Fake city maps in Bangalore

framboise84

Hello everyone,

I'm a freelance journalist based in Bangalore. I'm doing a story on the bootleg (fake) maps sold by hawkers to tourists on the streets of Bangalore. The sellers are usually walking up and down MG and Brigade road.

I'm looking to interview people who have bought one of these maps either recently or in the past. I recently purchased one myself ( a self-published map) and found lots of errors, however, perhaps others find them useful. Please e-mail me at jessica.b@iijnm.org with any stories or comments you have on this topic!

Thanks,

Jessica

Haylo

What on earth is a "fake" map of Bangalore - a street map of Delhi map with the word "Delhi" crossed out and Bangalore written across the top in crayon? Perhaps a map that is blank when you open it?

I think that what you may be talking about are poor quality maps, rather than fake maps. While you can get excellent Indian map books by Eicher, tourist maps being inaccurate is frankly par for the course in India and many other parts of the developing world. Publishing accurate mapping is an expensive business!

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delhiwala

We Indians don't use Maps.... that's not the thing for us....

Since there is not big enough market, there are no quality maps available....

Some, like Eicher maps are good.

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Haylo

You're absolutely right about that!

I love maps, being a highway engineer I refer to them all day every day, and the first thing I do whenever I go somewhere new is to buy a map of the area. Despite all my time in Delhi, my Eicher must be the least used of all!!!

After all, what use is a map when the address you're given is typically somthing like "Turn under the IIT flyover, take the left turn and it's the big building just before the end" Indian buildings do have addresses, but I have never heard anyone using them - ditto road names!

delhiwala

Method in madness.....

Nick-H

Fake maps!

At least it's not quite as evil as fake fire extinguishers, fake antibiotics, fake blood...


Love it


Maybe it'll be fake postcards next!

"Sir, postcards, sir, very cheap. Taj Mahal, Sir..."

"That's not the Taj Mahal... it's a naked woman!"

"No, Sir, Genuine Taj Mahal, only..."

Haylo

The REALLY worrying thing here is not the odd usage of language by someone who apparently lives by the written word, but the fact that Nick's mind turned to naked women, while mine turned to maps of Delhi. I really MUST address this map fetish of mine!

abracax

The authorities in Bangalore don't even have proper maps. A friend of mine makes a good business mapping the city for them so they can build roads, run water pipes, etc.

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Hal

The thing I've never figured out are Indian addresses. Most places don't seem to have an absolute address by street name and number. I was looking for an ATM and the best they could do was "Near Dr. Reddy's Bungalow". The late Dr Reddy's bungalow covers several square miles in Hyderabad.

Prashant.M

They do have absolute address but it will be difficult to locate using that. It is much easier to navigate using landmarks, which locals will definitely know.

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delhiwala

Right ! Indian cities are not palnned ones, so you can't tell anybody something like " it's two block away "

Nick-H

The worst bits for finding your way around are the ones that were planned, and named by someone with no imagination.

The places with numbers for street names very often do not have their individual names listed on the maps, so one has to ask.

"Where is Third Street please?"

"Third Street? Do you mean Second cross? Or Third Main Road?"

capt_mahajan

Hey, maps are for wimps

Charts, though, are a different matter.

Aside, I find mapmyindia.com a good place to search for a map of the area of a city I am interested in

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Outside the machine

Nick-H

I find one needs a combination --- mapmyindia, googlemaps, google earth, paper map...

Haylo

From anyone else, I'd treat that comment with the contempt that it seems to deserve, but coming from someone who is used to the idea of navigating featureless expanses, I see your point!