Baby Hungry Need Some Milk Scam

the opoponax

In the USA, 'that look' would scream married.

Men don't wear wedding rings in the UK?

karuna

Doh, I missed the ring finger bit. I was thinking of- well, any other finger really. Especially the pinkie. But then, it could well be a gold signet ring on the ring finger. Dodgy geezer!

wonderwomanusa

I've noted that when I travel off the tourist trail, I see very few beggars. Two in Hyderabad, one in Lucknow ... nowhere near the numbers that one sees on Sudder Street in Kolkata or around CP in Delhi.

the opoponax

Totally OT, but I just thought I'd share exactly why I thought about the whole bangle thing. I struck up a conversation with a seemingly well-off NRI woman in Kolkata. She noticed the sort of distinctive bangles I was wearing, and we were chatting about them a little. Then she asked if they were "real". I was like, "ummm, yeah...? Real glass, at least." Turns out she got into her head somehow that they were solid emerald, or something. I mean, I know we Americans are supposed to be made out of money, but wow.

I then and there decided that I was probably in way over my head about all the cultural baggage carried by jewelry in Indian culture.

Piper

My 2 cents (or rather, Rs. 2!) on this is that I never give money, ever, and I never give anything while walking on the street. However, I do keep a stash of glucose biscuits in my car (the small packs that cost aboue Rs.2/pkt) and will give those if I'm approached by someone who appears genuinely needy while stopped at a crossing. That's the max for me (aside from legit charity orgs), and I feel mentally better about it--at least the biscuits can be consumed for a quick boost of energy.

For me, if I give money while out walking (on big streets in BLR like Brigade or MG Rd, for instance), it's much too easy for every single 'vendor' and beggar to come and hunt me up, and as someone else said previously, the Rs. "X" is never enough (you give 1, they want 5; you give 5, they want 50...). Annoying!

Indojingai

If you're the guy who wrote about the 'Dont talk with locals, dont go outside your hotel' post, how come you fell for this cheap trick? Or was this before you learnt about it..??

And the title doesnt make a lot of sense.

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SPACEBUM

Yes, it's me and no, I learned the trick in the process. You see, there could be two totally different approached IMO - first one centered on the spirit of adventure and the second - on safety and total peace of mind. If you want to be in Tokyo when in Delhi, then go to the budget Tibetan hotel and stay inside, it will be the closest thing possible IMO. If not, you will be scammed and overcharged 100 times and sometimes even treated as shit in the process unless you start learning. I think among Europeans and Americans only a specific kind of person will enjoy becoming Robinson Crusoe. Others crave food, the sea, cleanliness, politeness and the like.

Well, in my case I was able to identify my weakness: it was my desire to appear a 'good capitalist', so to speak. A foreigner with some cash who is caring, sharing, understanding and supportive to the native and all; not a person who came to India because the buck here buys more. For an outside observer it appeared as total dumbness. News were spreading faster than I walk - hey, this foreigner is dumb as shit, we can charge him 10 times the price and he will pay smiling. Naturally, the shop owners were arguing about who says 'hi' first. Indians who weren't into shopping or tourism businesses couple of times told me to stop acting like a fool and refuse to pay more that a going price - if its Rs20, don't pay Rs40 and so forth. Needless to say, since I went on my own, I had absolutely no idea how much everything cost, so it could be I was paying Rs100 for what was worth Rs10. Just an example, a short ride from Delhi airport to some guesthouse and the driver demands Rs2000 - I paid. A room with a closet and a bathroom but very unclean and without hot water - $50/night (I later understood that only portion of that price actually goes to the hotel owner). A guesthouse next door - similar rooms started from Rs450. You may bargain hard, but you need to know what the going rate is, otherwise you will look very stupid when you are offered a pretty fair price. That is why, for those in between the categories 'comfort-loving' and 'adventurous' to get some local friends and use them extensively as guides. (Obviously, not the people you've met on the street).

Strangely enough, I haven't encountered a single beggar in Delhi. Another shock to me - Delhi is very very clean if you compare it to Moscow between seasons. Lots of greenery, very clean. The air was in my opinion pretty good, although near highways it was more problematic. Haven't seed sick people on the streets also, apart from motorikshaw drivers of course.

Well, anyway. I now think that giving Rs.5-10 is alright, as long as you don't give the impression that if they press a bit more, you will give more. Need to appear firm. In Dharamsala, when I explain that nobody is going to get any more charities from me, pestering ceased. In bigger cities it might take shouting several 'NOs' maybe. When I was leaving India my second time, the taxi driver delivered me to the airport and...

Well, I think I should say more about that taxi driver at Amritsar. Firstly, he was pretending he doesn't understand English (I couldn't understand his either), therefore no way to explain where you want him to drive you. I later learned he was speaking excellent English when he wanted to. Secondly, he had a grudge against religious people and he assumed naturally that since I came to India I must be one of them. He kept saying something like 'religion not good', 'Baba not good' and the like. Lastly, when I explicitly told him to stop driving me to temples and ashrams, he still delivered me to one after another. Including the Golden Temple (I've been there before already). At the temple, I felt a bit dizzy and went back to the car only to find it locked as he was having a lunch with his friend somewhere (and my shoes were locked inside). At some point I was thinking about getting another taxi but it was difficult to arrange at remote places. This shithead very well understood what I was up to and was reassuring me like 'another taxi - big problem, not safe, I drive you airport very fast, very safe'. He was even making fun out of me. At the end of the journey I hardly could contain my rage.

