Der Himmel! After the German news magazine Der Spiegel published a cartoon depicting India zipping past China in the population stakes, some Indians are upset. Why? Because the cartoon shows an overcrowded Indian train, with passengers on its roof and spilling out of its compartments, overtaking a Chinese bullet train, which has only two people in its ‘cockpit’. So, once again, why are some Indians prone to being upset, upset? Because trains in India are never overcrowded. Not since the last nine-odd years, at any rate.
The West revels in still showcasing India as a place where there are not just overcrowded trains but also other forms of public transport like buses and even autorickshaws packed to the gills. As every Indian will know, this is bakwaas, and only shown in movies. One never knows, Western media will probably conjure up images of passengers travelling on planes standing in the aisles. Finding no more depictions of Indian streets filled with sadhus, cows and the odd hooded snake complete with snake charmer, the density of commuters in India is the West’s latest obsession. At least some, including Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have warned Germany that India will very soon become a bigger economy than the European country. Which should make Der Spiegel, if not the whole of Germany, very, very upset.