Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 29 replies, 30 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 3 months ago by
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Many Indians (natives of India) in my workplace have a musty or sweaty ‘armpit’ type of odor. Often the smell starts from the very beginning of the workday, so I cannot attribute it to normal perspiration from daily activity. Is it a cultural thing not to bathe daily or wear deodorant? Is it something considered acceptable or normal in the Indian culture? Or are there ritualistic/religious reasons for this? Is it a socioeconomic/class thing, perhaps? Or is it just an individual thing resulting from a lack of proper hygiene instruction? Do these people not realize they smell (I can’t see how, because it is obvious to everyone else), or do they just not care? Should I tell them? By no means am I saying all Indians smell like this – there are very many Indian men who never smell foul and wear cologne, etc., but I have encountered this enough to provoke the question.
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Name : Jen30986, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 31, City : Red Bank, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Consulting, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I had the same experience with two Indian gentlemen I worked with. Let me say first that they were the hardest-working and most competent people I had worked with that whole year, and the project would have certainly been a failure but for them. One of them was a ‘city’ Indian from Bombay and had no appreciable body odor. The other was from some ‘hick’ town north of Delhi and smelled awful every day – the smell even stuck to my clothes when I went home. Very odd. I never said anything about it, but once the Bombay Indian caught me wrinkling my nose up. Later he said something like ‘those country Indians always smell that way,’ etc. I also found it very odd that the ‘smelly’ guy always looked very clean and neat – not at all dirty. It appeared to me that he took a shower every day, but just didn’t use deodorant. I suppose he did not realize how he smelled – or perhaps Americans are just more sensitive to it because we never leave the house without being almost completely deodorized.
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Name : Hugo21341, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Taoist, Age : 35, City : Tallahassee, State : FL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I am pretty sure it has to do with consumption. I think the foods and spices a person eats emit a particular odor from the skin. I think that it has less to do with what Americans consider ‘body odor’ and more to do with the contrast in diets.
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Name : Dana27204, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : Morristown, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : sales, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,At the university on the United States side of the border near my town, there are some Indians (from India), and when they sit next to me, I notice a strange odor coming from them. At first I thought it was provoked by some ritual incense, but I realized the odor wasn’t pleasant. I had sat along Anglos, blacks, Mexicans, Chinese and Europeans, and no one had a ‘special’ smell. I found that only male Indians smell like this, not the females. Does this have to do with some kind of ritual, clothes or what?
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Name : Mixcoatl20275, Gender : M, Race : Hnahnu/Asturian/Toltec, Age : 20, City : Nuevo Laredo, State : NA, Country : Mexico,The answer is simple. Your perspiration – and every other bodily excretion, actually – contains tiny molecules of the food you eat every day. Many herbs, spices and other food ingredients remain in the body for extended periods, and will accumulate if consumed in large amounts. Someone who eats a lot of masala, for example, which is a very strong-smelling Indian spice, will soon end up smelling like the stuff. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Indian food. There is a reason they make odorless garlic pills. It isn’t for the flavor, but so the person who takes one pill a day as suggested doesn’t end up smelling like a garlic bulb!
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Name : Tania S., Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 26, City : Montreal, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : Self-Employed, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,I think it is probably an individual thing. I have noticed this sweaty smell from some Indians, but then again, I’ve smelled it from blacks, whites and Hispanics. Heck, I will smell it a little on myself if I’m sweating too much and didn’t put on enough deodorant. I think it is inappropriate to tell them of the odor, unless you are really close friends with them and they would perceive what you’re saying as constructive criticism. Usually, after a few minutes, when your nose gets used to a bad odor, you don’t even notice the smell, anyway. It’s better to tolerate it than to hurt people’s feelings or possibly be perceived as racist. I know that I would be horribly offended if anyone other than my boyfriend, friends or family told me I smelled horrible, even if it were true!
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Name : Kristina, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : Transcriber, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Eating spicy food on a regular basis can often cause a musty smell. I am white, and whenever I eat really spicy food (especially curry), my boyfriend can smell it – though I often cannot. It’s nothing to do with being Indian or lacking proper hygiene. Try eating only spicy food for an entire week and see how your body smells!
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Name : Jay20853, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I have been told that because they eat so many oily foods (native of India) it opens up their pores and as a result they smell rather unpleasent.
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Name : Seymour, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,The concept that diet is responsible for the smell is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with diet. The truth is that Indians who come from India generally do not use deodorant. I had the same bad habit when I came to Silicon Valley. Though we Hindus take a bath every day, without deodrant the smell lingers on.
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Name : Subroto-B, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : South Asian (Multiracial), Religion : Hindu, Age : 24, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : IT, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,In India, it is customary to take a bath every morning (in some places in South India, people take baths morning and evening). Your experience of odor among natives of India may have been with some specific individual or individuals. I do agree there are people who do not give importance to personal hygiene, which is bad. This applies to people from all places, be it from India, Korea or the United States.
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Name : Ram, City : Little Rock, State : AR, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I am not sure why though. I live in toronto where there are lots of East Indians. I try not to sit near them on subways, buses, etc, but they just sit beside you for no reason. I think they know they smell but they do not care what other people think of them. My next door neighbour, who is Indian has really nasty Indian breath. When he talks to me, I try not to inhale his breathing, because it is bad. I don’t think even Listerine would help
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Name : John-Lee, City : Toronto, State : OK, Country : Canada,I am Indian (living in the United States for several years) and have thought about this problem quite a bit and discussed it with fellow Indians as well as Americans. The problem is that in India people usually do not use deodorant, and the odor of sweat is considered quite ‘normal’ (as indeed it is in several European nations as well). Often when Indians come here, it takes them a while to realize that the odor of sweat is considered offensive here and that they should wear deodorant. Many Indians are very proud of their daily hygiene, and hence think that deodorant is something that unclean people use to cover up their odors. But the human body sweats enough in a day to make anyone smell a little. If this sweat stays on the shirt ,etc., for a while, the cumulative effect is quite bad. I would suggest that any well-meaning Americans tell their Indian colleagues/friends to use deodorant if they are not. I don’t think the Indians would take it the wrong way, and would actually be quite thankful.
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Name : Vikas, Race : Asian, City : Mountain View, State : CA, Country : India,some indian people smell, mostly not because of lack of clenlieness but because the cook with curry, a spice which reeks indian
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Name : danny27262, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : aurora, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : water corrosion expert, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,Your Indian friends have simply neglected to wear deodorant. Wearing deodorant is not a common practice in India, where hot, muggy conditions combined with high levels of air pollution tend to stifle odors of any kind. Consequently, body odor, even the stinky kind, goes unnoticed. (Sorry you have to put up with the odor.)
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Name : Vilambit, Gender : M, Race : Indian, Religion : Hindu, Age : 30, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I have encountered both Indian men and women who smell of bad body odor, pungent spices, or both. I’ve been eating Indian food most of my life and never smell like pungent spices. Most lower-class Indians do not have proper hygiene. This has nothing to do with culture or religion. It has to do with family upbringing. My parents cooked Indian food practically every day for 30 years, and neither our house nor our clothes smelled. They also taught us personal hygiene and proper manners. If you can’t stand the smell, by all means get away from them or talk to your boss or manager if the smell offends you at work.
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Name : Sabrina, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Design Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,
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