Bit of a derail but I used to live in Sri Lanka and in general (Sinhalese) Sri Lankans really used to turn their nose up at India, particularly South India (which I suspect was anti-Tamil driven).
I used to love telling them where I lived and then following it up with...."and I LOVED it!" And I did. Loved the food, the people and the vibrancy. India does epic like nowhere else. I agree totally with the pp who said you get used to the poverty very quickly (there was a dead body at the end of the road outside my office and although I remember it still I don't remember it as bothering me too much at the time) but the rubbish; oh my god everywhere. This sounds horrendous but I think I was more upset by the sight of cows eating plastic bags than I was about the body.