Before I write another word, I need to point out there are 1.21 billion Indians in the world. I've interviewed exactly one of them. She's a teen living the urban (city) life. These are the things she felt are what western writers need to know when trying to create books that cater to Indian audiences. Just to be clear, we're talking Indians from India, not Native Americans.

First things first, Nursery school begins at the age of 3-4, followed by prep school around 5 years of age. At age six, they start their 1st year of school, and then that just goes on until 12th grade. Unlike Americans, the schools don't have as many defined divisions, and it's likely that a single school will function for all grades. Where we have a clearly defined elementary, middle, and high school era, their 12 years are purely dedicated to one thing.

That one thing is the final board exam, which basically decides the remainder of their futures. With millions of kids taking this test every year, this does not leave much room for error. A student is expected to get a minimum of 96%, and even a 98% can keep you out of many of the nicer colleges. Perhaps it isn't always that extreme. The CBSE Board exams have an entire key full of cut off scores, but most degrees require >90% in general, and that's the bare minimum cut-off for admission, not even speaking of being competitive. Of course, even if someone scores below, there are options to technical colleges and BAs, but for most teens, the pressure is on.

While teens still like to have fun, everything is focused on passing that exam (not getting a meaningful education, just passing). Pure evaluative success is the only thing. You have talent? Passion? Well, if you had those things, then you should have gotten an A! Where America has recently been making a move to step away from the brutal 'teaching to test' methods of the past, this is still very much ingrained in Indian culture.

What's that? According to my source, a 'love' marriage is often looked on as an oddity, not the norm. We've all heard about Indian arranged marriages, but they're still very much a thing in India. Now, to be fair, 'arranged marriage' does not mean 'forced marriage'. Those are becoming much less common. Some children are even given the right to reject certain selections entirely.

For the most part, it's cultural more than law. 'Love' marriage isn't illegal, but most Indians don't want to fight with their parents. Family is very important there, and refusing to marry someone your parents approve of can lead to a lot of headaches and perhaps even estrangement.

In India, it's undeniably still the norm to have parents pick out the man a woman is inevitably going to marry, and to subsequently set all of it up. While dowries were banned in India, it's usually the bride's family that is expected to pay for the wedding. Of course, this depends on the bride and groom, and their respective families.

So without 'love' marriages, where does that leave the dating scene? Well, it's still a male dominated society and men like the sex. It's not a lot different than here. There is a strong push for abstinence, but whereas America mostly says it is to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancy, India also adds the 'being pure until your married' argument. Naturally, female virginity must be kept at all costs, while men are almost expected to soil their wild oats, so to speak.

A lot of parents refuse dating outright... until the child is old enough that they can't stop them. However, even then, they will inevitably get married when their parents want them to. The average in India is 18 for women and 21 for men. Which, if you do the math, is just enough time to get them through their schooling. Like here, there is feminist pushback... bold women who want to end this culture. However, it is still engrained in the culture, and just like second wave feminism in the 70s/80s, is meeting a lot of sexism and struggle.

Since dating for women is at the discretion of the parents, the usual method around this is to hang out in groups. While you can't go on a date with the guy you want, you can go out with a group of friends that happens to include the guy you want to date. So, it's not that teenagers don't go on dates, but it's usually secretive and sneaking around. So, basically just like the US then.

After explaining a bit about relationships, let's start diving into the meat of it. What do you need to write to appeal to an Indian audience? For that, I was provided with two lists, negative things that are popular, and positive things that are popular. Keep that distinction in mind. That's saying when you are showing something that is negatively popular, you might want to be sure you actually show it in a negative light. If you glorify it, you might end up offending someone. On the other side of the spectrum, if you mock something that they enjoy, you might get some other kind of anger.

What kind of things am I talking about? Well, corruption is a big deal in India. Criminals using their power and money to bribe and escape the law is common. Sex rackets, stalking... these are areas of hot debate. The poor being neglected or abused, these are things Indians don't like to see. In other words, if you want to make a bad guy that Indians can relatedly hate, you need a villain who is rich and powerful and steps on the poor, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, rapists, or stalkers. The generic terrorist who blows stuff up doesn't appeal to them. In fact, heavy explosions and violence are more niche in India. I guess you could say they'd be more Nolan and less Michael Bay. (This may be because my source is a girl, not a boy, so take that how you want)

On the positive spectrum, they love movies. You've probably all heard of Bollywood. They like Bollywood. Making a Bollywood loving protagonist and you've made a (Indian) friend. However, they love other cultures as well, so don't feel like you need to cater so much to the Indian culture, as you can show them your own culture in an interesting way. However, if you do want to appeal to the Indian audience, they like music, contemporary writing, and Chetan Bhagat. Also, education. It's really their bread and butter.

I'm once again going to remind you that there are 1.2 billion Indians and I'm talking about 1 teenage girl here. So whether her interests are more because she's Indian or because she's a teenage girl, I'll let you decide. However, the things that appeal to many (although not my interviewee) are love triangles and serious love. Naturally, having an actual Indian character in your story would go a long way towards appealing to an Indian audience.

