India- a checklist?
- Thread starter Yu_Gi_Oh
- Start date
Yu_Gi_Oh
天天好心情
Thanks for your helpful replies everyone. 
I went to get my visa today, what a nightmare!
I had to start queuing at 6am and some people had been there since about 2am 
.
Finally got the visas issued at about 10am and when I left there were still people queuing right around the building in the pouring rain. Apparently loads of people get turned away every day as they'll only issue 1500 visas a day.
I went to get my visa today, what a nightmare!
I had to start queuing at 6am and some people had been there since about 2am .Finally got the visas issued at about 10am and when I left there were still people queuing right around the building in the pouring rain. Apparently loads of people get turned away every day as they'll only issue 1500 visas a day.
Yu_Gi_Oh said:Thanks for your helpful replies everyone.
I went to get my visa today, what a nightmare!
Getting the visa at the embassy is good practice for the real thing trust me. wait till you deal with the train stations over there
I didnt have any of that trouble this time.Yu_Gi_Oh said:Thanks for your helpful replies everyone.
I went to get my visa today, what a nightmare!
Finally got the visas issued at about 10am and when I left there were still people queuing right around the building in the pouring rain. Apparently loads of people get turned away every day as they'll only issue 1500 visas a day.
We got there about 10am and were back on the tube an hour later.
Yu_Gi_Oh
天天好心情
Hiya, I'm in India now.
Can I just add, in case anyone reads this who's going to India; be REALLY, REALLY sure that your bank knows you're going. I went into my branch the dAy before to let them know and they still blocked my card when I put it into an ATM in India, leaving me with no money at all. 
It's sorted now, but for a while I was super fucked.
Can I just add, in case anyone reads this who's going to India; be REALLY, REALLY sure that your bank knows you're going. I went into my branch the dAy before to let them know and they still blocked my card when I put it into an ATM in India, leaving me with no money at all.
It's sorted now, but for a while I was super fucked.
My rule of thumb is never depend on using a western bank card when going somewhere in the developing world. Sometimes the good old fashioned method (travellers cheques!) actually works better!
llantwit said:You'll probably like Mumbai when you go back. People tend to hate the first big city they go to India. I hated Delhi when I arrived, but 3 months later in my stay I loved Mumbai. It's about getting used to the country, I think.
Have you seen Octopussy yet?
Enoy!
Yeah, I disliked Mumbai when I arrived in India, its so full on. Ended our trip there three weeks later and enjoyed it much more, once I'd got acclimatised to India a bit more.
Yu_Gi_Oh
天天好心情
Belushi said:
Hmmmm, well we fly out of there so I'll have to put up with it again! I would be very happy to find myself liking it. I did enjoy walking down the main streets and bartering, just not the no money/dirty hotel thing. And all the kids and beggars.
I haven't seen Octopussy yet, though I'm sure I wont be able to avoid it for long!
I'm hoping I can start going a whole day without throwing up now...
Yu_Gi_Oh said:Hmmmm, well we fly out of there so I'll have to put up with it again! I would be very happy to find myself liking it. I did enjoy walking down the main streets and bartering, just not the no money/dirty hotel thing. And all the kids and beggars.
I haven't seen Octopussy yet, though I'm sure I wont be able to avoid it for long!
I'm hoping I can start going a whole day without throwing up now...
Get some pills for the throwing up, cant remember the brand name but the pharmacies all had the same ones. They do the trick.
I found I became a vegetarian quite quickly which helped things.
gabi said:
Yeah, I'm a veggie anyway but the meat eating friends I was with became veggie for the duration very quickly
I was fine but followed the lead of the Indian friends I was with, only eating things I'd seen cooked in front of me and being v.careful about water.
Yup, there's no getting away with it. a few words of Hindi helps.
What I was doing this time with the beggars was snatching my arm away from them and saying 'dont touch me'
I believe I have a right to walk down the street without being grabbed.
Nobody gave me any trouble when I started doing that, nor did they look offended and they generally didnt do it again.
I spent a week in manali and I was watching the beggars operate from my balcony and everything they do is part of the act. In no way were they starving. I ended up thinking, 'if you've got the sense to go blagging every day but you put that filthy dress on and dont wash your hair or clothes then i've got no respect for you'
they've learned that we can be manipulated but they also know when you wont take any shit.
just watch an indian person dealing with them to understand.
give money to the kids who are actually working. they're much more deserving imo
I believe I have a right to walk down the street without being grabbed.
Nobody gave me any trouble when I started doing that, nor did they look offended and they generally didnt do it again.
I spent a week in manali and I was watching the beggars operate from my balcony and everything they do is part of the act. In no way were they starving. I ended up thinking, 'if you've got the sense to go blagging every day but you put that filthy dress on and dont wash your hair or clothes then i've got no respect for you'
they've learned that we can be manipulated but they also know when you wont take any shit.
just watch an indian person dealing with them to understand.
give money to the kids who are actually working. they're much more deserving imo
Yu_Gi_Oh
天天好心情
Ah-ha! After realising that I only get sick in the evenings, I've realised it's the 95% DEET mosquito repellent making me ill. Duh! No more!
RE: the kids, I know it's part of the deal, but it still made me sad. It's not that I'm a soft touch either but surely you all felt a bit stunned the first time you experienced it?
No meat is passing my lips thank you very much.
Anyway, off to watch some special dancing later, apparently it's some of the best in Rajasthan so that will be fun.
No more!RE: the kids, I know it's part of the deal, but it still made me sad. It's not that I'm a soft touch either but surely you all felt a bit stunned the first time you experienced it?
No meat is passing my lips thank you very much.
Anyway, off to watch some special dancing later, apparently it's some of the best in Rajasthan so that will be fun.
