Well-Known Ironies That Make India Top The List of Contradictions

There are certain things, issues, events, beliefs that happen in India and only in India and then we just say, “This is typical Indian mentality”.  India has become a land of contradictions and ironies as there are many things that have happened and will continue to happen in India, which are in contrast  to what they actually mean to be.

India is a land of rich culture and heritage, in the midst of which lies certain ironies based on the nation and the Indians who live here, which are very difficult to ignore.

Below are some ironies of India which have been gathered from various sources. Some you might have already heard, some are new but makes an interesting read.

Plus, these ironies are associated with the reality, the real facts of the Indian society and the so-called Indian mentality, filled with doses of fun and humour.

Enjoy reading these ironies:

1. In all history books and social studies books, we describe India as a land of unity in diversity. But the irony is that there is only diversity and no unity.
2. It was 5,000 years back that India invented the system of the world’s first flush toilets as evident in the ancient studies of the Indus Valley and the Harappan civilisations. Historians have revealed the remains of efficient drains, bathrooms and many other sanitation devices in the Indus Valley civilisation. The Harappan civilisation revealed the invention of flush toilets. But the irony is that today, more than 53% of the population defecates in the open.
3. When a politician spends a huge amount of money for building statues, nobody complains. But, when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spends some amount of money on its mission to Mars, everyone starts talking about  poverty and wastage of money.
4. We are angry when Maria Sharapova says that she does not know who Sachin Tendulkar is. But do we as Indians know Sita Sahu, India’s double special Olympics medallist, who is selling pani-puris now? Leave aside Sita Sahu, we don’t know the names of many sports personalities in other sports, leaving aside cricket.
5. We make fun of Chinese products, but the irony is that we are the ones who have made the biggest Chinese market in India.
6. You don’t stop when there is  red light but you stop immediately when a black cat crosses the road.
7. Corruption is bad and banned but there is nothing wrong to give a bribe to someone to get the work done.
8. When you use indecent English words you are cool and modern but when you use certain Hindi words you are uncouth.
9. We worship the rivers, Ganga and Yamuna, as symbols of purity yet we are the ones to pollute them.
10. People protect their smart phones using screen guards but they never bother to protect their heads by wearing a helmet while riding their bikes.
11. In India, it is an irony that having contacts is more important for a good job than a good resume.
12. It is irony that in India, it is easy for an illiterate to become a political leader and earn loads of money while it becomes difficult for a professional or skilled person to get a decent job.
13. In the same manner, you need to pass Class X to be a peon but you do not need any qualification to rule a State or the country.
14. We don’t bargain when we shop at the malls but we don’t hesitate to bargain with the poor rickshaw-puller or the vegetable vendor.

Some ironies related to only Indian women:

1. Girls are killed in the mother’s womb for the sake of the family, while the same family goes to the neighbour’s house to seek daughters for “Kuwari Puja.”
2. Irony is that it’s a woman who asks another woman to kill her daughter in the womb.
3. In India, girls are considered as Laxmi, while in the same India, girls are also considered a burden.
4. Men won’t mind bowing their heads before Goddess Laxmi or Durga in the temples or at their shops or offices, but the same men would harass women on the roads or wives at home. Isn’t this an irony?
5. Here, a rapist is treated as another ordinary criminal and is bailed out, while the innocent, helpless victim is mentally tortured and suffers her entire life.
6. In India, it is an irony that a woman is impure when she menstruates, but when she does not menstruate, she is considered unlucky as she wouldn’t be able to bear a child.
7. In India, even today in the age of modern science, it is always the fault of the woman when she delivers a baby girl but the irony is that not many know that it is the male’s chromosome that determines the sex of the baby.
8. We teach our daughters to dress properly but we never teach our sons to behave properly.
9. It is OK for boys to go out at night but it is absolutely NO for girls to go out at night. The irony is that we keep on emphasising gender equality.

Do you have any ironies to share? We welcome our readers to add more….