I have been wondering as to why self-hate is so widespread and extreme in India, irrespective of religious and political leanings. While in some cases religious chauvinism can provide an explanation, I suspect that in most cases we need other explanations. One insight is gleaned from the simple popularity of skin whitening creams in India. People just hate the color of their skin. This leads me to the first untested hypothesis to explain the self-hate in India. It is a phenomenon that has been labelled as internalized racism or same race racism. People just hate their own race. There is some evidence that it might be a residual effect of colonialism, casteism and other forms of oppression. It is sort of a broader version of the well-known Stockholm Syndrome. The second explanation is simply an exaggerated and counter-productive response to old-fashioned low self-esteem and perceived unworthiness generated by comparing apples to oranges, the opportunities for which are greater today in the internet and satellite TV age than ever before.
Cheers, Santosh
