Blonds are dumb. Girls are not good at sports. Boys are messy and unclean. Americans are stupid. Our world is filled with stereotypes.
I’m an average girl raised by 100% Indian parents. Yes, that means that I grew up with less pizza and hamburgers and more rice and curries.
When I go to school it seems that a lot of people think of me differently when I’m just an average girl. I’m pretty sure one reason that they look at me differently is because of stereotypes.
There are a lot of stereotypes about Indians. People think about Indians like they’re all the same, but we are not. India is a really diverse country with 28 states and almost all of them have a different language.
There are thousands of stereotypes about Indians, but I feel like out of the thousands people believe four the most.

Stereotype #1:All Indians are poor but happy. Indians are very happy people. The Hindi movie Slumdog Millionaire had a huge impact on how India was perceived around the whole world because it showed a lot of poverty in India. Slumdog Millionaire was a popular movie that won nine Oscars in 2009. Some of the world’s richest people, such as Mukesh Ambani, live in India.

Stereotype #2: The “Real India” is dirt and chaos. India is not all dirt and chaos. The way it’s presented towards people in pictures and words isn’t the same as what reality really is. India has many luxuries such as the Golden Temple and the Taj Mahal.

Stereotype #3:All Indians speak Hindi. Many Indians, including me and my family, don’t speak Hindi. Hindi is spoken in North India but not in South India. Out of everyone in India only 80% speaks Hindi. Even though Hindi is the national language many people still don’t know it.

Stereotype #4: Indians are uneducated. Out of all stereotypes about Indian people this stereotype is extremely wrong. Education is really important in India, and I mean REALLY. Even poor families try to give their kids the best education possible. In India, the top professions are doctors and engineers; MBAs and PhDs are a common qualification.
Indian education is different than American education. What we learn in fourth grade, they learn in second or possibly first grade. Therefore, the education system is competitive, challenging and thorough.
I understand how most people tend to believe stereotypes, but please don’t believe the first thing you hear because it’s not always right. What people think about Indians is totally wrong. Just because something is presented at you in one certain way, you shouldn’t always think it’s accurate.
Stereotypes are really negative. Indians care about it and we should. People use stereotypes like a reflection of who we are and a mirror of how we behave. If people think about Indians like this then, people are going to think about us in a really negative way. So please, stop believing stereotypes about us Indians; most things you hear aren’t really true.
Blonds aren’t dumb. Girls are good at sports. Boys aren’t messy and unclean. Americans aren’t stupid. And Indians are more than what you may think.