After videoconferencing with you all last week, I thought about the questions you asked me and how you all did such a good job of staying away from stereotypes. As a middle schooler, the only things I “knew” about India was that there was a lot of poverty, a lot of elephants and a lot of garbage. Now, I know the dangers of generalizing other people and places. At the same time, I’m always thinking about how the way I'm acting is perceived by others. Most people that I’ve met here have never been to the U.S., so while I’m here I want to represent my home by being genuine, honest and open about my personal experiences. My friends in India largely feel the same way, telling me that they want me to understand what their lives are really like.
Sometimes I notice myself falling into a trap and lumping people together instead of seeing each person as an individual. I started believing that every Indian family would treat me the same way, so when I had dinner with a family that was not as warm, it was a reminder that while it’s natural for the human brain to categorize, it wasn’t good for me to have expectations about how each interaction would go.
Another example of recognizing perspectives is acknowledging the parts of Indian culture that are not often discussed.
