Chances of finding a stereotype are a billion to one

Three Australian sports editors are arguing loudly about a famous footballer's fall from grace as their newspaper's deadline looms.

A very experienced Indian copy editor works furiously to clear the mountain of sports articles piling up. The bosses continue their noisy debate and the mountain grows higher.

"The problem with this place is there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians," the copy editor boomed, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

The editors cracked up.

This happened a few years ago in the offices of my last newspaper and it was one of my first tastes of Indian humor, which is now sweeping across the world thanks to the celebrated movie Slumdog Millionaire.

The rags-to-riches feel-good flick was made on a small budget and featured little-known actors but has been able to garner world-wide applause.

Why? Times are tough, and the world is looking for hope in a time of great doubt. The movie captures the endearing spirit of the Indian people, and the dark humor they enjoy.

My Indian friends say the glass is not half empty, nor half full ... it is most probably poisoned.

Coming from a nation of a billion souls, they are a special group of people I have come to know better thanks to my China adventure.

One of the great things about living the expat life in China's international cities is the multicultural environment they offer. I have discovered, like I have with the Chinese people, that no two Indians are the same.

Because of their lengthy histories, expansive lands and varied people it is impossible to stereotype a Chinese, an Indian, or anyone else for that matter.

I sometimes like forging foreign stereotypes in my mind, because it's easy. All Russians drink vodka and read depressing poetry, all Americans are loud and proud, and all French wear berets, carry sticks of bread under their arms and are arrogant.

It's a simple view and it's wrong.

My new Indian friends have forced me to re-evaluate my blinkered thinking and helped me better understand the nuances of my fellow global villagers.

Ravi is passionate about cricket and will spend days glued to a Test match, even when India isn't playing. In summer, he likes to hit thousands of golf balls at one of Beijing's popular driving courses and shoots the breeze with fellow expats.

O.P. Rana has no interest in golf, but is the first to raise his hand to any badminton game on offer. The devoted family man also makes a racket about Indian cinema, not the Bollywood stuff, but instead the classic films of the 1950s, especially the flicks made by master director Satyajit Ray.

I really wasn't tuned into Ray's films before I met my Indian pals, but I now know this director is a genius. He has helped me see that the world has more dimensions.

Marisha doesn't care too much for cricket, or badminton but loves hip-hop. You'd most probably find her at one of Beijing's happening nightclubs.

Now she's relishing her new overseas experience, and is becoming more aware of the world outside, just like many of us expats. She just met the Mexican ambassador. "How cool," she beams.

My three different Indian friends have three different personalities, lifestyles and views on life.

They tell me that India is totally different depending on where you venture. But many Indians are uniting under the success of Slumdog Millionaire, which has one scene that relates to China's economic rise.

The movie's hero meets his gangster brother on the top of a new high-rise apartment and points across the city skyline. He proudly says Mumbai is the center of India and India is the center of the world.

China is not the only middle kingdom enjoying success.

As Slumdog Millionaire also reveals, Indians enjoy having a laugh at themselves and also put strong value on good relations, just like the Chinese.

The New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) recently conducted an Indian survey, which showed that building business relationships is as much about sharing cultures and humor as trying to conclude deals.

NZTE's outgoing South Asia trade commissioner Paul Vaughan said Indians seemed to think Australians were more fun to deal with than New Zealanders when it came to business negotiations. The Aussies do love a drink or 20 (there I go, stereotyping again).

Vaughan urged his Kiwi countrymen to take time to build long-term relationships in India and share a bit of laughter along the way.

As the hugely successful Slumdog Millionaire has proven, everybody always wants to laugh.

(China Daily 03/02/2009 page10)