Writing POC 101

Indian Characters - @FallenBlaze

I'm an Indian and I'm proud... When people understand what it actually means to be Indian.

When we migrate to a Western country, a lot of our traditions and cultures do actually disappear. But it's not because we don't like them or we think it's embarrassing, it's because our lifestyles change drastically and we're not completely surrounded by Indian people who push forward traditions anymore.

If you're going to write about a character they lives in India, you have to understand that India is actually Westernising really fast. They know who Taylor Swift and PSY are, they've watched movies like Die Hard and they don't just eat Butter Chicken and rice. Multiculturalism through food is really predominant in India, with a lot of Italian, Greek, Chinese, Thai, etc. restaurants popping up.

They do not all wear Saris and Kurtas. Traditional clothing is reserved mostly for special occasions like weddings and cultural festivals. In fact, they keep track of global fashion trends. The youth of India wears what the youth in America would wear. It's not that hard to get your head around it.

Not everyone is a Hindu in India and not everyone worships the "Elephant God". Please. Hinduism is the most common religion in India, but that does not mean your character cannot be Indian and a Christian/Muslim/Jain/Jew/ etc.

If you are going to write about a character who is Hindu, here's a quick run down on the religion:

Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. To make it easier to understand, it's kind of like Greek Mythology. There are three main gods:

Vishnu- the creator of the universe. He makes sure things don't get too out of hand in the three worlds (the demon world/underworld, Earth and the Heavens). He has ten Avatars (the British "borrowed" the word from the Sanskrit language of India so that's what it's actually called) in which he has descended to Earth. Krishna and Rama are two of them. So Krishna and Rama aren't separate gods, they are incarnations. We also believe that Buddha is an Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Buddha was actually an Hindu prince (that's why Buddhism and Hinduism are very similar) and people respected and looked up to him so much that a new religion was made.

Brahma- the birth-giver. He begins the cycle of life.

Shiva- the destroyer. He's the one who's responsible for death, completing the cycle of life. He is the only God that doesn't live in the Heavens or the Underworld, instead choosing to reside in the Himalayas.

Then there's other gods like Indra (the king of the gods) and his brothers. His brothers are gods of more specific things such as Wind, Fire and Water.

The "Elephant God" is not the God of Elephants, okay? He is the son of Lord Shiva, and was born a human. But Shiva, who is known for his anger, decided to display his rage by cutting his head off. His head was replaced by a head of an elephant. And no, Shiva was not committing the crime of child abuse. His son actually committed a grave sin in Shivas eyes and Shiva soon realised his mistake anyway.

Please research each religion and their values and beliefs. It shapes their way of life. Like Hindus tend to be vegetarians or tend to stay away from beef.

Culture. India has a very diverse culture, with many festivals that give them reasons to celebrate. If you live in India, you are granted a public holiday whenever there is a major festival in any religion that is found in India. There's a public holiday for Eid, Diwali, Christmas etc. and all the festivals are celebrated by everyone, no matter of what religion, even though the method of celebration varies. That's when you can write about your characters wearing traditional clothing if it applies. Research it.

India has many states, and each state has a slightly different way to life. For example, Punjab has an emphasis on the agricultural industry and they eat the common curries, naan and rice. Tamil Nadu has an emphasis on the industries involving sea faring. They usually eat things which are made with rice (Idli, Dosa, Vada) and things which use coconuts because they are abundant in the state. So each state has a slightly different cuisine and lifestyle depending on what grows there and what is readily available. Many states also have different languages and dialects. Indians do not speak Indian. Hindi is the national language, but not everyone knows how to speak it. So please research the state you want your character to be from/ reside in.

The streets of India are not covered with people who live in poverty, okay? Please understand that India is one of the world's superpowers along with America and China and most people have a really good, decent life.

We are not all maths and science geniuses. If you're going to have a character that is smart who is Indian, please don't make them Indian for the sake of it, think a little deeper into why they are who they are. And Indian characters are always good at Maths but never English. Why? I know that for many of us, English is our second language, but that doesn't mean we can't excel at it.

The common belief is that Indian parents push their kids to become doctor and engineers and so people expect us to become those things. No. They only reason they want us to have a career like that is because of 1. Job stability and 2. They have a good pay that can easily support the family. They will support us no matter what we want to be. They just don't want us to struggle when we grow up.

We don't always eat roti and rice for lunch at school. We know what things like sandwiches and salads are, thank you. And at home, the menu is not always curry and rice, most of us tend to eat things from different cultures too.

And if you have an Indian character, please do not have make them have a heavy accent, especially if they reside in one of the Western countries. When we migrate we lose the accent and the people who are familiar with English in India do not have a different pronunciation for every word.

I really think that the Indian culture is misunderstood in many ways. If you do have a character that is Indian, make sure you let them embrace the culture and not push it away from them.