India

As for me Mell,when I visit in March I shall not be paying a fee to shop,instead I shall buy goods to the value and distribute them to the needy,and I dont mean that to come across in a patronising way!
All for now,Laney

I dont think it is partonising at all. I will be taking some of my daughers too small clothes and shoes with me to Delhi next month to give to familes with kids who live in those makeshift shelters on city streets. A drop in the ocean maybe but everything we do means something to somebody.

Quote from deleted_49612

Thats a great idea,it was something I did in Kerala and Goa.I will have to start collecting from my freinds.
Its the baggage issue really that puts me off taking too much.At least if I buy in India I shall be helping the local economy slightly!
Have a great trip,what are your plans while you are there?
Laney Reply to this

Have a great trip,what are your plans while you are there?

Christmas day will be in Agra. We will have dinner in someplace with a view of the Taj. Do you have a recommendation? The 5 star hotels seem a bit rigid. Dinner sittings need to be booked in advance etc. They dont seem like places to hang out with dinner and drinks while enjoying the view. If we cant find someplace relaxed we will go to the Shanty Lodge. Not Christmas day fancy, but there is the view.... Well, ideally we would like to go to someplace just a bit nicer.

Hardiwar for New Years to see the Ganges.

Between Christmas and New Years we will spend some time in Kurukshetra to see some of India without the tourists.

Hopefully I will be going back to India again in May. I will fly into Mumbai for that one.

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I am more of a newbie than you are where India is concerned. I was only there once for 10 days, 10 years ago. Reply to this

For three weeks I never saw her wear the clothes or shoes, I couldnt speak her language or her mine so I asked one of the taxi drivers to ask her why the little girl didnt wear them.
Apparently she had sold them{or so he said!}I was so upset for the child!

I heard that happens. But I dont mind much so long as the family buys something they need, rather than the father using the money to buy whiskey or some other thing like that.

One traveller I met in Thailand buys the kids in slumbs happy meals from McDonalds, so they at least get something for themselves that the family wont sell.

...and said she didnt have a hope in hell with a mother like that.

What did they say is wrong with the mother? I hope they dont mean simply that she is poor or of a low caste. That would be heartless of them, but no surprise in my opinion.

Oh well! you have to try ,dont you?

Looking on the bright side, maybe the mother spent the money on food for both of them.
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Money in India : Please share your tips on how to avoid getting lumbered with the notes that are deemed only worth 40%!o(MISSING)f their original value. Reply to this

To Lucy,

Being an Indian, I have to agree with what you have posted. Although you will find a lot of well educated, upwardly mobile, well travelled, & chivalrous men in India, their population is generally concentrated in the big cities, where access to good education is easy & the culture is cosmopolitan. Most other places, esp. up North you have a more aggressive culture & respect for women & women's lib is an alien concept to many. I mean the well educated middle class comprises some 300 Million out of a population of 1 Billion! So there is still a long way to go before the rest of the country catches up.

Plus, generally it is perceived that single women would be a soft target & probably they feel they can get away with it. That is also perhaps the reason why, I feel, a lot of the horrible circumstances encountered by & shared by the travellers on this forum, would probably never happen with Indian women. You know, there's always family support for the local girl which is missing in case of tourists.

It is quite shameful really to keep hearing of such things. One can only hope that awareness initiatives undertaken by the tourism promotion board result in some change in mindsets & mannerisms. There is a very well made TV ad doing the rounds currently where the best & most respected actor in Bollywood today, Aamir Khan (of Lagaan fame) addresses the issue of eve teasing of women tourists in India. It specifically talks of how these hooligans are rubbishing India's image with their antics & how it will lead to tourists deciding never to return back, thus affecting livelihoods of all concerned; hence our duty to protect tourists whenever we see such a thing happening. I think its available on You Tube & tries to address the eve teasers as well as the public which, in a lot of cases, just stands there like spectators waiting for divine intervention maybe! Sigh.
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Hi Mell,

Yes, you are right. Most tourists would try & come again inspite of our problems. I think the ad was made this way coz this is India. Things HAVE to be melodramatic here to evoke reactions 😊 I mean, hey, just look at some of our movies. Emotion plays a big part in whatever we do. So the ad maker kept all that in mind so that people here could relate to it & be "inspired" to do the right thing. I dunno if it makes sense but my 2 cents on it 😊

Yeah, Bombay is getting better as is the rest of the country, albeit, at a slow pace. But then Bombay is one of the safer cities for women.

