The things that come to my mind are

-The country has a set goal to improve in tech industry, aiming to rival big countries like China.

-The people definetly know their spices. While they use it a bit too much at times, it certainly works well.

-The country is overpopulated, leading to talented people having harder time to succeed.

-If you're watching an Indian man's tutorial on any topic, you can assume it'll work well.

-It has a noticable split in religious beliefs.

-fuck the remote scammers operating from Kolkata. The people in India also hate these people.

I wouldn't view India as a world leader in any field but may be ignorant of some specialities? I know there is innovation but nothing major springs to mind. I'm being lazy though - that can likely be looked up and verified with stats.

Technology wise, it appears to depend on western countries outsourcing work, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but isn't a good thing either since the draw to using India isn't skill but cost. If the cost goes up, the west will stop outsourcing there and go to some other low cost base. (I'm not saying Indians aren't skilled, just that's not the primary reason why outsourcing there is happening, it's all about exploitation from the west in search of more profit).

Politically it seems to have been a dumpster fire for some time and looks like it's trending towards more national extremism. Though that doesn't seem to be unique at all - feels like the world is shifting to more fascist tendencies.

The caste system is especially cruel and I regularly read stories that it's going strong with no signs of stopping. I find that morally repugnant.

The amount of scams against innocent people that originate from India is shocking, and it really appears as though corruption is so high that it's not going to get better any time soon.

Professionally, I deal with Indians semi regularly and it's overall positive. Personally, I've come across a few assholes but the majority have been decent people and none of the issues above ever come up.

Like any place, there are pros and cons, and since I've never visited, I haven't been exposed to enough to form a proper opinion. However, here are some of my thoughts:

• The culture seems to appreciate intricacy and beauty, with rich colors, complex spicing of food, and gorgeously detailed textiles. Minimalism seems anathema on an aesthetic level.
• The Indians I've known have mostly been very warm, kind, patient, pragmatic people.
• There is a worrying divide between the sexes, which IMO is unhealthy and contributes to sexism, sexual assault, and loneliness. I don't get it because you guys invented the kama sutra!
• I'm not sure why this is, but there seems to be a huge tolerance of unsanitary conditions. We've all seen footage of people wading in horribly polluted rivers, or beachfronts covered in trash and human poop, or filthy public bathrooms covered in feces or period blood. Same goes for unsafe conditions - massively overloaded trains, deadly chaotic traffic, etc.
• It seems to me that it must be hard to get ahead in a country with so many people because there's a massive amount of competition, plus limited opportunities. I think this is why Indians are some of the hardest working people I've ever met, and also why some of the Indians I've known are willing to undercut the next guy to get ahead.

I really respect the area of Kerala and its commitment to their public. Very robust educational system, healthcare, and a focus on access to clean water. That's just from stuff I've seen and read though, I've never been to India, I'm American.

I hope the best for India's future, but it seems worrying from what I hear. I would hope for greater collaboration with China and an easing of tensions with Pakistan. India is a massively diverse place though, with multiple languages and even multiple writing scripts, so sometimes it's amazing it's a functional country at all.

Most of what I hear though is about India dominated by very right wing movements, but there's a strong history of Indian working class movements as well. I'll try to be optimistic about the future. Also as an American I am fully aware of my country's horrifying exploitation of the Indian people. The Union Carbide disaster is still the worst industrial accident in history and its impact should never be forgotten

I am myself Indian

I think most Indians don't realise how large and diverse India is. Most Indians underestimate how foreign parts of thier own country are in terms of economy, culture, language, food etc.

I'm in a Western country and 9 out of 10 phone calls I recieve are scam calls from India. Right now in my country, there are Indians with temporary working visas protesting because they don't want to return to India.

India does not seem like a place I want to visit.

I know very very little about India, but it seems like the country is going the neoliberal route of Amerika, bringing some limited wealth, but a heap ton of poverty and stress/competition for those who do have a job. I admire India for their educational system, how hard working and responsibly their citizens are, and how much their country has grown since independence (a difficult feat).

I know that not every Indian is a BJP member, but that's gotta be embarrassing frustrating as MAGA is in the US. I've seen some center-right Indian friends go hard right these last few years. This seems to be everywhere now, though, not just India.

Don't at me, this is from a place of profound ignorance.

Edit: changed a word so I don't come off like a racist prick

My general impression is that India are really good at scientific innovation and so on but only because the incredible inequality allows India to channel its resources so that it can be on par with other countries a fraction it's size.

If they did the work required to lift the poor regions out of poverty, and sometimes just straight up feudalism, the country would become a proper superpower with far reaching cultural impact but right now India seem to slide further into Hindu nationalism so now it's more of a worry for everyone else if India became another dictatorship like china.

Too many cultures/languages in a large space, they should split into smaller countries, it's like judging Europeans from knowing some Brits, but

– People with money are very arrogant, selfish and wasteful – Many clingy/creepy people that keep talking to you when no longer appropriate – Headbobbing – Mostly friendly, sometimes too polite – Workaholics – Always complaining about their parent's high expectations – Lots of IT workers who know what they learned to do step by step but it's like they don't know why they do what they do – Pretty condescending to other Indians from other regions – The usual: good but spicey food, hot weather, corruption, expensive weddings, overcrowded but still mass producing babies

Had a talk with some friends a while back about this. Used to be this big far away country with wonders and crappy things. And it's turning into scam center galore because the only contact we have these days is the weekly scammer. To the point we've come to associate he accent with the situation. It's really an undeserved fate.

It's one of the World's Great Civilizations, rather than just a country like Ireland is, it's got more historical importance and influence.

Regional power with powerful neighbours, has nuclear weapons, struggles with impacts of climate change, (completely?) electrified railway recently, doesn't take a stance on the war in Ukraine due to involvement with Russia, farmer's protests, BJP/Modi won't step down, religious conflicts.

My country's media don't report much about India, but occasionally they do features about specific topics.

I love Indian culture and food, back in university I lived, studied and worked with quite a few Indian people and they all were kind, smart and very hospitable

I feel like quite large part of animosity towards Indian people (besides the usual racism) stems from the outsourcing of jobs there, especially with customer service, and even then going for the lowest offer

I've personally had both good and bad experiences with Indian customer service, but even with the bad experiences it's obvious that the problem is a lack of resources and not the worker

Unfortunately people are quick to blame the service worker instead of the organization, and this gives an acceptable excuse for their internalized racism

You said to not base the response on the people we know, but anything that I see from the news or read online doesn't reflect the people, it reflects the system

The only way to form an honest opinion of a group of people is to meet them, and even if all of those people somehow are the exception to the norm, they still represent and reflect their culture and where they come from

Send bobs.

But seriously I can’t help but think of the good foods. I’m curious if India does food diplomacy like Thailand does.

I had my biases, due to the large number of tech support scammers from India... Until my mother got scammed by chiropractors, and my whole family (including me) got their teeth mutilated by a malpracticing dentist in the US trying to profit off unnecessary dental proceedures. Scammers are everywhere there's corruption; they just take different forms.