So, when at the airport I asked about how much do I owe him. 'As you like'. I replied that since I didn't like his services at all, it will be 50 rupees. He was driving me half of the day, 6 hours maybe. So, after I paid 50 rupees, I went to the airport.

In Amritsar a day before I paid a bicycle rikshaw Rs1000. I had so many unpleasant experiences with rikshaws, so when finally a very pleasant and diligent rikshaw appeared, I thought - WTF, I will pay him a thousand. The rikshaw was very-very happy. :-) And I felt like Bill Gates or something. :-)

Well, in defence of my king-size tip to the rikshaw, this particular guy was special. He was going everywhere with me, asked what is that I wanted and bargained on my behalf to make sure I don't get overcharged. Suddently chai cost Rs5 or Rs3. This way I got the date of departure shifted at the airline office for free (when I was told by the tourist company in Moscow that it would cost about $120 for my ticket class). He was actually telling me what I should do. Like 'now sit here' or 'no, you first get the food, you pay when ready to leave'. Punjabi merchants weren't very happy, but I was. Not a single time did the rikshaw propose anything: no sightseeing jewelry shops, no hotels, nothing. Really a remarkable rikshaw.

puchoo

Same here , i dont carry food in my car but in case i do then i give some fruit, or biscuits, water...

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the opoponax

I guess we can all draw only on our own experiences, but it sounds like maybe you either had a very unlucky time in India, or were so over-defensive after falling for a very obvious scam that you got into a really bad mindset about the whole place.

I didn't find myself scammed or cheated "100 times", or treated like shit. OK, sure, I was probably copiously overcharged for things like rickshaw rides. I was asked for money easily 20 times a day, and sometimes I gave it. I fell for a couple of small-time newbie scams. And had I fallen for anything that involved $60 out of pocket, I'm sure my attitude would have changed (though the nice thing about being a budget traveler was that I generally didn't have that kind of cash on hand, anyway). I don't know that there was really much of a learning curve, other than things like 'inspect things thoroughly before you buy them' or 'don't ask a rickshaw wallah for directions'.

Most importantly of all, I never felt like 'Robinson Crusoe' in India. Most of what you need is at your fingertips, and aside from cultural or linguistic issues (what I described as 'feeling lost in translation'), it's not too hard to get, either.

Food is not difficult unless you hate Indian food, and then I would wonder why you picked this country in particular? India is dirty, or at least many parts of India are somewhat dirty. Most of the central parts of Indian metros I didn't find to be any dirtier than what I'm used to in New York. By and large the dirt isn't going to hurt you; it's just unsightly. I found the vast majority of Indians to be impeccably polite, often above and beyond what I would expect at home. Often so generous, in fact, that I felt bad about my inability to reciprocate.

Brisso

It's been said before - remember those coming after you. An OTT act of charity like this just inflames the local perspective of many that visitors are stupid and should be exploited and overcharged at every opportunity. This sort of misplaced generosity does not help.

snowcrab

I refuse to give money to women wearing better jewelry than me too. It's petty I know.

The other thing I try to do is go to places off-season. Then you are mostly approached by locals not that tribe that travels all over India hitting the tourist spots. I like to leave when they start showing up, not only is the constant solicitation annoying they clog up the sidewalks and make it hard to walk and the shopkeepers get cranky.

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MeenakshiBaehner

You sure got fleeced - some shared tactics at work on the milk powder for sure. India does have a lot of beggars- but are you going to forget that here we consider it alivelihood- well oranised, with rented babies now going at rs.100 a day! So what, most people do not have enough in cities- how can they? Its getting harder and harder for the urban poor- didnt you know? And what about tsunami victims- should they just starve and die on the streets? They just take a chance to get something to keep body and soul together. Isnt it better to give money to beggars then to all that cosmic debris that foreigners believe in- gurus, babas and charlatans. Give money freely- if you can, give food also. Even with mafis( like the begga king in The Fine Balance) it still wont get them to become richies!! Its all worked in costs, my friends!

mandycc

My boyfriend and I were approached by 4 or 5 beggars with babies in McCleod Ganj insisting 'no money, no money' and trying to lead us into a shop, presumably to buy the milk.

Nick-H

I have always tended towards giving to beggars --- but now I read that there hundreds of young children who are employed (used might be a better word; used and abused) to beg on Chennai streets.

Milk scam... pick a food shop other than the one you are being ushered towards, and buy a half-litre packet of milk. It's about rs9.

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shashank.aggarwal

Alawys told you about them

This is again not a solution. There will be atleast 5 such cases you will encounter every time you get out in market or temple.

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