A British tourist currently travelling across India has gone viral for questioning the online stereotypes about India. In a now-viral Instagram video titled, ‘Social media completely lied to me about India,’ digital creator Jack Heaton shared his recent experience of visiting the Marina Beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, the world’s second-largest urban beach. Heaton noted that the beach looked ‘really clean’ and devoid of rubbish, which debunked the anti-India propaganda online that public spaces in India are often unclean.
Heaton said India was a diverse place, and sometimes only the negative is shown about the beautiful place. “We are at the second-largest beach in the entire world. Would you believe that it is in India?” Heaton can be heard saying in the now-viral clip.
“It actually looks really clean. There’s barely any rubbish. There are a few little bits, but not a lot at all,” he added.
Describing it as an ‘insanity’ that 10,000-odd people were on the beach and yet there was minimal rubbish, Heaton also highlighted that the water was perhaps cleaner than what he would usually find on the coast of England.
“I don’t know if you can see that, but up there, there are probably 10,000 people. That’s actually insanity,” said Heaton, adding: “But the water, boys, that is cleaner than the water on the coast of England. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to tell you it’s crystal clear blue. It’s not the Maldives, guys, but it’s not bad.”
Check The Viral Clip Here:
As the post gained traction, social media users highlighted that only negative videos about India garner impressions.
“People just wanna show the bad side to catch more views and comments,” said one user, while another added: “Welcome to Chennai, mate! Hope you’re enjoying the city
A third commented: “Don’t tell Westerners that you didn’t see a single person pooping on the beach. They might get upset and cry.”
A fourth said: “Water looks green due to the large amount of fresh water flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It supports a lot more planktons and hence the greenish hue.”