https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/world-press-photo-critics-rip-into-alessio-mamo-italian-photographers-poverty-porn-dreaming-food-pho-1889399?pfrom=home-lateststories
This is Coloniser Privileger taken far too far!
PM Modi must immediately ban this “fauxgrapher” Alessio Malmo with a lifetime ban and SAARC must follow. I would also ban William Dalyrymple because his faux-Mughal faux-desi act is tiresome but then I’m getting ahead of myself.
The problem with desis is that we bicker over so much trivia (newsflash Nehru & Jinnah are long-dead) that we don’t focus on actually projecting the right image abroad.
India should have given lifetime bans to all of the makers of SlumDog Millionaire and oh yes ask for the Koh-i-Noor. The great mystery of how Duleep’s Singh line mysteriously died out (even when he had 8 children) is a historic tragedy..
bro, are you OK?
I think the election results had some effect
Why would it and that’s a very ridiculous comment Saurav.
With respect you or one of your ilk were using Caps Locks just in another comment about Pakistan..
Yes all fine, why?
This “poverty porn” syndrome is very endemic.
I once had a Persian Bahai friend go to India and make a photo album basically poking fun at the country.
I shamed him on Facebook simply because it’s not acceptable.. maybe Pakistanis are just very sensitive over matters of izzat and I extend it to my wife’s country..
I have had so many people go to India and then make odd remarks about the country that are clearly dripping with condescension. I find that unacceptable..
PS. If you delete this comment, I will post it along with lot of other things as a post.
This would be sad. I particularly enjoy reading Shafiq’s posts and comments.
Yes they are good posts but comments have to be made with respect in mind..
LOL. Apparently I am not allowed to say good things about Shafiq’s contributions – although it wasn’t at anyone else’s expense.
How r u not allowed to say that?
Don’t know what happened, lets bygones be bygones bro, allow him to post. The earlier comment too i made on this post about election result was in jest .
Why are we “broing” these days loll
But what is the issue with Dalyrymple ? i quite like one of those token white guy in India. Him,Mark Tully and Ruskin Bond are the white trimurtis of India.
The instagram user quoted in the NDTV report seems to live in California (H1B type).
It is funny that these people have no compunction in using Indian tax payer money to get an English medium education and good enough technical/communication skills to immigrate, work in high paying positions and not pay a lick of tax back to the Indian government. But they somehow think a foreign photographer taking some pics for an exhibition is a problem ?
Why arent these folks creating jobs in India so that more people have money to buy more/better food rather than hounding this photographer ? At least, he thought about the poor in India.
The real problem is that these H1B types (along with wannabes in India) do not want to be reminded of India’s serious problems and their own selfishness.
I (respectfully) disagree-
People have a right to make a better life for themselves and their children in a developed country.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you live in the US?
I will reply to this in a post.
I’m quite a fan of Dalrymple. His “The Last Mughal” and “The Return of the King” are very well-researched and accessible books that teach us important things about the Mutiny of 1857 and the Anglo-Afghan War. He has a reading knowledge of Persian and Urdu and actually did research in the archives, which is more than many of us can say.
I also disagree with Zack about banning people associated with “Slumdog Millionaire”. You don’t have to like the movie but the artists involved had the right to make it. Isn’t it based on a novel by an Indian? Slums are unfortunately an Indian reality and I don’t really see the point of covering it up.
Poverty porn is a good thing because it gives us Indians a chance to reflect on the lives of our fellow countrymen, which most of the times we fail to do.
The country’s ‘brand’ is immaterial in the short run.
In a few decades, we would have removed poverty and become economically developed. These images will then only be historical curiosities.
“In a few decades, we would have removed poverty”– I wouldn’t be so optimistic.
India’s growth rate is accelerating; it would be worth for Pakistan to hitch a ride..
Why’d you think so ?
@Prats
I have to second that. Many Indians are too desensitized as it is about their country. Nothing works like a rude shock to see your filth from the eyes of an outsider.
However, there are usually two reactions to this shock and the second type of reaction comes in two sub-varieties.
Constructive: this is not a permanent condition of Indians, even though it seems quite pervasive. Things can improve. Human lives can be redeemed. With slow but steady hard work and incremental improvements. There is no final goal, no stable equilibrium, no utopia – just a struggle to reduce suffering by knowing more about the world and solving problems which gives life meaning.
