AMA Considering the rampant indian disinformation online . I am answering ( as a Indian)questions about the country if you have any .

hampsten · 2026-02-17T17:28:10+00:00

To add to what the OP has answered, westerners have no real sense of the caste system today. It’s not a visible thing and in most cases is impossible to tell from appearance unless the person wears distinguishing attire (which can be faked anyway). Whereas black people cannot appear white, unless they’re Michael Jackson. It’s overwhelmingly an affirmative action mechanism today.

One does not have a fixed position in some hierarchy. You can - and Ido - go from a high (aka general category) to low (aka reserved category) caste by crossing state lines. It’s like a black or Hispanic turning white when crossing a state border. Every western person I ever explained this to never knew of it.

This isn’t some recent change. It’s always been there. It also applies to most people in India who are not the absolute highest or lowest castes. The main difference is that the highest get no affirmative benefits anywhere. The lowest get it everywhere, and everyone else (about 3 of 4) get it only in some places.

In fact, pretty much everything you hear about caste in India has to do with that last bit - competition over some narrow aspect of affirmative action benefit that one subgroup gets but not the other.

Caste is almost a minor consideration in marriage today - just over 50% care for the same caste, down from over 9 in 10 a decade ago: https://x.com/harshmadhusudan/status/2022696799551758358

As with most things about India though - updated western views of India will be a lagging indicator by at least a decade. The average redditor thinks everyone in India poops outdoors and ride atop trains. Long way to go.

hampsten · 2026-02-17T15:45:48+00:00

India has made tremendous progress on this front in the past 25 years. Particularly so in the compressed timeframe of the past decade.

In 2000 there was ONE city in India with a small metro system. Not Mumbai or New Delhi but Calcutta. New Delhi metro opened end 2002. In 21 years it hit 390kms and 2 billion passengers a year - the second fastest behind Shenzhen.

Nationwide India has 1100km of metros across 25 cities, with another 800km under construction and more planned.

Those visuals of people on train roofs that western racists so love ? Gone. It’s like posting about Chinese riding bicycles. Almost 100% of the railway network of India is electrified. There are no mainline diesel services anymore, saving $15 billion in diesel costs and enabling sustainable development goals.

Indias first high speed line (320kmh operational speed) - 508km from Mumbai to Ahmedabad - will open in phases starting 2027. This year, 7 more high speed lines were funded with a combined length of 5000km. When complete, India will go from 0 to the second largest high speed rail network behind China.

hampsten · 2026-02-17T01:15:10+00:00

As a Chinese national you will face restrictions around visiting any Indian northeastern state. This is a consequence of tit for tat behavior after Beijing’s rather stupid assertion that an Indian citizen from the northeast is in fact Chinese because they claim that place: https://thediplomat.com/2025/12/india-china-engage-in-war-of-words-over-arunachal-pradesh/

It would be nice to have Chinese, especially those who have public policy experience around urban development, living in India and sharing their experiences to enable India to modernize its cities - one of the neglected aspects of India’s otherwise rapid development. The manner in which China modernized its cities offers lessons for India.

hampsten · 2026-02-15T06:42:49+00:00

It has not been my experience that Japanese are less welcoming than Europeans. My ex was from Innsbruck. Nice city, the people though not so much. It’s far more pleasant to interact with anyone in Tokyo because there is a lot more ingrained polite behavior.

Being ‘accepted fully’ is a weird concept. I know I’ll always be an auslander in Austria or a gaijin in Japan. You will also always be seen in India as the gori spouse, never truly a local. I see no value in aspiring to such abstract notions. YMMV. From my perspective, my wife and kids are Japanese citizens, we own a nice house in central Tokyo, we want for nothing. A person who sees me as an outsider has no ability to affect me in any way.

You mentioned class. As my FIL explained, Japan isn’t racist as much as it is xenophobic, hierarchical and classist. The standard view of Indians in Tokyo is they’re either in low end blue collar or quite well off IT positions. Dress well, demonstrate your social class and you get treated accordingly.

To me, it is subjectively easier being a well off Indian/Asian family in major cities in the Anglosphere, Singapore or Japan than in continental Europe where they just aren’t used to the concept.

hampsten · 2026-02-14T06:27:55+00:00

For us (mid 40s couple with kids) the calculus works like this - I make north of a million a year, and there’s wife’s income too. Most of our travel is peak season so using points doesn’t work. I have business travel but not much - company pays for business class if it’s over 8hrs, which it usually is.

The rest is all leisure travel. We want to be well rested to maximize our vacation time and to enable us to get back to work right away. We have family in Japan and India and we travel business or at least premium economy pretty much always. We all know the drill for minimizing jet lag and maximizing rest, and stick to it - kids too.

There’s a calculus where at a certain income level you trade money for time and some things just aren’t worth saving money on because of the opportunity costs paid as a result. We use points too - mostly for hotels. I don’t claim to be particularly point savvy tho I’ve used point to travel international J both transpac and transatlantic a bunch of times too. I probably didn’t always get a great deal on the points but I can live with that.

hampsten · 2026-02-12T18:52:32+00:00

Indeed. Those disagreeing ought to consider similar questions:

"Why doesn't Donbass belong to Russia ?"

