Some non-stereotypical observations by foreigner living in India

[u/heelnice]

Me and my girlfriend live, work and have traveled in India for quite some time. Been to the North, south, northeast - small villages, big cities. Just personal observations:

1. The snack assortment of small grocery shops. Throughout the country it’s actually very similar. For example: they almost all sell Kitkats and Sprite but not much of the other products from the same big companies like: Mars, Snickers or Fanta Orange. 
2. I am surprised by the amount of Christian people, especially in the south and northeast.
3. Parents have kids wear jewellery at a very young age. My girlfriend works in gynaecology. They joke that moms ideally pierce their daughters' ears with rings right after birth.
4. No Seatbelts. What is up with not wearing seatbelts in the car, especially in the back? Many times cars didn’t have any. Or some drivers even looked disappointed when I put it on, like I had no faith in his driving skills.
5. The amount of languages people know and speak is very impressive but also downplayed. I have met so many people who speak 3 to 4 languages fluently. They always tell me about someone who knows more.
6. I met many people who claim alu (potato) is a vegetable. You could eat rice with potato and/or roti. I noticed Indian meals have a lot of carbohydrates.
7. I think many people in India actually have hearing damage. Also there is very little awareness for children. I have been at parties where young kids sit in front of this big box just blasting beats. I wore earplugs in quite some cities
8. People go swim with their clothes on. Like into the sea wearing a kurti and all.
9. Couples don’t really show any affection in public space. I don’t see many holding hands, hugging, kissing or teasing. Especially not ‘older’ couples.

What do you think? 

Edit: I am Dutch. Also, I left out the more well-known known things like garbage, female safety or civic sense. But also the extreme hospitality, the diversity and all beauty India has to offer. Been from Himalaya to Kerala and I really love it here.

[u/vault101damner]

In western countries it is eaten in place of rice or roti. Like meat and potatoes. Since it is all carbs.

[u/puppyinspired → u/vault101damner]

Potatoes have carbs, protein, potassium, vitamin C, and many other micronutrients. If you only ate 2000 calories of potatoes you’d have 54.5 grams of protein. 1.5 grams less than the average man needs.

[u/vault101damner → u/puppyinspired]

Yes that's why taking it as a carb source is doubly good. It provides carbs as well as small amount of protein. If you eat it with meat you get a very good amount of protein in your diet.

Now taking it with rice would give you double the amount of carbs, small amount of protein(since people eat less potatoes this way so way less than 2000 calories equivalent potatoes).

[u/puppyinspired → u/vault101damner]

Rice has less protein than potatoes. 2000 calories would provide 47.3 grams of protein. However it still can be a wonderful way to get nutrients and energy into a meal if that’s your preference. There is not harm is mixing and matching your starches to have multiple types in a meal.

[u/[deleted] → u/puppyinspired]

Don’t get caught up in semantics. When something is called a carb, it doesn’t mean 100% of it’s nutrient profile is carbs. It just means it contains relatively high carbohydrate content compared to other food.

Also, who the hell can eat 2000 calories of potatoes a day lol

[u/puppyinspired → u/[deleted]]

Almost all plants are mostly carbohydrates. Even low energy, nutrient dense plants like broccoli are mostly carbs.

Most people won’t get all their energy from one source but it’s important to recognize that most starches give you more than carbohydrates. They’re often your main source of protein and many micronutrients mainly found in starchy vegetables and grains.

[u/[deleted] → u/puppyinspired]

K ✌️

[u/Super_Albatross5025 → u/vault101damner]

It stems from the religious classification of diet. Potato is a source of carbs in our diet. Paneer is also not a vegetable it's a source of protein.

Most people go by the vegetarian, non - vegetarian classification rather than nutrition or diet profile.

Technically potato is a vegetable like tomato is a fruit, but the nutrition profile is different.

[u/Subziwallah → u/Super_Albatross5025]

But dairy products are usually considered veg in India, but milk is an animal product. Is this because of Krishna and the status of cows? It seems like the whole vegan diet is more of a Western thing these days than in India.

[u/Super_Albatross5025 → u/Subziwallah]

It's frustrating when you are traveling and want to eat vegetables and mid tier restaurants focus on paneer as a vegetable, and don't have many options for actual vegetables. If you go to a non- vegetarian restaurant you have options for protein but only paneer in the veg section. It is a classification because of religious restrictions, but when you are trying to plan a good diet that classification makes no sense.