How much time have you spent in India?

Thought it would be interesting to see how much "India experience" IMers have. If you have made multiple trips, you may add up all the time. Feel free to comment.

I did a quick adding up because I thought I might be a 'none of the above' as I've spent a fair amount of time in India since 1969 without being an ex-pat or NRI. Actually my total time is only around 4 years total, spread over 13 or 14 trips.

Since the question didn't specify 'real' India, I'm assuming the time in Goa counts

Huh, you can vote multiple times? (I surf with cookies disabled)

Anyway, my impression is that the site sees mostly Indian (expat, NRI or resident) traffic, with a few oldtimer & prospective tourists thrown in. But good idea for a poll..

3-6 months total for me.

I remember the first time I went was when I was 18 and had just finished my first semester in college. I was a spoiled kid who had gotten everything in life and still wasn't happy. I wanted power, money, and respect. Well after screwing up pretty bad in school and almost getting kicked out for academic violation, my parents decided to take me to India.

Well, my whole image of life and people was turned upside down when I arrived at the airport in Mumbai. My most vivid image was seeing these little kids, naked, rummaging through a garbage pile next to some pigs. I realized right then and there what a great gift I had been given and how I was wasting it away by drinking and partying all the time. India had such a great impact on me that I decided to straighten out my life when I came back to the US. I decided I wanted to be a doctor so that the next time I came back to India, I could give something back to them. And so with the images of India in my mind, I worked harder than I'd ever worked before.

And so last summer I went to India with a medical team and helped people in Himachal Pradesh. It was so amazing to go back and help the people of India. The same people who had helped me turnaround my life 6 years prior.

Sorry, I had to add that story in about my first visit

Thank you.

shpatel, you have the right idea about why one should visit India. atleast once in their lives. It makes you see how fortunate you are, and how good you have it, when you see how bad it can get for a human being. It's an "educational" holiday, if you will. Important to know this before the trip though, otherwise you might expect a normal boring holiday.

glad you posted your story. Most tourists just deny that this was the reason their india trip was so life changing/spiritual/etc.

It adds up to 2 years in India from 1997-present...7 times. Only about 3 months added up in Goa though...the rest in the north, mostly Rishikesh, Dharamsala, Pushkar, Jaipur and Delhi among others... Plus a 5 month stint in Pune. Many thanks to Mother India for many many "educational" experiences - and for inspiring my life as well.

Still less than 6 months: I'm such a baby compared to many here. I was reviewing the thread about how things have changed since the 60s yesterday, and it the experiences others have here is truly amazing.

You can count me in India for 29.4 months. Here are the dates of my India entrys and exits taken from my old passports:

Visit Entry Departure Days
Number Date Date Duration

01 04/12/77 04/15/77 4
02 06/16/83 07/13/83 28
03 12/18/83 02/10/84 55
04 02/26/84 03/22/84 26
05 05/08/84 06/20/84 44
06 12/06/85 12/18/85 13
07 05/15/86 06/04/86 21
08 09/14/86 10/22/86 40
09 01/20/87 02/25/87 37
10 08/10/87 08/11/87 2
11 09/01/87 09/25/87 25
12 07/08/88 08/05/88 29
13 08/12/90 11/08/90 89
14 08/07/92 11/15/92 102
15 08/19/95 01/26/96 161
16 08/25/96 11/06/96 74
17 05/24/99 06/08/99 16
18 05/09/00 06/10/00 33
19 09/13/00 10/21/00 39
20 05/02/01 06/08/01 38
21 10/23/04 11/09/04 18
---------------------
Total 894

I look forward to doing it again! Maybe I can double these numbers!

Not at all, Well done,,,,,,,,,

Indeed SH, It's posts like yours that make IM a human place to be.

Yetijuice: You've been spreadsheeting (as opposed to history-sheeting ) again? Impressive record, anyway.

First visited in 1995. Coming up to four and a half years in India.

Its 329 months in India and 4 months outside it.

Before UK nationals needed a visa,
My stints were:

1970---- 2months
71------ 3months
72-------6months
73-------6months
74/5---- 18months
76------ 3 Years

In 1979 with the help of the British Embassy & family in the UK I somehow got out of India, If I hadn't gone then I would probably have been dead within a year,,,,,,,
Never touched drugs since, but don't regret 1 day of those trips now.
Didn't go back for 15 years,took that long to get my head together & my life in order.
I'd seen too much, done too much, & was involved with too much, I was scared, frightened & never thought that I'd go back again. took that long to get my head together & my life in order.
Now when I go back It's just 3/4 week trips revisiting some of the old places, & finding new ones.

And the journey goes on,,,,,,,,

Stormsky: thats quite an answer!

Me case: 307 months in India, 21 months outside.