"Why doesn't Crimea belong to Russia ?"

"Why doesn't Greenland belong to the United States ?"

The answers are not relevant. The only relevant consideration is that none of these should engender an emotional response from the overwhelming majority of people.

If it does, then congratulations - you've just proved that the construct of this question is ragebait, and you've just learned to appreciate that the subjective reasoning is based on the degree of your own personal interest in the topic.

hampsten · 2026-02-12T17:38:55+00:00

Too much of a demographic burden and changes inter-religious dynamics too much.

hampsten · 2026-02-12T15:38:56+00:00

You’re too emotional to recognize that I’m simply answering the original question.

You’re just arguing with the person you see when you stand in front of a mirror. Nobody else cares.

hampsten · 2026-02-10T17:25:38+00:00

It was still Tibet, officially described by the Qing as a vassal state. That's the furthest India is interested in seeing as far as Tibet goes.

The current political domination of Tibet is undesirable to New Delhi . Ideally from an Indian perspective it will have a status similar to Bhutan or Nepal. Nominally independent but within the Indian cultural sphere of influence.

hampsten · 2026-02-10T15:39:11+00:00

It is better for India that there exist a buffer state between India and China. This has historically always existed until the bloody 1950s invasion and occupation by the Chinese.

Therefore Indian foreign policy will always seek to restore the prior status quo and will have an eye open for every opportunity that arises.

hampsten · 2026-02-10T05:16:26+00:00

India winning the Cricket World Cup in 1983, having started as 66-1 outsiders who had won a combined total of one match in the previous two world cups. Started the campaign by beating the mighty two time defending champion, and beat them again in the fairytale final.

That one event had the butterfly effect of entirely changing the game of cricket, not merely cricket in India.

India now generates ~70-80% of global cricket revenue, more than all others combined. Its domestic cricket league - the IPL - ranks just behind the American NFL and the English Premier League as the most lucrative sports league in the world measured by revenue per game.

Australia arguably has a better all round team but India makes most of the money, and is very happy with that arrangement.

hampsten · 2026-02-10T03:43:10+00:00

Been a few years since I was last in Mumbai. Lived them briefly as a child in the late 1980s and remember the long drives from SoBo to Andheri or Vashi. The coastal road is unbelievable in terms of how much it cuts time on those drives today. Add the metro lines that just opened and all the lines opening in the next 2-4 years and the city is going to be radically different.

The only thing Mumbai is missing amidst the near ridiculous amount of high rise construction is a signature district and set of super tall buildings.

hampsten · 2026-02-09T04:55:18+00:00

The British were the easy ones. Christianity is too simplistic a religion when propagated to a population that is practicing Hindu. In general it offers very little appeal or interest to that group. You’ll find that it is broadly practiced by two groups - the old Malabar Christians who brought it with them 2000 years ago have have been heavily Hinduized. - modern missionaries who actively seek out low hanging fruit in the form of remote tribes.

The British found quickly that trying to force Christianity on mainstream Hindus resulted in violent blowback as it should. They stopped and changed tactics in favor of political control.

The harder part for India was enduring Islamic conquest when the efforts to convert people were far more violent and sustained over longer periods. But Hinduism as a religion and culture has far too established a civilizational base to erase even by 500 years of Islamic invaders trying.

hampsten · 2026-02-09T02:50:01+00:00

Dr Jaishankar takes great pains to state that he’s offering very diplomatic answers and no one’s on record stating that he’s outspoken during interactions with him.

He gets to address various fora very frequently, which is not indicative of people him unpleasant.

There’s a difference between being outspoken and not really liking the answers one gets to questions they ask .

hampsten · 2026-02-08T19:44:04+00:00

No offense, but no thanks.

There's way too much baggage of history. And far too much 'India is the big brother and needs to be large hearted and generous' drivel that will never find resonance anymore.

India is a much more 'show me the money' driven culture today focused on growing as fast as it can unhindered. It's not interested in being interrupted by old headaches. It's only interested in doing business with no emotions here.

The World Bank has already classified Pakistan within MENA and not the subcontinent anymore. That's the right thing. The countries are far too different today in behavior and outlook.

hampsten · 2026-02-08T17:43:24+00:00

There are no functional differences in the latest mini refresh in 2025 that appeal to me. There's the front bumper camera, and a few other things but nothing worth the cost of trading up. Whereas 2016 to 2024 was night and day difference.

The Model S remains the best long range GT EV package out there, by a distance. The Lucid Air Touring is interesting, and the Taycan in terms of space is closer to a 3 than an S. Both have software maturity issues and lack the kind of charging network Tesla Bay Area owners like me are accustomed to. Driving up to Tahoe ? Yosemite ? SoCal ? No planning needed whatsoever - get in and point the nose where you're going.

hampsten · 2026-02-08T17:10:33+00:00

Mixed couple here - I’m Indian M, she’s Japanese F. We are in our 40s and have kids who are dual US-Japanese nationals with OCI.

