Before we talk about the ‘Ugly Indian’, a little background. All the ugliness started with Americans in the 1950s, when they developed a reputation for arrogantly touring the world, throwing their money around, and treating the people of the countries they visited like dirt.
I am not sure if within America they were aware of how their globe-strutting was regarded around the world. But that changed in 1958 after Eugene Burdick and William J Lederer wrote a best selling novel that was actually called The Ugly American. Though the book’s focus was primarily on how American diplomacy was failing in Asia, it popularised the concept of the ugly American and made Americans conscious of how unpopular they were around the world.Since then, other nationalities have faced the same kind of opprobrium. If you travelled through Asia in the 1970s, you came across the Ugly Australian: entitled and racist. That, however, changed after the White Australia policy was abandoned and the country became more multi–cultural and less racist.
In Europe, other nationalities became well-hated too. For instance, the behaviour of British football hooligans led other countries to dread hosting fixtures that involved Brits. In Asia, there has been, for the last decade or so, a pronounced anti–Chinese feeling caused by the behaviour of tourists from the mainland who are seen as being rude, pushy, and unpleasant, especially to other Chinese in countries such as Singapore.Not all of these caricatures are entirely accurate: there were always well-meaning and polite American visitors to foreign countries even in the days when The Ugly American was a bestseller. But there was enough substance in these characterisations for them to stick.Many countries took care to ensure that the caricatures did not stick. The counter culture of the 60s and the 70s led to the growth of a new kind of American traveller who respected local sensibilities. The Brits clamped down on football hooligans and the yobs in question were seen as a national disgrace.So caricatures can change. And, we better hope that’s true because over the last few years the characterisation that has prevailed globally is the Ugly Indian.The Indian abroad
