“Why do so many people pee in public?”
“Madam, they have freedom. They can’t wait.”
This was a conversation we had with an Indian tour guide during our two-week trip in Northern India. We are journalism students from Shantou University, in southern China's Guangdong province. Last month, we had the opportunity to travel to and report on India, our largest Asian neighbour and competitor, yet a country few of us knew much about except from Bollywood films and Life of Pi.
It was an eye-opening experience. Looking back on the trip, three major impressions pop up in our minds - a half-finished democracy, a harmonious co-existence between past and present, and Indians who are good at thinking.
India is the largest democracy in the world. It achieved universal suffrage at the same time as independence in August 1947. A local campaign event happened when we were in Jaipur. Political ads with candidates' photos were everywhere, on leaflets scattered on the roads, plastered over walls, cars and on bridges. Even elephants joined the campaign, with huge photos hanging from their backs. Young people standing on top of cars enthusiastically cheered for a handsome candidate. It was exciting to see a large democracy at work.
However, the clamour and excitement aside, India’s democracy still seemed messy and unfinished. It seems that the highly diverse population, divided by so many languages, religions and sub-cultures, makes it difficult for the Indian government to develop unified social rules.
To maintain the pro-forma democracy, the Indian government has to guarantee various kinds of freedoms, which leads to an inefficient and somewhat disordered democracy. People have the freedom to choose their leaders, yet we saw some people being offered refrigerators and TV sets in order to get their votes. The Indian press enjoys the freedom of speech, but they cannot report any scandals involving the Nehru–Gandhi family, a political dynasty that has ruled India more than 40 years since independence. Many Indians we interviewed said corruption was a big problem. One retired businessman said people could not do business without committing bribery.