别落后时代 文化需与时俱进

作为邻邦，中印之间应该不乏经济和文化的交流，然而很多中国人对印度文化的印象是印度交通拥挤，牛车是主要的交通工具；而很多印度人对中国文化的印象是中国女性从小就裹脚。这样的文化印象严重滞后，让双方啼笑皆非，都会以为对方是从某个朝代穿越而来。显然现象背后的问题更值得我们深思……

Without imagination, we would hardly have ant possibility to make something real sometimes. But with nothing but our imagination, we sometimes can be distracted from what is real.

If you ask young Chinese about their impressions of India, here is one typical answer:

"The streets there might be dirty, messy and unbearable, I think. Women wear saris and walk with their oxcarts on dirt roads. I guess all the buses in India must be very crowded. No wonder so many passengers often sit on top of them."

But what if you ask Indian students about the Chinese? Their curiosity and questions may create a dilemma for most Chinese, not knowing if they should laugh or cry.

"I got a question to ask about China. I heard that many women in China tightly wrap their feet with cloth in order to prevent their feet from growing and to make themselves look beautiful. Is that true? This is what I got from my reading."

China has become one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. Its gross domestic product ranks third in the world.

And with the most prominent IT hub in Bangalore, India is the world largest software exporter. It produces thousands of engineers each year. Moreover, India has become an outsourcing and call center destination for many overseas companies. By 2009, India has become the 12th largest country in the world in terms of broadband Internet users.

But why do people in these two countries know little about each other? How can their misunderstandings and miscommunication be avoided?

Tarun Basu is President of the Indo-Asian News Service, one of the most influential news organizations in India. He says the media should deliver objective and accurate information to people.

"As media, we are obliged to let people know what's happening in China and what changes are taking place in China by providing news and information, so that people in India will know more about the developing China."

Although people from the two countries speak different languages, they share something in common. That is the willingness to know more about each other.

28-year-old Lv Yuan from Beijing says she is curious about everything in India, because in her mind, India is very different.

Meanwhile, Wodusa, an Indian student majoring in design says she is always inspired by Chinese culture when doing design.

"I yearn for Chinese culture. I want to know more about Chinese architecture, arts and so on. In a word, I am interested in everything about China."

Besides the shared interest of the two young people to learn about each other's culture, Basu says India and China share lots of experience in development. For example, following the successful Beijing Olympic Games, China shared its favorable experiences with India in helping it to prepare for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Basu says he is very confident about the relationship between China and India, both of which will join the ranks of the major world powers in 10 or 20 years.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.