India : Total Ripoff !

Khandoma

This is a warning to other travellers. I chose India as a holiday destination based on alluring claims and tempting descriptions made by many a visitor. Oh boy, what a disappointment. Just so you can make up your mind, I list below the false promises that I banked on, and the reality I met.

India is a dangerous place for solo women travellers.
I've checked into this guest house in Hassan for maybe ten minutes - it is 11 PM - when people knock on my door. Some guys want me to "join the party" in their room. I don't open my door, and as they insist I sound my handbag alarm for a second or two. That brings peace. Imagine my deception when the next morning the hotel manager shows up and profusely apologises, on behalf of his establishment, for his patrons' behaviour. But there's no way you can imagine the look on my face when, 5 mn later, he shows up again and hands me 200 Rs in compensation for the disturbance. Room price was 300 Rs.

India is a paradise to robbers and thieves - Part 1
Walking out of my hotel in Mysore, I hear "Madamadam!". Regally I walk on. Then : "Please, madam, pocket is open !" That gets me stopped. Indeed, the front pocket of my bag is open. I'm scolding myself silently, for being careless and for snubbing the guy, when I hear : "Nothing stolen, Madam ?"

In India, everything seems to take forever.
Meals were served so fast I ran out a week late on my travel diary. It took me under ten minutes, from entering the reservation room, to buy a train ticket at Margao station. And when I allowed 20 mn for stitching a cotton sleeping bag when 10 had been requested, I was greeted on my return with an amused "what took you so long ?".

You will be ripped off to no end by unscrupulous, pushy shopkeepers - Part 1
An ayurvedic pharmacy in Mysore.
Me : "Good morning, Sir. I'm looking for something for my stomach".
Doctorji : "Yes, my dear lady, what seems to be the problem ?"
- No trouble so far, I am fit...
- And you would like to stay fit.
- Precisely.
- Well, if you would like to stay fit, my advice to you is... stay fit ! No need to take medicine if you're not sick. You want prevention, you should do yoga. Do you know yoga ? "

You will be ripped off to no end by unscrupulous, pushy shopkeepers - Part 2
During 3 weeks of travel I have been given for free, as a present, gratis :
Six sandalwood incense sticks, for the purchase of 200 Rs worth of essential oils ;
10 mixed incense sticks, for the purchase of exactly nothing else, because the sticks were too light to make an impression on the scales ;
One Mysore Super Detergent cake, commercial value 3,50 Rs, for the purchase of one Mysore Sandalwood Soap, commercial value 35 Rs ;
50 gr. of gram flour, commercial value 6 Rs, for the purchase of 50 gr. of an antiallergic powder mix, commercial value 42 Rs;
And, on a lovely salwaar kameez, a 20% rebate I didn't even have time to ask for !

Beware of people who approach you. They are either interested or mischievous.
That is such a marketing stunt. In trains, I was approached by an elderly sugar-factory owner who had just become a grandfather for the third time and wanted to talk about it from Hassan to Hospet ; a handful of computer engineers with whom I talked shop ; a veg pakora wallah, all of 12 years old, who finally surrendered his mom's recipe ; and children of all ages calling me "auntie", which I confess to finding terribly endearing. Otherwise, I've been doing most of the approaching.

India is a paradise to robbers and thieves - Part 2
Last-minute present purchase in Mumbai. A streetside scarf shop. We pull a good hundred scarves, stoles, shawls and shwatnots out of their envelopes. I try several on myself to judge colour and effect. I buy some and leave. As I'm trying to hail a cab, the salesman runs after me with a plastic bag full of presents that I forgot in his shop. Warm thanks. Ten minutes later, in the taxi bound to Int'l Airport, I realise that I'm wearing two duppattas : my own, and one from the shop that I completely forgot to take off after trying it on, and obviously didn't pay for. The only thief I met during this trip was myself.

Where is the India I was promised ?
I want my money back !

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Khandoma
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Nick-H

So true... very much in the spirit of our "Don't Go To India Because..." thread.

You know, living here, I could grumble about India all day long. I could find heaps of things wrong with the country, and more.

But probably very few of them are anything like the cliche warnings that one hears outside India.

It reminds me of a discussion I once had with a friend about his father: He said it amazed him how little his father knew him. He heard his father say good things about him, and bad things, but either way it was like he was talking about somebody else entirely.

India. Land of misconceptions?

And no... you can't have your money back. Especially not your IndiaMike subscription!

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Britbat

Tsk. I know what you're saying, Khandoma. To think
it will be a year before I'll get the opportunity to
have the same experience as you. I've already had a
complete stranger in India demonstrating the Indian
bureaucratic system to me, refusing compensation, but
suggesting beer in Bangalore at the earliest opportunity.
Can you believe it? Well, I'm no fool, I'll insist on
picking up the tab. That'll show him!

Khandoma

Hey Nick,

Good to speak to you again ! Thanks much for moving this thread to the Beginners forum.

I know what you mean, grumbling about India. Reminds me of these starry-eyed Japanese and American tourists who dream of living in Paris. If they knew...

Obviously, travellers should not let down their guard. But to my surprise, this was the less eventful trip I ever had. Maybe it pays to be over-prepared ? At any rate I can only thank all the members at IndiaMike for answering even my most obtuse questions. It made a world of difference.

Subscription ? You mean that cash I sent wasn't intended for you personally ? I'm going from one disappointment to the next here...

Britbat : Right you are, show'em you can see through their little games. Seriously, those generous gestures never cease to amaze me. It was more striking this time around for me; maybe Rajasthan is less welcoming to travellers than the South, or maybe it's simply that I was relaxed and enjoying myself and it takes two to tango. I wish you the best on your upcoming trip.

Aishah

Great post, Khandoma! And I'm so pleased to hear your lovely, positive attitude - much better than tiresome complaints about the rubbish, the smell, the corruption etc. I bet you can't wait to check out all the claims again for your next trip!!
You remind me of my first trip to India to South India, and once I got over the initial shock of Chennai, I had the most wonderful time and experiences never to be found back in Oz or NZ. And if I went back to Chennai now, I think it would be quite tame in my eyes compared to that first arrival sight.

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"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

desertrose

Khamaghani Khandoma,
I Thank you for thinking so highly of India and sharing it with people, I really think positive words like yours will show people the other side of the coin from India.
Good Luck and May Ganesha Bless you.
Warmest Regards
Rathore

mridula

Khandoma I had to read your post twice to get it

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mridula

http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/

capt_mahajan

Khandoma, nice

Anilk222

Probably you may be 1 out out of 20 foreign tourists who had this experience. May be you need to share other peole's experience of india, who have loved the place and the people. Do come over again and you may change your views.

Diana

You poor dear!

I mean that you had to leave India. That is the only real "rip off" ...having to leave.

Lovely post.

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“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” - Rabindranath Tagore

Nick-H

Just try getting a house built here !!!!!!!

shashank.aggarwal

Thanks for Feedback Khandoma...this will do other travellers a world of Good..

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Random Reviews

brownboy66

that's what I like - to the point and practical! Great post - oh....and happy birthday for last week.....gosh, did I say that out loud?

Aishah

Or a Driver's Licence!! Anilk - I think Khandoma had a wonderful time!

brownboy66

and lets not forget who said it was going to be easy getting a license....ahem