Street Hustlers in Udaipur

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I jokingly said to a friend that it is impossible to feel lonely in India. It seems like you have all of a sudden a few hundred million friends. Contrast to Paris, especially if travel alone, you feel that you are in a social void. Social boundaries have a completely different definition in India. Here, you don't sense a lot of the excessive politeness or chilly formality you encounter in most of the West. Separateness among people does not define the culture here. Folks here seem to have no notion that by approaching to engage you in conversation, they are encroaching on your "space."

After a 10 minute conversation with a real nice fellow who was sitting next to at lunch in a Delhi restaurant, he casually gave me his number invited me out with his friends that evening. Now contrast this to our current Western culture with all the emphasis placed on commercial exchagne, which can influence human affairs as well. So here we tend to reflexively get defensive and question the motives when approached by strangers.

If you ask someone for direction or help you sense that a "thank you sir," or a "that is great, I really appreciate that" kind of talk is hardly necessary, nor is it expected. If fact if you do that, some may look at you funny. Like, what is the deal man, I just helped you with direction.

With that said all this friendliness and approachability of the folks can be cause of some annoyance. 30% of the economy of Rajasthan is based on tourism. Mass migration in to the cities due to environmental degradation and lack of ability for previously self-sustained village folks to provide for themselves (see entry 'Mutual Spectacle') makes competition among desperate street hustlers for tourist dollars aggressive. With this in mind and a culture of social openness you can only imagine how things can turn out.

Just walking down the street is an adventure in itself. You are constantly asked to enter stores. Any time you leave or enter a tourist bus you are bombarded by venders who follow you for blocks even after you repeatedly tell them you are not interested in their marble elephants or Kamasutra books. The only thing that changes is the price of the item which is cut by half every block.

This affair is at its worst in the old town, where the majority of the stores cater to tourists. These are restaurants, curiosity shops, teashops, and textile stores, handicraft stores to mention a few. Most have a designated person, which in some cases is a small child, who lounges on the shop-front to lure the customers in. The guy is usually very charismatic and sometimes annoyingly so. He repeatedly tells you about the items in the shop and how it is the cheapest in town and is of the best quality, and that if you bless their shop with your business you have solved all their problems.

If you just pass by and smile, they ask if you would return the next day. If you say yes out of politeness, they remember and call you on it the next day. Make sure it is something you need before you succumb to the pressure and go in, as you will find it will be very hard to survive the charm. It is also hard to resist buying, because they usually have very nice stuff.

So how does social openness in Indian society contrast to hours. High population density in the ctiies can make the matter of separateness between people irrelevant. But it probably goes beyond that. A strong sense of culture, family and religion still holds, especially among the have nots, which comprise the majortiy has at least to some extent safeguarded them from the consumer culture which shaped ours.

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Photos

Old City, Udaipur
A bridge to a part of the old city.