Fatalistic: screw Indians, they are a beastly people with a terrible culture. Caste, religion, misogyny, poverty and their weird intrusive ways. They will continue to live short and brutish lives. I hate to be Indian and be counted among them. So:
a) Revolutionary: we need to reboot the entire society. Fresh start with less people. Need to remove the “oppressors”. I feel I know who oppressors are, but can’t seem to quantify this. Let’s decide on some arbitrary social/economic definition of this beastly oppressor class and do away with them. I mean permanently do away with them – if you catch my drift. Even if we miss some, it’ll be a lesson to those who slipped away. And then we can begin anew on our long march to utopia.
b) Escapist: we need to leave this oppressive place man! pronto! West seems like a nice place. Look at all the healthy looking white people and their well managed cities. So much better than our barbaric villages and towns. Could stay in a gated community, I suppose, but hard to breathe the same air as these poverty-stricken masses. Why do they reproduce so much? Really can’t take the jokes on Facebook anymore – let me relocate to Europe. Andiamo, allons-y, auf gehts…
You sound really judgemental about people who choose to immigrate to the West. As long as South Asian countries are so unpleasant to live in , those who have the option are always going to want to make a better life for themselves in a place with more economic opportunities, better rule of law, more freedom, and generally higher standards of living. It would be nice if Mr. Modi spent less time on Hindutva and more time providing all those jobs he promised.
India and Pakistan only work for the very rich. And of course the poor have no choice but to stay in the country they are born in. They also don’t have the skills to go to the West and at best will go be drivers and laborers in the Gulf.
I was speaking of:
1. reactions, not people
2. usual reactions, not all reactions
3. reactions about India, not “South Asian countries”
4. reactions that are not contingent on any given political regime in India
PS: For the record, I am not “judgemental about people who choose to immigrate”. Perhaps a little nuance is in order.
Your comment read as being very judgemental about those who immigrate. If that was not your intention, then you need to learn to communicate better.
Kabir I would rather u not make such pointed statements towards other users; it can come off as condescending..
Don’t patronize me.
Besides, was I communicating anything to you or about your country? My comment clearly states whom the remark was intended for.
If you want to take something said/meant about Indians personally then it isn’t my problem.
Don’t patronize me “Perhaps a little nuance is in order”. I have a degree in the liberal arts. I understand nuance.
It is a mistake to think all Indians especially those who can leave for other countries are doing so. I know lot of educated people who decided to stay in India. I know IAS exam toppers who left the chance to take up IFS since they did not want to leave the country. One of my classmates, a UP Muslim who came on top in IAS (in fact he could have made it to top rung of corporate sector ) he chose to stay in India and had a sterling civil service under many political dispensations , appreciated by them. Those who want to leave India permanently are only miniscule. Indian youth may like to see the world visiting many countries , and they know their future is in India.
If you see the illegal immigrants to Europe , good number of them are Pakistanis and hardly any Indians . India has more attraction for Indian youth than is the case in Pakistan. It is part idealism, part hope about India’s future and part seeing good opportunities in India itself.
Obviously not all Indians want to make a better life for themselves in an actual developed country. Some are ideologically attached to making their own country better. There are Pakistanis who are ideologically attached to improving Pakistan.
Still, I’m willing to bet that most people would go to the US if they were handed a Green Card. There is no doubt that Europe and America are better places to live than all of South Asia.
For someone who thinks outside USA/ Europe is uncivilized, no wonder it may appear that everyone is trying or hoping to settle down in the West hook or crook. Except for a handful of Indians majority are deeply committed to staying in India and making it great country .
LOL, now we are seriously questioning the fact that India is a third world country while the US and Europe are part of the developed world?
‘Third world ‘ ‘first world ‘ these are words coined by western imperialism to keep countries like India appendages to western economy and politics.
True
“Third world” and “First world” reflect reality. The standard of living is much better in the United States and Europe than in South Asia. The reasons for that are another debate (and yes colonialism played a part in that).
It’s also psychological colonisation..
What does “psychological colonization” mean?
Look, I love Pakistan but I know factually that life is much better in the West, whether you look at infant mortality, life expectancy, freedom, etc.
@उद्ररुहैन्वीय
I agree. I am more concerned about the revolutionary variety than the escapist one since they undermine all the work the constructive people try to do.
It’s interesting material for a post; thoughts about Indians from Indians..