how to handle touts?

sky888

I agreed that we shouldn't talk, no eye contact and just move on to where you're heading..

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amogasiddhi

Tell em you're from somewhere they've never heard of.

My Uncle, Aunt etc were on holiday in Spain a while ago and were getting upset about being distracted every five minutes by timeshare touts. This one guy asked my uncle the icebreaker 'so where are you from then' and he replied Ulanbataar. No further questions.

Non-Tout related.
My mother was in Southall, West London, which is a large Indian community. She was buying some Indian sweets from a shop and the guy at the counter said in Hindi, words to the effect of 'give her the old ones', to his colleague. Now what he didn't know was that my mother is anglo-indian and was born in a small village called Dongargargh, which is in between Nagpur and Raipur and her Hindi is good enough to be able to answer him back. She asked him if she looked like a tourist along with a few choice remarks about his father's current location and left without paying. No further trouble as the guy was in shock. Nice Gulab Jamuns too.

byronic

The best is to ignore, or for fun, throw them totally off guard.

Bij and I were in Agra about to be surrounded by touts with little wooden chess boards when Bij announced we would now sing and dance the "Dola Reh" song from Devdas. So Bij and I started to sing and dance (he was Aishwarya Rai and I was Madhuri Dixit) "Dola Dola Reh" in the fashionable Bollywood style.
Well you should have seen the touts part like the red sea before Moses and let us pass unmolested!!! The touts didn't know what hit them, as Bij does a mean Aishwarya Rai imitation. We got in our taxi and sped away before they could get autographs too.
So have a good Bollywood song and dance ready to perform if you want the touts to stay away...

skell

Wish I could have seen that!

traceyam

You mean Bij misses marks, anticipates, is late, nearly falls over, and essentially dances like a boney flapping chicken?

The best way to deal with touts is: 1) ignore them, or 2) insult them in Klingon.

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IVAN

The best way to handle touts hasslers, con men etc. in India is to stop feeling guilty.

When you do, it will stop to be a problem on a deeper emotional level, it will just become a practical and simple problem, just like a piece of wood on your way.

The real problem most tourist have with those people is not in the touts, it's in themselves.

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IVAN

Ah, and the "solution" cannot be found in some "techniques", as all those techniques are exterior but the problem is in your state of mind.

The moment you solve these inner issues in yourself, handling touts, con men etc. will become simple, obvious.

cyberhippie

Touts? What touts, where???
Seriously, Ivan has put the whole tout question into perspective. Stop feeling guilty about poverty and you'll deal with the whole India experience much better!!

TheCrone

Buy yourself a magic trick!!
That's what my husband did - got a 'disappearing pile of coins' trick - think it cost about a fiver, and whenever we were getting hassled he'd cry 'Magic' and proceed to do the trick.
The Indians just LOVE magic, and it made us loads of new friends.

The one time it got a bit intense was arriving off the train at Hampi when we were bombarded with rickshaw drivers, and our young lad was feeling a bit intimidated as it was his first taste of serious hassle. So hubby pulled out his emergency routine, which involves a seriously mad stare (scared the pants off me ) and yelled "Barra"
No idea what, if anything, it means, buy boy, did they scatter........

mira4bai4

When my wife and I got off the train at Amritsar and got out of the station we were surrounded and by rickshaw wallahs of all descriptions, so as I needed to buy some time to get orientated I pulled out the LP and through the barrage of chatter I said "before I go with any of you guys I first have to decide where I want to go, so quieten down or we will walk and none of you will get any work." That worked well, so all was peaceful with a few "I know a good place to stay, I can take you there, etc." But with a direct glare of the evil eye type and saying, "I said that I want quiet!" Should have been a school teacher. So after looking at our list and basically giving up as they all seemed pretty bad, I said "Ok, ready." That of course started them all off again and so I did my next trick. "Okay" I said, I don't like pollution and this place is dirty enough without me contributing to it, so who has the least polluting transport?" Me, me, me they all go and so I asked, "Which auto rickshaws use LPG?" "None" they said, "it was not available in Amritsar". "Well that rules you guys out then." this is when it became interesting as they began to see the picture and as the cycle rickshaw guys started to go me me me, the others said, the Tonga (small horse and buggy). "Looks good but I couldn't let an animal pull me round town, that would not be kind," I said. The Tonga driver looked a little deflated, I am sure that the pony was happy though. So we had the cycle rickshaws that got all excited, I narrowed it down by pointing out those that were to noisy and then interestingly they all pointed to one chap and said "He was the best in town." So it was, we had him for 3 days and went everywhere, he would not accept any money until the last day when he would take us back to the station. His father it seemed used to be a king pin in the rickshaw business and must have been a well thought of person as they showed great respect for the son who was in his 40's I suppose.

