Bar Education: I love Hitler

Tonight at a bar I went outside with a friend from my program and a german dude she met who is here on an internship. Several Indian guys asked us where we we're from and when hearing the kid was from Germany the one dude goes, "I love Hitler!"

I just start laughing my ass off and the kid, visibly uncomfortable, attempts to explain why you should not say that when over there (as apparently two of the guys are going to Germany soon).

I start talking to the third guy about why the dude just said that and he explains to me (I'm putting this in my own words) that in India many people admire Hitler because he represents a sense of strong national pride and because the culture is so diverse and different all over the land, the idea of cultural unification and superiority (after centuries of oppression) is very appealing.

He explains to me that this does not mean they are against any group of people or support hatred but just that Indians are looking to find a unified national identity and Hitler, to them, epitomizes this. The guy I was talking to was very intelligent and seemed to hold a liberal view of acceptance towards other people but still suggested that Hitler is viewed in a positive light in India. I told him I got the jist but you should probably word the statement better next time. He agreed.

I told him how someone like myself would take that as hatred for others and he understood. He then explained to me and the german kid how in India one should not ask why someone still lives with their family (as we now felt the need to get into cross cultural taboos) despite being wealthy and older (25-30s). He explained to us that there are several different stages in Indian culture (or at least the part of India he was from but i think this is true in a lot of other spots in the country and from my limited understand of Hinduism there is a similar trend throughout the religion) first 25 years a kid is expected to be celibate and focus solely on learning and then you can explore and get a job, then later in life you give back.

He gave a much more detailed explanation obviously with more stages and he had a hindi name for each stage. It was interesting. I then expressed that it would seem family plays a much greater role in Indian society than in Western society where individuality supersedes community. We all nodded--great.

We parted ways and he wished me a good life. Edumacashun.

We went to a hookah bar and every 25 seconds a fruit bat would fly overhead each with a wing span of around 3 feet or greater.

I said to my friend today that India reminds me of Gangs of New York...without all the crime...

I like riding on rickshaws because i feel connected to the world (as their are no doors, windows) and I can forget about my individual self. whenver the ride is over or i have to give directions i sigh.