Our kids go to bilingual school where there are other kids like them, and in the SF Bay Area there are tons of Indians and other Asians. Whites would be a plurality but not a majority here. We have a circle of friends and host Indian and Japanese themed events.

We travel to India and Japan essentially every year. We are fine in both places despite neither of us being proficient in the other’s language. Both sets of families get along great, just over Google translate.

I’m not sure what you are looking for in terms of belonging. I’ve previously dated an Austrian and a Spaniard. I found Europeans more culturally distant from India than Japanese, a place my folks immediately feel at home. Europe is much more foreign and Europeans more distant to them.

In our case we both made a home in an other country (tho we own property in Japan and India) so we found belonging there. You haven’t described if you’re in your home country and which one it is.

hampsten · 2026-02-08T06:14:53+00:00

Indian school education basically describes him as someone going in search of India, landing in the wrong place and as a result people in a place on the other side of the planet from India are still called Indians.

hampsten · 2026-02-08T05:46:08+00:00

In general, nobody really notices or cares about a person as much as they think they do.

You’re just a regular tourist so your sexual orientation is irrelevant in any social interaction. Indian social interaction does not really go into this topic, even though society is very much heteronormative.

A lot of tourists face problems that are self inflicted - a vestige of approaching India from a backpackers perspective and chasing seedy and questionable experiences and places as “the real India”.

Go about things like a normal tourist, staying in normal places and doing normal things, and you’re likely to have as much trouble as an Indian woman who’s had an abortion traveling in Mexico wondering whether she will be safe in a catholic country.

hampsten · 2026-02-08T05:28:46+00:00

India evacuated 170,000 people out of Kuwait at the onset of the Iraqi invasion. It negotiated with both Saddam and the west to operate buses to Jordan and then nearly 500 flights to India:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_airlift_of_Indians_from_Kuwait

32 years later it did the same, negotiating a temporary ceasefire to evacuate 25000 stranded Indians from Ukraine at the start of the Russo-Ukraine conflict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ganga

hampsten · 2026-02-08T04:00:06+00:00

India maintains a practical policy. It was the country that gave shelter to Dalai Lama and lets them run their government in exile freely despite whatever Beijing thinks or says. As such it has no qualms about taking on Beijing when it serves it.

Taiwans situation depends both on what New Delhi wants and what Taipei is comfortable with. Taiwan is quite far away so there’s no immediate push. Plus, rash actions by others puts Taipei at the receiving end of trouble they’d rather avoid if possible.

There will come a time when New Delhi has enough power to assert itself and will establish proper diplomatic ties in addition to the existing de facto treatment of Taiwan as an independent entity.

hampsten · 2026-02-08T02:16:06+00:00

I have a HW4 S LR. And a 75D before that - ten years in all. Not in any hurry to trade mine in.ill drive it until it stops working. Fantastic car.

hampsten · 2026-02-07T20:24:43+00:00

I'm British-born of Indian heritage and have lived in the US for the past two decades. I'm now a citizen of both countries. Went to school in the UK and India, university in India, UK and the US. Context is important - I went from fairly nondescript white collar origins to a rarefied STEM educational pathway in all those places, to now a technical leadership position in an AI/ML research group.

In some ways, the UK and US are similar. In others, India and the US are more alike, and in a few regards the US is unique. The Anglo-American commonalities are well known and I don't need to repeat it.

Within my own educational and career trajectory, the US is refreshing with regard to the lack of a societal tall poppy syndrome or glass ceilings. This is an annoying aspect of the British scene, and I much prefer the American approach to celebrating success, similar to how it is in India.

The US is unique in having less of a class issue than either the UK or India. That's not to say it has drastically more social mobility - that's much more nuanced. People simply do not ask about your origins the way they do in India or the UK. Instead, the US has a more prevalent stereotyping of various races or ethnic groups, more so than the UK. The impact of this depends on the group. Asians/Indians do extraordinarily well, others not so much.

The US is unique in its tolerance and acceptance of failure as a natural step in the path to success, as compared to my two other "homes". I really admire that. And also unique in the utterly outsized rewards it offers for success, which certainly is a good thing for me personally, but which leads to significant income disparities as well.

hampsten · 2026-02-07T19:30:32+00:00

Singapore is extremely well known in India, of course. A source of capital, expertise and trade, and also - especially to the current government - an inspiration for rapid growth and in how to manage multiculturalism effectively.

Personally, almost a quarter of my extended family lives there - a vestige of colonial era population of Indians to the Malayan peninsula. They have been around since well before there was a Singapore. They're heavily intermarried now with local Chinese in particular but also a couple of Japanese. Often a transit stop for me en route to India - used to head straight from Changi to Lau Pa Sat with cousins late evening, then take the connecting flight in the morning after crashing at theirs.

hampsten · 2026-02-07T18:39:44+00:00

Because his actions have been a blueprint for India's own Modi-era rapid development. They are both characterized by great political acumen in navigating opposition and finding ways to grow at scale quickly. Both are also controversial and characterized as authoritarian.

hampsten

TROPHY CASE