Anyway a good time was had by all and no language problems, once the posture was set and control gained they all played along.

jens

We got touted a lot because we like to walk and it doesn't seem to compute. "Likes to jog" said one person, thinking we were crazy. No, we weren't jogging. So from mild to not so mild we did a combination of: no eye contact + ignoring, then no eye contact + no thank you (works better seems to be friendlier). If it was incessant then no eye contact + "the wave". For general hassling relentless staring back (my male travel partner did this). For big hassles like when someone was trailing us and not taking no for an answer and we just want to be left in peace, we found that if a women was very clear about the fact that the touter needed to move on IN FRONT of another person, that worked great. We saw Koreans who didn't get hassled at all, so we spoke in French sometimes and that worked to some extent, except for the little kid who promptly switched over to french too.

swoon

I'm getting a really good idea of the tout situation. I guess no matter how much you read or question, nothing can really prepare for experience.

I am concerned about the idea of physically shooing touts away, though. In fact, I am completely opposed to dealing with anyone in a violent way - I'm pretty shocked at some of the suggestions here!

Surely it can't be acceptable to use pepper spray or to spit on and punch these people (touts) - anywhere - it makes me sad to read about them as though they're some sort of flies needing to be swatted. Maybe that's my (North American) 'guilt' talking?

Anyway, some good tips here - cheers

machadinha

Getting physically aggressive in India is just not a very good idea at all and can easily turn a jocular or mildly annoying situation into a nasty aggravated mob affair. If you feel stuck in a corner, attract the attention of fellow pedestrians or a police officer. The occasion won't hardly ever arise anyway.

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jens

Agree very strongly with the last two posts re: no violence. But it can be incessantly irritable if you're not in the right mood, so we actually spent a fair amount of effort trying out new/creative ways get the concept of no across. When my husband wants to bug me now he easily does with...maadaeemme? As well in many situations people get very very close--like in lines, where they also cut; so we exercised more assertiveness in new ways that were socially acceptable--There.

amogasiddhi

In Varanasi, I have figured out that if 'they' can't see your eyes, they can't make eye contact with you and so they either keep saying 'hello' 'where from' 'want boat?' or some other equally idiotic commnet designed by their owners to get you to react in some way or other.
I have found myself on the brink of throwing a couple of them into the river, to wash away their bad Karma of course and for those of you who still think Varanai is a 'Holy' place, from me, you're talking out of your arses! This place has more to do with shopping, and extracting money from people than it does with Religion. I've never seen so much Bullshit in one place in all my life. Most Indians are careless, selfish, egotistical, money oriented people who would rather get another 50 Rupees off ya, after spitting Paan all over the floor infront of you, than give you something for free. Ahhh the commerce of God rears it's ugly head in all religions at some point doesn't it? Perhaps if they showed more interest in genuinely learning something, they might get somewhere beyond this ridiculous caste system.
Then, of course, you get the really generous, interesting Indian who is like a diamond floating in a huge pile of Buffalo shit. I've generally found them in 2nd class AC 3-tier trains. They're usually business men (no real ones, not the little kids who think they own the street) and actually have something to say.....or at least they are easy to be with. How many times have I been saved from error due to the kindness of another passenger.
To avoid the bullshit, it is first necessary for you to decide what is and what isn't bullshit. For me it's the constant harrassment and questioning for no reason. Do you really think you'd get anywhere by asking 'which country?' before then trying to sell something for the next 200 yards while walking along the Ghats? Peace and quiet contemplation: This means that if you stand still, you must definitely want something. It also means that if you keep going, you must be going somewhere and whoever it is that's asking you the same question over and over and over and over and over and over.....you think i'm joking right?.......... is sealing their own fate as I am less likely to want to go anywhere near the place due to the huge amount of hassle incurred by simply trying to stand still. I have yet to see anyone buy a boat ride after being hassled, or postcards, or a rickshaw ride...etc etc etc. It makes me want to get out of here rather than endearing me to stay.
To avoid touts and hassle, wear earphones and dark glasses or you'll have you attention shredded by the constant chattering of those who only seek to gain financially from you.
Must dash, my Kurta is ready.

Moga