Yesterday I was watching Amazing Race on TV, and they had come to Jaipur for the race. As the contestants were traveling in the car to some place near Jaipur, few of them started crying. Mostly because there are so many stray animals, and they were eating garbage, and such. They also saw a lot of kids near these garbage piles and were feeling emotional about the whole thing. That's what got me thinking - we Indians are so used to seeing poverty that it does not shock us anymore. Yeah, I feel sad that there is so much of poverty and that there is not much I can do about it. I don't like the fact that there are so many kids on the streets. But I don't think I would cry about all of that! I feel really bad, for a few minutes. That's it, I suppose. And then I force myself not to think about this, and try to forget it.
This is the main reason why Indians did not really like slumdog millionaire. We have seen slums, and we have seen such kids. And so for us, it is just a story. But for most of the Americans, this whole idea of a slum is horrendous, and when they see such things, it is time for them to thank god for everything that they have! It is sad, really. They have no clue of what is happening in the whole world. Their world begins and ends in America.
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