You sound like a nineteenth-century upper-class twat. Have a bit of heart, or if that's too much of a tall order try a modicum of empathy. I'm not saying that what you saw wasn't organised begging. Most of the begging you see in India is.Pavlik said:
But just for a moment imagine what it must be like to face a life of doing that day in day out, having to give the lion's share of what you can scrape together during the day to a gangster/beggarmaster, sleeping on the streets or in a shabby slum, having little or no chance of bettering yourself or changing your lot for the rest of your life.
The 'deserving poor' - ffs! Who are you to judge you moralising overprivileged twunt.
Yes organised begging is manipulative and calculating, but don't you think you'd use every 'manipulative' trick in the book and any others you could think of if you found yourself in that situation?
you've got no idea what you're talking about mate so stfu.llantwit said:You sound like a nineteenth-century upper-class twat. Have a bit of heart, or if that's too much of a tall order try a modicum of empathy. I'm not saying that what you saw wasn't organised begging. Most of the begging you see in India is.
But just for a moment imagine what it must be like to face a life of doing that day in day out, having to give the lion's share of what you can scrape together during the day to a gangster/beggarmaster, sleeping on the streets or in a shabby slum, having little or no chance of bettering yourself or changing your lot for the rest of your life.
The 'deserving poor' - ffs! Who are you to judge you moralising overprivileged twunt.
Yes organised begging is manipulative and calculating, but don't you think you'd use every 'manipulative' trick in the book and any others you could think of if you found yourself in that situation?
dont judge me on a paragraph.
watching those beggar kids on my first trip broke my heart every single day but i learned a little bit more about it this time.
I agree that saying 'take your hands off me' sounds like something a victorian toff might say but it felt right at the time and it worked.
I walked up that street a good few times with various indians and they never once got asked once for money but they always waited to see if i was going to give and when i didnt they said something short, sharp and to the point to the beggar and the beggar fucked off.
why should i be subjected to having someones filthy hands grabbing all over me if your average indian doesnt put up with it?
plus.. i bought them all the beggar kids a big bag of crisps each on the first day and then when i saw them later they were all hiding the crisps in their saris and telling the tourists they were starving. when the tourists werent looking, the kids were chilling out and having a laugh together. as soon as a tourist approached the kids put their long face on, and moaned about how terrible their life was.
i attempted to make friends with a few of them but the conversation always went back to 'give me money'
they said they had no mothers or fathers so i asked if i could come and see where they live. they looked very shocked by that idea at first then just laughed it off.
i watched as they arrived every morning with their boss and left at a certain time every evening.
they're doing a job whether you believe it or not and personaly i prefer to give my money to a working kid who has enough respect for himself to have a wash in the morning
I've done exactly the same thing in India - that's not what I was criticising you for. It does break your heart - it's shit and there's nothing you can do about it, and that's very difficult to deal with. Not as difficult as actually living that life, though.Pavlik said:
What I'm saying is that hardening yourself to the presence of beggars isn't the same thing as thinking they're all frauds and con-men. They ain't. They're normal people like you and me pretty much condemned by caste, and socio-economic accident of birth to a life of shitty grinding poverty.
I'm not saying give them a fucking hug and empty your wallet - it's not nice being pawed by a dirty filthy smelly (often disfigured) person when you're walking down the street and I didn'tsay it was. Look at my point again - it's about understanding the wider social, cultural and political context and not sounding like a callous western cunt. Which you've managed to do twice on this thread, now. Most of the Indians I've talked to about this do what most people elsewhere in the world do - they give money to some beggars sometimes, when they feel like it, which is what I've always done in India and here (in India with the added caveat of making sure I'm not gonna get mobbed by hundreds of kids if I give to one beforeI reach into my pocket).Pavlik said:
OF COURSE they did. What would you do if you were a professional begar?!Pavlik said:
You are too stupid for words if you can't see why this happened. What? Were you tryingto test them? Actually... are you just winding me up mate? If you are fair fucks to you - I bit the bait. If you're not. I fucking despair.Pavlik said:
Yeah - if you actually read my first post (I mean actually read the words, one by one) you'll see I'm quite aware of the professionalisation of begging - that they're doing a job, and begging is an industry in India. But it ain't a very fucking nice job, and in many cases it's not much better than slavery or bonded labour for a beggarmaster (not much different to a pimp) who owns your ass FOR LIFE, and who (if you don't have enough cash at the end of the day will often give you a good fucking hiding. You see, it doesn't matter if you're bruised or disfigured after a beating. In fact it helps in some cases as people are more lkely to give you cash out of pity if you have some sort of visible disfigurement or loss of function.Pavlik said:
All I was asking for is a little bit of understanding of the background, social, religious, and economic contexts in which begging (the begging industry) opperates in India - which was totally lacking in both your posts. If you don't give a fuck and can't be arsed to go beyond thinking they're all bad people out to con you out of the badness of their hearts I don't really care.
Truth is they might well be out to con you - but not out of badness. It's out of neccessity, it's because their shit lives depend on it, and it's because the more moeny they can make out of rich western tourists the more secure they will be that they'll have a square meal and somewhere to stay without having to take shit from their beggarmaster (slave master).
And I do know what I'm talking about, ta.
pushkar sucks. freak town central and that includes the hippy backpackers too. watch the brahim priests dont rip you off. its a common scam there.
I loved the Himalayas and mumbai is one of my fave cities makes me want to jump on a plane and head right out there again. been to India three times so far. love the place
I loved the Himalayas and mumbai is one of my fave cities
makes me want to jump on a plane and head right out there again. been to India three times so far. love the place 
DrRingDing
'anti-human wanker'
Don't forget to pack an extra set of skin.
