Are bikinis bad?

puchoo

If that was taken into consideration every place one went, bikini or no bikini, it would not be much of a holiday ..

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singsub

no nudists in andaman, unless you are talking about them aboriginals

Mickey S

I don't really understand your point here, but my point was that if one's behaviour - any sort of behaviour, anywhere - is attracting stares from other people then it is probably inappropriate to some degree.

In this case, I am certain that the locals in Goa have learned to put up with a lot from western tourists in return for the income that they provide. But that does not mean that they are always comfortable with their behaviour. Tourists have responsibilities that cannot be swept aside by a "but I give them my money, what more do they want" mentality. You can't really expect much more from the kind of tourist that flies into Goa for two weeks and considers it nothing more than a more exotic Costa Brava, but I'd have thought that India Mike members would be a little more responsible and thoughtful.

puchoo

I would not agree to that , Mrs P and i got stares when we were in Goa as well...and we are Indian...so u have Indian tourists staring at other Indian tourists in this case....we were not doing anything even remotely off ..

My point was that stares are something you might get irrespective of what you are doing, you cant keep branding your actions as un-appropriate all the time..

theyyamdancer

I kid you not, Singsub, there are nudists on Havelock!

Mickey S

Then why were you attracting stares?

puchoo

exactly...

Mickey S

That's not an answer.

If other people really were "staring" at you then there must have been some reason for them to do so.

Perhaps you simply mean that occasionally you'd see someone who happened to be looking your way? But doesn't that mean that you must have been looking ("staring") at them too?

puchoo

People can stare for many reasons yes, but that does not mean you are doing something wrong..thats all i am trying to say...

Everytime i am in Lajpat Nagar with my guitar everyone stops and looks.. doesnt mean im doing anything funny...

You can simply be good looking and get a lot of stares...what do you do then...?

As a foreigner in Paharganj you will prob not get any stares, go to Sarojnini Nagar and you would... again nothing to do with what you are doing..

theyyamdancer

Apart from the beach and the bikini question, "Staring" is in itself a cultural matter. In France, a "stare" can be construed as a compliment rather than a criticism. In India, the "friendly approving stare" is not the same as the "lecherous stare" and also not the same as "I wonder where Puchoo got that cool guitar from" stare. In Anglo-Saxon culture staring is more problematical.

Aishah

Mickey and puchoo - this thread is about bikinis - whether they are appropriate or not in India. Let's not turn it into an Off Topic in-depth discussion re why people were staring at Mr and Mrs P. Other threads have mentioned the habit of staring - you need not necessarily be doing anything but you can be stared at,if you are not a local - simply because you may look different.

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theyyamdancer

I crossposted with you there, Aishah. To return to the Bikini atoll for a moment...

In Kovalam, a few years ago, I did a horrendously complicated change out of Salwar Kameez into full bathing suit on the beach thus inviting incredulous stares from the bikini clad "normally behaving" Indians and tourists on Lighthouse beach.

In Havelock, I wore a bikini plus a shirt - to avoid sunburn - as Nick says it can be extremely dangerous.

If I were to go for a dip in the Ganges at Varanasi (which I probably wouldn't for other reasons) I would wear a wet suit.

In Greece I go to nude beaches.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So it all depends which beach the Original Poster is planning on going to, really. (And on how much they enjoy making an exhibition of themselves.)

My last grain of salt : I could not imagine anyone swimming in a sari on my native Bournemouth beach without some very funny looks!

singsub

* makes note to himself to go to havelock *

Nick-H

* makes note to himself to go to Greece *

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mirjamd

I spoke to a woman in a small village in Andhra Pradesh and she had based her opinion on westerners solely on what she had seen in Pondicherry: "Those half-naked westerners are all bad people".

Of course, that is not the opinion of everybody else in India, but they are just very covered up, most of the time.

Even I, after living in India for a year, felt a sort of embarrassment for the bikini-wearing girls on the beach in Mahabalipuram. You just don't see that much naked skin together anywhere else.... Now I would never, never wear a bikini in India (except maybe a beach in Goa where everybody else is doing it...).

In Varkala I didn't. The beach and the sea there are considered holy by many Hindu's and it just felt weird to sunbathe there in bikini (and the fact that my parent's in law were also there helped )