Oh yeah, on the branding of westerners as people with "loose morals" I can only say this. Most intellectuals in India have said innumerable times that we, as a people, can be quite hypocritical at most times. Sex is taboo yet we have the world's largest population (or getting there anyway). I mean, helloooo, where did all these people come from?? 😊 There is a hue & cry in India over the "racist" attacks in Australia but we quickly forget that our "caste" system was one of the worst forms of racism & is still not completely eradicated even today.

Luckily, the younger MTV generation is a lot more forward thinking & non-judgemental. We all grew up on a diet of Archie comics, watching The Wonder Years, M*A*S*H*, The Simpsons, Seinfeld & of course, all the Hollywood flicks that we just love. And, of course, with the Outsourcing industry exposing our youth to "foreign" ways & methods, we have a better understanding of where all these people are coming from, in more ways than one 😊 Reply to this

Yep. That's the best way to go about it coz no culture / way of life is perfect. I think India is where some of the first world countries were maybe 30-40 years ago. There's this sudden flush of money thats come in & everyone's fixated on that right now, as such opportunities were non-existent before. History repeating itself probably. Lets hope we dont rip the environment apart in the process. Reply to this

Wages have leapgrogged beginning 2001. An average starting salary for a good English speaking college graduate in Bombay would be in the region of 2,40,000 per annum, approx. $5,000 & then he would work his way up from there. Starting wages in Call Centers / IT industry are slightly higher at around 3,00,000 p.a. but if you are good, in 5 years time, you could easily be earning between 8,00,000 - 12,00,000 p.a. This is for Bombay & for the big cities so other smaller towns would pay 30-40% less but then cost of living would be low as well.

Your friend in IBM Global would probably not make as much if were working for IBM India. 60,000 USD is a lot of money in India & is paid to higher management with 10 years work experience & a management / other specialized degree. Yes, the constabulary gets around Rs.8000 per month while Inspectors get a starting pay of 11,000 onwards. Pathetically low by any standards & some people say, responsible for the corruption in the department. Also Bombay police is 35,000 strong yet short staffed & work min. of 10-12 hrs a day with 1 weekly off. Enough to drive anyone insane.

In India for a family of 4 you need around 15,000-25,000 Rupees per month depending on where you live. Although small, this sum is sufficient for a decent life as Indians generally speaking, are not lavish spenders. Most live a simple life & there is no culture of credit card usage though its maybe changing in the metros but again debt is frowned upon in India as a way of life. Indians are also very good at saving & like to get a good bargain, hence, tourists must never pay the first price that shop keepers tell them 😉 Also, in India you have a maket for all classes. You will find a apir of jeans for 1200 Rupees & also for 100 Rupees! Meals are available for anywhere between Rs.15 - Rs.350 per head in restaurants. So depending on your budget, you can get what you want.

The only really expensive item is real estate & esp. true for the big cities. In fact, we met a tourist in 2007 from Germany, when we were visiting Jodhpur & she wouldnt believe that office space in Bombay's CBD, Nariman Point was the 3rd most expensive in the world with rentals even as high as Rs.500 per square foot. Now the rates have dropped. So Bombay is only the 6th most expensive! 😉 In fact it might interest Millie to know thats the main reason for slums to spring up & an average slum in Mumbai costs Rs,4,00,000 to buy! Even though its illegal thats the price for staying in this city. Those who cant buy, rent. In fact, a good insight into slum life can be gained from the bestseller "Shantaram" written by the ex-con Gregory David Roberts. Even I didnt know a lot of the things mentioned in the book. Wow, I have really gone on & on. Hope this helps.
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