The privileges of being white...

So what does it mean, here in India, to be white as I am? It means that you have the disadvantages of being identified as a tourist immediately and paying more wherever you go. But it also means that you experience certain benefits only because you’re white. …and I guess being white and of the female gender also plays a considerable role.

The very first thing I had to deal with was these looks. How often did I ask myself: Why the hell can’t people stop starring at me? If I hadn’t attentive in history class I’d sometimes really think I’m the first European to come to this country. But I must admit, there is two types of starring. There is the rather perfidious one; a person would pretend to write a text message but in fact take a picture of me with his (yes, it’s usually men) cellphone. And then there is the open type, where they just look at me and just don’t turn away any more. Yesterday, a young couple asked me if they could take a picture with me. If ever I get famous in my life, I’m definitely prepared for those paparazzi and fans. J

One more aspect that I had to learn was that as long as I have any male Indian friend around, I’ll not be able to go anywhere by myself. Not even to the mall that is 100m away. I asked myself where this overprotectiveness comes from that made me feel so constricted. Because...what does it help if you’re an independent person, if people don’t let you do what you want to do? Learning on both sides needed to take place. My friends learned to let me do things by myself and not always offer their company/support for small things until I asked for it. And I learned to take more help than I’d usually do in small everyday activities or sometimes just don’t tell anyone that I want to go to the supermarket. J

The next point is a normally negative one, which can be turned positive : the bargaining. For obvious reasons, I’m usually told a high price when I want to buy something. So you need to bargain. This was actually one of the few things of which I thought I would never feel comfortable with, before I left Switzerland. But then I learned to play the “just because I’m white you want to rip me off”-card. And this has now become one of my favourite games…with a 80% success score so far. (Yes, sometimes I exaggerate and start with a price, which really seems to be too low. But you have to try, right? J)

One more benefit is the fact that I get to meet people I would probably not get in contact if it wasn’t for my skin colour, language abilities and communicative personality. Last week I was accompanying managers to two important meetings at my company. It is a real privilege and I appreciate these opportunities a lot. Still I have to understand and get used to this.

So these are some of the experiences I’m facing on a daily basis, which I attribute to the fact of being a white foreigner in this country. I had never experienced something similar before. Even though in most of the countries I’ve been to, visitors are always very clearly identifiable and also warmly welcomed, but I never felt so foreign in a country in these terms. It seems it could never be possible to feel more like a local, no matter where you live or work, what you wear or eat, what language you speak or what people you’re with. I guess I’ll just need to realize what effect I have on people here and then find my role in this society.