An Italian woman living in Bengaluru has unintentionally kicked off a cheerful online debate after sharing an Instagram reel about how safe she feels in India. Serena, who has made Bengaluru her home for over ten years, recorded the light-hearted video after realising she had casually left her helmet on her scooter before walking into a shop.
The reel begins with her inside the store, suddenly struck by worry as the caption flashes: “Dammit! I left my helmet out there?” She hurriedly heads outside, bracing for the possibility that it might be gone.
Instead, she finds the helmet exactly where she left it — untouched. Surprised yet amused, she adds the now widely quoted line: “Gosh! In Italy wouldn’t last 2 minutes.”
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In her caption, Serena highlights how one of the “perks of living in India” is the sense of security she experiences daily. She notes, "My belonging feels safe here, don’t have to worry about it. Live in india Italy in india expat life Indian life cross cultural desi life italia in india."
Netizens react
As the reel circulated, social media users poured in with humour, caution, and their own stories.
One joked, “Only helmet is safe cause no one wears it.” Someone else commented, “In London, your scooter will be at the other end of the city by now.”
Another person recalled, “When I visited the Milan Metro in Italy, my wallet was stolen. No police officer paid any attention to my complaint, and ironically, a beggar at the metro station seemed to have more money than I did at that moment.”
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A user offered a gentle reminder: “Ya better than Italy but doesn’t mean there are no thieves. Always be safe. Bad elements are everywhere in the world.”
One comment summed up a widely echoed sentiment: “From North to South, the feeling of things being safe in public spaces in India is a general vibe everywhere. NO NEED TO MAKE IT GEOGRAPHICALLY/STATE SPECIFIC. Unfortunately, the West is not this safe. That’s what this post is about.”
Another user added a sharper take: “Mallus behave as if Kerala is the only place in India where anything good happens, as if the rest of the country is some chaotic wasteland. That’s not insight, that’s tunnel vision. If your entire worldview starts and ends with Kerala, of course everything else will look inferior — not because it is, but because you’ve never bothered to look beyond your own bubble.”
Serena’s simple moment outside a Bengaluru store has opened up a larger conversation about how India is perceived — both by those who live here and those who look at it from the outside.
