I like winding my girlfriend up by telling her that if it wasn’t for we Brits, India (where her parents are from) wouldn’t have had electricity, rail networks or most of its major infrastructure. Anything else I can add to the list to wind her up? I’m looking for historical facts not casual racism please.
architecture, transportation, industrial revolution, railroads, roads, telegraphs, postal services, Education, English language, Foreign investors, and a United country to name a few if it wasn’t the British that ruled India it would have been someone else the frenchies spring to mind as they tried to muscle there way in but got there arse kicked, India now is booming but would it be if it weren’t for the British who knows.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:14 am
She is just lucky to be here, given all the people the British slaughtered in India.
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February 24th, 2010 at 8:38 am
You are going to be very popular, you know her parents are arranging her wedding to someone else already so you might aswell get your tuppence hapennies worth in while you can lol.
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February 24th, 2010 at 8:55 am
other than the railways, modern technology and schools i don’t think we really did all that much for them
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February 24th, 2010 at 9:41 am
The british helped india by vacanting the country.
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February 24th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Brits stole everything from India…
the Kohinoor…tell me one ONE damn reason why the hell u people should have the diamond found mined polished in india and made for indians?
The british made stuff worse for us…ok well u say that without you guys we wouldnt have got electricity rail road? then how the hell the americans get it? did u people gift it to them? we would have got them the same way as well… Britain is just a small country in the europe…if the whole world decides.. Britain won’t exist…shut up…
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sweetness down under has given a sweet answer… but that’s her way of saying the same thing..just remember one thing..Britain growed by destroying others..there is no single doubt about this…
The modern Britain is very different though…i support the English football team..
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Show me one country in which the majority of the population is happy that they were ruled by the British and i’ll agree with you
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February 24th, 2010 at 10:50 am
We spread their fantastic cuisine around our former empire.
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February 24th, 2010 at 11:23 am
so, the fact that you don’t know a lot of historical facts about the british in india but "like winding your girlfriend up" doesn’t seem like "casual racism" to you?
why do you like winding her up? has it ever occurred to you that a white man "winding up" a woman of color, whose family’s country of origin was colonized by his family’s country of origin, is nothing more or less than a display of privilege that you have and she doesn’t?
how about this: you go and inform yourself about the british colonial period in india by doing some research and reading some books. then you stop "winding up" your girlfriend and start respecting her family’s culture.
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here’s a reading list: http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/d/2926/pc/Journeys%20International/r/JI/mcms.html
February 24th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Here is something. The Hindu religion.
Hinduism as it exists today wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t been for the editing and publishing of the Hindu scriptures under the Raj. In any case, for 1000 years before the Raj the Hindus were on the receiving end of Muslim violence.
But then, maybe she is Muslim.
In any case, her parents voted with their feet by coming to the UK.
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February 24th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Well, in response to many of the above posters and to answer your question we helped by just being there.
I’ll stand by for the thumbs down but in all honesty it could’ve been much worse since many of the large european countries were empire building and many had their eye on India. It could’ve been oh so much worse if the French or Belgians got there hands on the whole country (look at the state they left the Congo in!) or the Spanish whose idea of imperial thrust was to invade a country, slaughter it’s native inhabitants and bleed it dry of any wealth before buggering off leaving it desolate (don’t see many Aztecs these days do we?).
Britain’s colonial past did both great and terrible things and i’m not an apologist for it ( I mean, who invented the concentration camp during the Boer War after all?) but that said, of all the empire’s that existed it was by far the most benevolent. In the case of India we were actually invited by many of the wealthier maharajas who wished to have various disputes settled and knew that working with the British merchants who had the protection of the Royal Navy would increase their wealth.
Also had we not been there at the outbreak of WWII then it is more than likely that the Japanese would have occupied it. Considering what they did to all of the other areas they invaded (check out The Rape of Nanking) then it was a good job that Englishmen like my grandfather volunteered to defend it.
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February 24th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
architecture, transportation, industrial revolution, railroads, roads, telegraphs, postal services, Education, English language, Foreign investors, and a United country to name a few if it wasn’t the British that ruled India it would have been someone else the frenchies spring to mind as they tried to muscle there way in but got there arse kicked, India now is booming but would it be if it weren’t for the British who knows.
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bengali wife
February 24th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Civilised it.
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February 24th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
they did’nt help india,instead they steal from that country.
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February 24th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
India wasn’t one country it was original made up of different states. The Brits did build it’s some of it’s modern infrastructure such as the railways which are so vitality important to India today.
We also left it as the largest democracy in the world
and that’s quite an achievement in itself!!!
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February 24th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Try the fact that we stopped the Thugees, stopped the tribal conflicts between all the princes of the raj, stopped the burning of wives when the husband died, helped to change the attiude of the colour class system, united the country for 200 odd years, apart from the technology, schooling, trading and social changes giving them the India and Pakistan today.
Yes we did make mistakes, yes some of the exploitation was wrong. However things could have been a lot worse. The Spanish could have taken the land, purged the religion there and enforced Catholic beliefs on everyone. The French could have kept aome areas of the country and they could be speaking that as a common language.
