Althouse: "10 things you might not know..."

June 5, 2013

"10 things you might not know..."

"... about India."

29 comments:

bagoh20 said...: None of that is gonna help tourism. I read recently how low the internet and cell phone use is there. China has shot past us in number of users although we have the highest percentage use, but india is way down the list despite being second in the world in population. They seem strangely hamstrung for some reason.; 6/5/13, 2:19 PM
Sorun said...: I got the Indian ear cleaning while in Nepal a long time ago. Quite refreshing, and to see all of the gunk hiding out in there. We had an American doctor with us running around, "No No No! Don't let then put that in your ears!" Fuck you, doc, it's only 30 rupees.; 6/5/13, 2:21 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Nothing about squatting over a hole, I see.; 6/5/13, 2:24 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Quite refreshing, and to see all of the gunk hiding out in there."

How do you know they aren't showing you stuff that they didn't get from your ear?; 6/5/13, 2:24 PM
Nonapod said...: Pleasantly surprised that I actually didn't know that stuff about India. I thought this was gonna be like one of those Cracked articles where it's like "7 things you don't know about X" but actually I certainly do know those 7 things about X.; 6/5/13, 2:25 PM
Sorun said...: How do you know they aren't showing you stuff that they didn't get from your ear?

I could feel the empty space left behind. I suppose it's possible we all got duped, but it was still only 30 rupees and it felt good, like you might feel losing 20 years of ear wax.; 6/5/13, 2:32 PM
Amartel said...: The #1 thing, and this is clearly a concern and mystery to the author, is that hardly anyone in India pays income tax. Ermagerd, what's to be done about the tax black hole?!? (A black hole even bigger than the one in Calcultta); 6/5/13, 2:33 PM
Expat(ish) said...: @Sorun - you paid "white man price" for that.

I got it done in B'lr and my driver helped me get the price to 2RS for both ears.

And, @Ann, you can see the paper is clear before they do it. The gross stuff that comes out, well, yuck.

-XC; 6/5/13, 2:40 PM
Anonymous said...: 11. India has about the number of Muslims as Pakistan and double that of Iran. Only Bangladesh and Indonesia have more; 6/5/13, 2:45 PM
Nomennovum said...: Interesting that all the dead bodies in the river Ganges didn't make the list.; 6/5/13, 2:49 PM
Anonymous said...: 12. The Partition of India created 14.5 million refugees who m\lost most everything as they swapped countries. about half went West and half East; 6/5/13, 2:50 PM
Nomennovum said...: India also exports a lot of very good MD's.; 6/5/13, 2:51 PM
KCFleming said...: 11. Outrage in India over U.S. tourist gang-rape, latest in attacks; 6/5/13, 2:59 PM
dbp said...: The list had some interesting entries but I would have put in a few more:

--When crossing from one state to another in India, it is a lot like crossing into a different country. There is a border crossing, guards and I think our driver had to pay some bribes.

--Guards everywhere: There were security people outside of temples and many retail outlets, including McDonald's.

Tourism to Goa by Russians is abundant. I heard a lot of Russian (actually could have been any Slavic language)but lots of signs written in Cyrillic.; 6/5/13, 3:03 PM
hiawatha biscayne said...: How do you know they aren't showing you stuff that they didn't get from your ear?

taste; 6/5/13, 3:19 PM
Methadras said...: Ugh, why would anyone want to go to that 8th world shit hole?; 6/5/13, 3:22 PM
Scott M said...: How do you know they aren't showing you stuff that they didn't get from your ear?

Wouldn't that make them guilty of speaking with a forked tongue?; 6/5/13, 3:47 PM
Anonymous said...: More people freeze to death in India than in any other country even though it's mostly tropical or subtropical. Millions of people sleep outdoors with no shelter or warm clothing. They are subject to death by hypothermia if the temperature drops below 40 or 45F, as it sometimes does in northern parts of the country.

Peter; 6/5/13, 3:52 PM
edutcher said...: How can they be a socialist country with no income tax?; 6/5/13, 3:56 PM
The Godfather said...: Thanks Ann. I've never wanted to go to India, and you've confirmed that.

