India, where people have nothing -- and everything

GoanCanuck

Came across this article in the Vancouver Sun. Apparently, for some people the abbreviation I.N.D.I.A means "'I'll Never Do It Again"!

//---------Of all the countries on my Gonzo itinerary, India scared me the most. Where some see its spiritual history and human warmth, I imagined being swamped by heartbreaking poverty, poked and prodded by relentless beggars and touts. Beautiful villages? I predicted heaving my way through mountains of sewage to find a beach littered with coke bottles. It would not be IF I got seriously sick, it would be when. "I was in a hospital for five days," one guy told me. "I had to carry a waterproof vomit bag for a week," said another.

I looked at a couple of travel forums online and the negative advice was overwhelming. Watch for thieves! Watch for peepholes! Be careful at night! Don't trust anyone! Don't eat anything! "India, stands for 'I'll Never Do It Again,'" said DJ, a fellow round-the-worlder I had met in Prague.------//

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vanc...5-28d8321c8e30

Rika

...when I told people I was going to visit India. One person even looked at me with turned up nose, pursed lips and huge, round eyes and said, "India? Why? There are far better places in this world to go see."

It amazes me how little some people will try to discover on their own about things foreign to them. Then again, maybe this explains a lot about politics in the States. (did I say that?) :O

Sama

ditto. I even received negative reactions from "yoga people".

a few people told me I was going to "sh*t my brains out" for a month (I never got sick). others asked me how I could go to such a filthy country (from people who have never been outside the US). still others were totally scared for me (from people who are afraid to drive to Chicago from the suburbs).

since I've returned, people have asked me how my trip was and I tell them: "if I could fly back tonight, I would, no hesitation, no looking back...."

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MY INDIA, 2005-2008
"Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it." (Rumer Godden, 1975)

Rika

I didn't get out of India without getting sick but it was MILD. I had worse when I traveled to Peru!

Like you, if I could fly back tonight, I'd be at the airport chewing at the bit to get on the plane -- and I hate to fly. (oi!) On the other hand, I don't have much longer to wait either -- I go back the first week of November. Whew!

livin-in-india

you people sound surprised. i am not. i did shit my brains out in 94-95. it happens. now i drink the local tap water without a problem. i have changed, not the water.

india is fithly dirty. i can walk outside of my house now and spend hours collecting garbage from just my immediate block. actually, there is plenty of garbage tucked away in the corners of my property.

and people can be damn annoying here. you guys are in the same india as me, aren't you?

just saying, don't lie to yourselves. it is everything they say about it. yet, it is a whole lot more too.

yes you are safe from being mugged much of the time, but watch yourself get murdered by a mob for hitting a pedestrian while driving (regardless as to who is at fault).

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India is the great Yin-Yang. Amazing lightness, equally amazing darkness. Wrapped up to make one complete whole.

Rika

Everything you say is true, and it is for some of those reasons I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of having children visit that country. I have a good friend from India who says no child should be subjected to India. I quibble over that because there truly are pros and cons to that line of thought.

Personally, as an INDIVIDUAL, I love India, the GOOD in India overcomes the BAD for me. And maybe that's the bottom line. I'm sure that others don't necessarily see it that way and, as far as I'm concerned -- as long as they have at least EXPERIENCED the place, they have every right to turn up their noses and act as if it's detritus. On the other hand, I admit to getting a bit put off by people who don't even TRY to find out if a place is as people tell them it is. Before I went to Peru I was told it was hell on earth. That was false too.

To each his own, but I would hope that experience is a better teacher in this case.

Sama

yeah, you're right -- india is filthy and I have plenty of pics to prove it. and just because I did not get sick doesn't mean I won't get sick next time I go. and yeah I know just because I didn't get robbed this time doesn't mean I can't get robbed next time. I can get robbed or worse in my lily-white upper middle class suburb, too. and I saw starving dogs and beggars with empty eye sockets. so what's your point?

my point is that I choose not to deal with people's negativity and let it bring me down or influence my decisions. my point is that I choose to live my life open to both the good and the bad, and I don't let fear run my life as some people do (in fact, many that I know). if I had listened to everyone's FearTalk, I never would have gone to India at all.

Shaktipalooza

Two sides to every coin. We have loads of Indian friends here who'd much rather raise their children back in the old country. They're here purely to make some money for a while, get their green cards, then make a decision on when to go home. One of our closest friends moved to the US a little over a year ago and has been surprised at herself for being underwhelmed with the benefits of living here.

Mrs Shaktipalooza has been here for nine years. Now that we're pregnant she's very happy to be moving back shortly after the birth of our child.

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Pics from India 2006
Traditional Indian Dance

lotus blossom

You're pregnant! Congratulations!!

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Not all who wander are lost

guerik

Ahh congratulations Mr and Mrs Shakti!

I can understand (most of) the reasons why people don't like India, but I think if they go home and aren't dying to come back again soon, they must have missed "the thing" - whatever "the thing" is, it keeps bringing me back!

SHIMLA

For many people, I.N.D.I.A. stands for "I'll nevertheless do it again". These are the people for whom India's positives outweigh her negatives and such people will always enjoy the country, purely due to their attitude.

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Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop !

agni5454

Its the Media. I mean starting with that Spielberg Movie showing Indians eating Monkey Brains to the gutters of Mumbai. Nothing positive is ever shown about India.
Its all in the media.

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"Human Life without happiness or hope of happiness is not a life, but rather a death in life" - David Swenson The Dignity of Human Life

"History is always a perspective; but numbers never lie"

agni5454

Here is ONE interesting article i read.

http://www.saag.org/papers10/paper939.html

There ARE positives (development) AND negatives (poverty, etc) in India.

But the only news we get here in US is the negatives. Dont believe me? take a visit to a local US Political Forum.

hoshii2000

I am planning to move to India in December. Almost everyone I've told about our move has had the same reaction... "INDIA? WHY??" "It's so dirty!!"

A lot these people are afraid of their own shadows... Some have never left the US.

I was pretty nervous about the job offer until I found this site. Everyday I come here and learn a little more about India. It's been great and has dissolved a lot of my fears.

I recently had a chance to go to Bangalore and look things over before I sign my contract. I had a wonderful time! I can't wait to get back there!!

SHIMLA

While its great to know that this forum has helped you overcome your doubts about India, you'd do well to realise that most of the comments/suggestions/advice/discussions here are from a tourist's point of view. Of course, there are a few threads in the Expat forum as well.

Just wanted to say that its one thing visiting India(or any foreign country) as a tourist; and quite another moving there. India moves at its own pace and functions in its own style. Please be 100% sure that you want to shift to India, that too from New Zealand.