Answer

There are many things in India that in my country doesn't has.

There are many things that in my country doesn't has.

There are some kind of eagles or hawks flying above houses all days in winter.
There are groups of parrots flying back home in evening time.
There are noises of peacocks in every night.
There are many crows watching and observing our movement.
There are many groups of pigeons flying around everywhere in morning.
There is some buffalo swimming in a lake in the evening time.
There is some deer eating leaves beside a road.
There is some cow visit some house in the morning to wait for food.
There is some cow in traffic jams.
There is some cow waiting a red light to cross a road.
There is some ugly bull lonely walking and some good looking bull is surrounded with cows.
There is some donkey walking along a road in evening time to find some place to sleep.
There is some hourse we can ride freely to some where if we want.
THere is some hire white hourse runing on a road to a marry wedding.

It's wonderful that the life of animal and human are not separated. They are closed to each other. There is no any sharp tip-nife and big nife selling openly everywhere. There is only nife for fruit to sell.

It's more than you can say about India, I think.

What do you think of Indians?

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