India's portrayal by foreigners

What do you think of when you think of India? Many think of the bustling, colorful markets of Old Delhi. Some envision the tranquil backwaters of Kerala. And others think of the old-world marble architecture of what is arguably India’s most famous landmark, the Taj Mahal. But India is not just whimsical towns filled with old-school charm. No, it’s so much more than that.

The subcontinent is home to hundreds of towering buildings, to winding freeways filled with Audis and BMWs galore, to massive shopping malls filled with every brand under the sun. India is a place where businessmen in Armani can get cups of steaming chai at roadside tea shops, a place where the colors of Holi and the lights of Diwali intermix with glass-and-steel skyscrapers. It’s where you can eat a pao-baji — an Indian sandwich of potatoes with spicy and sweet sauces — at a vendor on the street before heading to a five-course dinner at the Taj Hotel.

It is an incredible mixture of traditional culture and brand-new innovation, a mélange of languages and religions and ideas. But why does Western media not portray it that way?

The West is often disappointed when it gets to India and sees that it is so much more than the land of sadhus and spices that the media portrays it as. When they’re hit with a dose of reality and modernization in place of clichés, they often look around in confusion.

So, let's answer some questions:

Buddha- Indian or Nepali ?

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Is caste system exclusive to India as perceived in the West?

Is Napoleon Europe's Samudragupta?

Why is India a subcontinent when Europe is a continent ?