Famous British YouTuber calls India a dirty and filthy place

 

Mukesh Devrari 

Benjamin, a British YouTuber, runs a channel named Bald and Baldr, which has more than four million subscribers globally. He is one of the most famous traveling bloggers in the world. He visited India for a short trip and posted one video on 19 September. Riding on his success, he is far more aggressive and contemptuous than his previous trip. He shared his views on the filth, chaos, and low quality of life without mincing any words. His remarks about British rule and things built during their British raj merely reflected his poor understanding of the evil empire that caused immense suffering to millions of people living in this country. 

Indians don’t realize before visiting abroad that we have lied about many things since childhood. Most Indians believe there is no food like theirs. There is no religion like theirs. There is no country like theirs, there is no weather like theirs, no culture like theirs, there is no democracy like theirs, there is no civilization like theirs, there is no philosophy like theirs, there is no religion like theirs, there is no brain like theirs. Well, nothing can be further from the truth. I did not like how Benjamin was demeaning India was not a nice thing to watch as an Indian. But the train was full of filth; people were toileting in the opening on a railway track, the turd was lying on the banks of the river, streets were chaotic with no traffic rules, and people were looking dirty, underfed, and extremely malnourished. 

There is no point in abusing Bald and Baldr. He is just an entertainer. He should not expected to talk in measured language. He has to cater to his audience. He is dismissive not only of India but also of all the poor countries he visits. The increasing penetration of YouTube due to cheap data after the launch of Jio Telecom in India led to the explosion of content creators. India, due to the huge population that can partially understand English, is one of the prime destinations for people to get subscribers; though consumption habits are changing, people no longer subscribe to the channels easily. Many traveling vloggers came to India; they chose to praise India, not to focus on its failures as a nation and tried to get new followers. Many succeeded. When Bald and Baldr came to India six years ago, he had 20,000 or fewer subscribers. 

He, along with Harald Baldr, became truly famous with their India serious. After that, both created remarkable content and traveled around the globe. The Benjamin focussed on former Soviet states. Coming back to his vlog. Indians should channel their anger or agitation in a proper direction. They should not get offended because someone points to chaotic traffic or filth. We should ask why our trains can’t be clean, why we can’t stop open defecation, and why we can’t provide a minimum place to sit and sleep to travelers like those available in airports. Why can’t we keep our public toilets clean? 

If Indians don’t want to appear uncivilized, they need to fix certain things. Why do cattle and stray dogs roam freely on our roads? Why can’t we instill a sense of hygiene and maintain cleanliness in public places? Why can’t India have a functional garbage disposal system? Why can’t our cities have proper drainage? Why can’t we build public toilets to stop open defecation completely? Why can’t we enforce traffic rules and make proper roads, parking, and lanes inside our cities? 

We can accuse Benjamin of racial arrogance and condescension, but our many failures weaken our standing to criticize him. We need to fix our house in order. Abusing him would not be enough; doing something to bring change is essential. The labor is so cheap in India that we should have bigger construction projects that make the world envy us, but we have failed to use the huge manpower to make clean and nice cities. 

Anyways. Benjamin was mean to us, though what he highlighted can’t be brushed aside. 

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