But if they really want to screw up their economy, they could mount a major effort to start collecting more taxes. Before long, you'd have to start cleaning your ears yourself.; 6/5/13, 4:03 PM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: I had a Indian co-worker who wanted me to tell him all about our fables and myths and "old wives tales". Things like if your hand itches you're going to either lose or come into money. Or if you break a mirror or about black cats.

He was always asking about those types of things.; 6/5/13, 4:17 PM
Peter said...: Not only does practically no one in India pay income tax, but from what I saw practically no one pays for electricity either.

That is, trees were everywhere draped with heavy-duty extension cords taking power from somewhere to somewhere- but I'm pretty sure they weren't put up there by the electric utility.

BTW, it's got some of the best-behaved crowds anywhere. Queues, queues everywhere for everything- but everyone just waits patiently. Unlike that large North American country, where tempers get short and people begin to push and cut in line.; 6/5/13, 4:46 PM
Titus said...: The first thing I noticed while on holiday in India is everyone is wicked thin.

My husband said being poor will do that.

I reminded him that are po folk can me major fatties.; 6/5/13, 4:56 PM
Titus said...: Did you know Goa has a very large Portugese population?

If you get stopped by a cop you pay them off.

Even "fancy" hotels lose electricity daily.

The government is completely and totally corrupt.

People pinch loafs on the street.

"Hamburgers" don't actually have hamburger in them-it's a hamburger bun with chicken or vegies.

They love indoor shopping malls.

The nouveau riche dress like europeans-tight jeans, pointy shoes and tiny shirts.

The men's cocks are uncut.

The muzzies there mostly live in slums.

Most of them are vegies.

They bless the cow before they eat.

They bless their new car.

Rich American widows go on Eat, Pray Love tours.

Many Euros going there to open boutique hotels in the major cities.

The men have uncut cock. If it is not clean you will find curry rings around it.

Some of the women are fucking beautiful. Aisharya Rai was Miss World but she had a baby like two years ago and still a major porker so people dislike her now.

They constantly move their heads to the side when they agree to do something for you.

The club's close at like 10.

Sometimes the uncut curry ring has pubes attached and maybe some underwear particles.

The gay scene is fucking weird. No actual gay bars but gays go to straight clubs.; 6/5/13, 5:09 PM
Titus said...: Oh and most importantly they all know their "place" in society. And never shall the two mingle-not even eye contact

The caste system is huge.

That's kind of fab.; 6/5/13, 5:12 PM
Tim said...: The Drill SGT said...

"11. India has about the number of Muslims as Pakistan and double that of Iran. Only Bangladesh and Indonesia have more."

The Drill SGT said...

"12. The Partition of India created 14.5 million refugees who m\lost most everything as they swapped countries. about half went West and half East."

Pogo said...

"11. Outrage in India over U.S. tourist gang-rape, latest in attacks"

14. The British left too soon. Probably at least a century too soon.; 6/5/13, 6:10 PM
Indigo Red said...: I didn't know #9 about the ear street cleaning. The others I learned from neighbors from Mumbai.

I do want to know why India has better looking plastic chairs than we do in the US.; 6/5/13, 7:02 PM
George M. Spencer said...: "You can have me in the flowers."

India

The Psychedelic Furs; 6/5/13, 7:09 PM
dbp said...: "BTW, it's got some of the best-behaved crowds anywhere. Queues, queues everywhere for everything- but everyone just waits patiently. Unlike that large North American country, where tempers get short and people begin to push and cut in line."

This was not what I saw when we were in line to get into the Taj Mahal. Tons of cutting in line: I was there with Indian relatives and cutters would see the one white face and assume that I was there by myself, then they would cut either just ahead of me or just behind me. To prevent this, I took to standing in the middle of our group. Whenever a stranger ended up with us, my mother in law who speaks about 8 different Indian languages would chew them out and make them leave the line.; 6/6/13, 8:24 AM