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February 24th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
When the British conquered India . Settee was normal (wife’s thrown live on the husbands funeral pyre) . there was no woman’s education , no irrigation (they depended on the flooding) there was still slavery, There were murder cults (the thugee) hardly any trade , children died in there thousands of hunger and diseases. and a ruling class that were cruel to the extreme (Rajahs)they lived in vast opulence ,while there people died around them . when the British left all was not perfect but a lot of the inequalities had been addressed
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February 24th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
unification
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February 24th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
TAKEN AWAY ALL GOLD, DIAMOND, RESOUCES FROM INDIA. If could have not taken there could be more fighting amongst parties to take possation of VALUABLES.
For examaple the NUKE-DEAL is good for INDIA and parties are fighting to to pass it.
Why and HOW GOOD FOR INDIA?
Real Q is " how to get the service inspite of future non-availability of resources?
HOW?
Is nuclear deal of India with US is really worth?
It worth down the line of 50 - 60 years.
[A}.-Why worth ?
1) Fossile fuel is limited in INDIA and world.,
2) Nuclear fuel is also limited in INDIA AS WELL AS in world but can give enrgy for some years.
[B]. - Con of Nuclear?
Radiation to workers,
Nuclear power cost is Rs 3.00 per Kwh Where as coal cost Rs 1.40 per Kwh
Like petroleum, Foreign currancy will goout for
1). TECHNOLOGY,
2). FUEL,
3). INSPECTION,
4). EQUIPMENT, ETC
other CONs are:
5) Dependent on other
6) Possible stopage of fuel on later date (like USA stopped for TARAPUR UNITS, canadian STOPPED FOR RAWTBHATA UNITS)
7) Radioactive and toxic WASTE Management,
9) Raidation to public, in the event of Nuclear accident,
10) Long construction period and high cost of nuclear power plant.
[C]. - Options for INDIA ?
OPTIONS with little or no foreign currancy OUTGO:
1) WIND mill with limitless energy
2) HYDRAL with limitless life span,
3) SOLAR with limitless life,
4) Municipal waste with limitless life,
5) Agriculture waste WITH LIMITLESS LIFE,
6) COAL,
7) GAS.
OPTION WITH FOREIGN CURRANCY OUTGO:
1) NUCLEAR,
2) PETROLEUM,
3) GAS.
[D] Why 50 - 60 years?
Now INDIA MAY SURVIVE with Coal,Gas, Wind, Solar, Hydral, WASTE, Etc but after 60 years fossile will vanish and WIND, SOLAR, HYDRAL, WASTE cannot give sufficient energy for the INDUSTRY.
[E].- What is the option ?
INDIA SHALL USE NUCLEAR OPTION FOR ENERGY GENERATION..
[F] What is about foreign currency, dependence?
1). SINCE 50 - 60 YEARS is long. INDIA SHALL EXPLORE IT’S 1800 KM by 2000 km land surface, 100 - 2000 km on sea bed to check if Urenium can be extracted economically.
2) USA has formed NSG with 50 countries to deny access to nuclear fuel to countries like NDIA. World has 120 - 150 countries. INDIA can make an extensive search for URANIUM in the remaining POOR countries. It will help that POOR country for their economic upliftment and HELP india to get fuel. But how does it stop the foreigncurrency outgo? Since these poor contries need is limited to " ROOTI-KAPDE-AUR-MOKAN", in which INDIA is strong enough; it can exchagne those goods with NUCLEAR FUEL ( if available). Since these poor countries does not have economical, technological capability, they will welcome help from INDIA. It amounts to free "ROOTI-KAPDE-AUR-MOKAN" for people of those poor country at free of cost due to avialality of URANIUM in their countru ( Which they can not use or do anythings)
[G]. Why this deal ?
If INDIA refused to this proposal, OPTION as in [F] above can not be materialised? Why? Since USA is WORLD DADA, it will influence other ( 125-50 = 75) countries not to allow INDIA for exercising OPTION [F]
[H].- Conclusion ?
INDIAN has no option but to sign the deal.
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February 24th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
It seems a little sad that you want to wind your girlfriend up in this way as it does have somewhat racist overtones in itself, although I guess you probably don’t actually mean it that way.
Of course a lot of what you say could be said to be true except we have no way of knowing what would have happened if Britain hadn’t ruled India.
It does seem likely however, given the somewhat feudal nature of India’s organisation before British rule, that it would have continued to exist as a sort of collection of kingdoms (or perhaps the title would have been ‘Raj’). With that system of governance it is likely that progress would have been very slow indeed, and mechanisation of transport or industry would not have occured at anywhere near the same rate if at all.
It is probably safe to say then, that you probably would not have met your girlfriend, as her parents would be unlikely to have had any right to come here. So it is perhaps you that has most to be thankful to the British for, even more than your girlfriend.
It would be nice to think that the British gave India a new form of democratic government. Unfortunately, the example of how this should operate is not being very well demonstrated by the bunch of theives and morons that we seem to have doing the job here at present.
I’d suggest that you just give your girlfriend a hug and a kiss, and tell her how thankfull you are that she found her way to you, despite all the odds being against that happening. Kismet eh?
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