They actually don't like the current ways marriage is handled in their country, so they like a little bit of rebelling against it. If you're going to have arranged marriages, mention how the teenagers hate it. They want to be able to date at 15 and to be able to date openly. They want to be affectionate in public. However, whereas we only complain about people making out in public in the US, Indians simply wouldn't do it. As she puts it, it's considered 'cheap'.

They want to see more respect for blue collar workers. There seems to be some negative taboo towards café workers, maids, and ticket counter vendors. Remarriage is out of the question too. These status discrepancy weighs on many Indian minds.

However, perhaps the most interesting thing she mentions is that Indians are heavily inclined toward 'reality'-based fiction. They'd typically read something like 'A fault in our stars' before reading something like Lord of The Rings. Like America 40 years ago, India finds most fantasy and science fiction to be strange and abstract. These are the kinds of things relegated to small Niche groups in science fiction conventions. Like I said, basically 1980s America.

There are few prominent science fiction or fantasy authors. This kind of abstract writing, 'little green men' and goblins, just doesn't work for the vast majority. If you want a book that appeals to Indians, perhaps lay off the supernatural elements, and instead focus on an ultra-realistic portrayal of romance. So while some Indians might admire those with imagination, most of them are realists. Does this mean that they get sick of clichés? Not as much as Americans. According to her, "nothing goes cliché", so to appeal to an Indian audience, you don't have to go weird and supernatural like the current trend in the US. A simple love story will do, as long as it's realistic. Ultimately, sticking to contemporary art is the best way to go.

As I mentioned before, humanoids (aliens, goblins, orcs) are an instant way to put an Indian reader off your work. Naturally, this also applies to superheroes as well. Most of the superheroes attempted to be made in India fall flat. Our massive Marvel Movie Universe probably seems a bit strange to them. But science fiction is probably the hardest for an Indian reader to grasp.

Moving on, superficial and poorly written protagonists are out. Furthermore, 'slutty' protagonists are bad. Don't have a girl going around dating guy after guy, or kissing guy after guy for that matter. This will not appeal to most Indians. So, the Reverse Harem does not work for Indian women, although, I imagine the Standard Harem still works for most Indian men. Women don't mind being fought over, but ultimately they want to see the protagonist end up with their one true love.

In a class based society, most Indians dislike the upper (rich) class, and you will lose an audience quick when you go into the PoV of the ultra-rich. The Great Gatsby would not be popular over there. Since the majority of the population don't even have a taste of what it's like to be rich, they can't relate. Unlike America, which seems to glorify/idolize the rich (it is the American dream after all). Of course, the one exception is celebrities. If there is a favorite celebrity, they wouldn't mind as much.

The last thing that she mentioned is difficult for Indians to relate to is dystopian fiction. Whether it is 1984 or Hunger Games, these kinds of things just don't appeal to the modern reader, although you could probably find a fan base in the teen demographic. It might come back to the realism versus fantasy. Perhaps, the suspension of disbelief bar for adult Indians is a bit higher than what westerners can tolerate.

Are you serious? I just told you that like a moment ago. *Sigh* Look, the take away is that Indians like to see Indians. If you're writing a book and you want to appeal to the Indian audience, the easiest way is to include an Indian in it. Don't make them a racist stereotype. Keep things realistic.

India suffers from a lot of corruption. It's so bad it can be maddening. Thus, Indians like seeing the corrupt getting their comeuppance. In the end of the day, just remember that people are people. We all like a little bit of wish-fulfillment from our fiction.

Given the 'arranged marriage' and taboo displays of public affection, they also have a strong liking for the hidden romances. Secret rendezvous, secretly making out. Things kept in the dark, under the sheets, no one knows but her and her lover. It comes from their very real desires and of many Indian women, who often have to (or wish they could) keep things hidden.

So if you want to cater to an Indian audience, cater to the things that they want most. Love, success, freedom, stability and some hanky panky in the dark.

If anyone else wants to add things, I'm happy to edit and perfect this. As I mentioned, this is based on 1 experience out of billions. There is literally no way I could accurately portray a culture made of 1/8 of the world population. These are just some hints and helps, mostly for western writers who want to, at the very least, not offend Indian readers. If you feel there is something important missing or flat out inaccurate, feel free to send me a PM. Thanks, Good Luck, and Happy Writing!

My interviewee is named zilahsina and I've dedicated this chapter to her. She is one of the relative few who writes science fiction, and she's done the rare act of making an Indian character the protagonist of her science fiction novel. It's one of the top performers on Wattpad, so give it a try.

Not only has her novel hit #2 place and often sits on the top 100, but according to her, nearly 48% of her readers are Indian. To put that into perspective, only 3% of my readers are Indian.

In other words, there is a VERY LARGE untapped demographic of Indian readers who are just waiting for a story with an Indian protagonist, particularly in science fiction and fantasy. I know I implied that science fiction and fantasy are the things that the least Indians are interested in, but that's a group of 1.2 billion people where even a small slice is a big slice. Just keep your sci-fi/fantasy free of green-skinned men and too many fantastical elements, and you could end up with a lot of loyal readers who lack the Indian science fiction/fantasy they've been waiting for.