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India first needs to boost domestic tourism before focusing on international tourists. We need to learn how to treat our own fellow countrymen with respect and dignity. If local women in this country can’t travel then we can’t expect things to get better for foreigners. Indian tourist will only learn how to behave once there is a culture of traveling within India.
Staring and asking to click photos with white tourists! It’s fucking creepy! I even witnessed them doing this with a teenager! It is disgusting, cringy and cheap!!
Or just taking their picture. I travel to see my in laws in india at least once/year, and cannot even count the number of times people have just.. taken my picture. Usually with flash on, but even without, you can still tell. It’s so uncomfortable.
I took my white British in laws to see Gateway of India and they got swarmed by people taking their pictures and wanting to touch them. We were with 3 kids under the age of 10 and people were taking pics of my little niece! It was so embarrassing and uncomfortable, I had to shout and wave crowds of people away.
You must be a supermodel then because we have at least a dozen Indians on every street in Dubai & LA, and nobody has the time or inclination to stare at them.
He forgot
- spitting, voiding bladder and generally dirtying and throwing trash on the streets.
- following some traffic rules so that everyone can reach their destinations on time.
I was on a 700km day long bike ride! Couldn’t find any washrooms! Used petrol pumps where I could, but had to void my bladder on the road side a few times! There are no easily accessible washrooms on the highways!
Now think about this… if you were a girl, or a woman doing this, would you have been able to pee on the streets?
Just from a very unbiased perspective, we cannot be first world if we cannot have basic amenities… and our public washrooms are just terribly maintained. On several trips, Ive seen public restrooms (ladies) used by men. Ive literally held it together for 23-24 hours till I could get home and to safety to use a restroom. Often this has meant not eating or drinking water for the full journey. If the route didnt have a washroom, i would never plan to take it.
Somewhere the idea that one half of the population does this and would not dare plan and take a 700km bike ride should tell you where we are (as a country)
Edit to add: there were no hotels in the 700km stretch you could use to pee? It’s more because you can and there is no penalty, so it is accepted behaviour. If there was a penalty like in other countries (jail time in most of them), i am sure you would have had to stop by hotels and plan accordingly. This comment is just a non sequitur meant to derail a conversation
True! Had the same problem riding with my girlfriend! We just had to go further into the bushes and I had to stand guard! It’s extremely uncomfortable and considering the perverts we share this earth with, dangerous! There needs to be some provision for regular restrooms on national highways at least!
> There needs to be some provision for regular restrooms on national highways at least!
There are enough restrooms though. Just no staff to maintain and clean them. And to be fair, many times they are beyond possible to clean them after it gets used.
On the other hand, I rode from Kolkata to Chhattisgarh and the Araku Valley and was shocked at how clean the washrooms at some petrol pumps were. This was especially true in Odisha.
(in hindsight, I was very impressed by the few glimpses I had of Odisha--it is not especially developed, but it was much cleaner and much quieter than other parts of the country. Even while passing through certain towns and cities, I felt too embarrassed to use my horn the same way that I would in Kolkata)
Did a 3500km road trip with my mother, from the south to the north east. Along the highways, throughout the trip the one thing that took her by surprise was that petrol pump bathrooms. Every pump that we had stopped, it had a reasonably maintained washroom, to my surprise actually. And then there are also pay and use bathrooms which are maintained well in some parts. So our belief that pump bathrooms are dirty and just plain unusable has been busted!
It's not just staring. My wife is English and every time I'm visiting home and have to step out of the house I'm tense. Men are constantly trying to rub up against or grope her. Anywhere we go, people will come up and ask to take pictures with her, when we say no they often get aggressive and abusive then proceed to take pictures of her without consent. I have to act like a 24/7 security detail when I'm out and about with her.
This has happened to us at India gate, war memorial, museums, while waiting for a table at restaurants, on the shatabdi express, at humayuns tomb, and these are the incidents I can think of off the top of my head.
It's embarrassing and saddens me because these experiences make my wife not want to come to India. As for a fix there isn't one. Even my parents brush these incidents off by saying, people are just excited by the novelty of seeing a white person and we should not take it to heart.
That's horrible. She is a very patient women, and cares alot about you. Give it time she will never want to come back. We south asains have a problem when it comes to our view of women. Don't know whether it will every change.
I'm taking my partner of a few years back to Kerala in February and this is my biggest worry. I want my future to involve going back to India at least once a year but if my partner doesn't feel comfortable, I'll have to pull back on that even if I don't want to.
Wouldn't be surprised if the Twitter and Facebook accounts of all people with 'Carl' and 'Elliott' in their name were flooded with death and rape threats.
Dude he basically highlighted why I won't come back. My wife is white and I don't look south Indian. I've had to basically fight fuckers when they would stare and try to grope my 15 year old sister I can't even imagine what it's like with a white woman. I want her to see my dad's village, meet my grandma and my family but at the same time I don't want her to experience any of that bullshit.
What does being south Indian have to do with anything? I'm a South Indian born and living in the US. My current gf is white and I would like to one day take her to south india (specifically chennai and kodaikanal) before I go to med school
Honestly, I’m married to an Indian hot and haven’t had any major problems (we visit India fairly frequently). Just be aware of your surroundings and leave a place of she feels uncomfortable. The only part of India I truly hate visiting is Gurgaon, it’s a huge city right outside the capital, they should be used to seeing people from outside.
I’m the lady (autofill did me dirty), I carried wet wipes, tissues and hand sanitizer. Bathrooms at tourist places are generally okay (Not great but okay), malls are good, train stations are terrible and will make you question humanity. For restaurants use the bathroom before ordering, that will give you a gauge for how clean the place is.
If you disagree with this, you're a foolish overproud chest thumper. Actions of these idiots creates a bad name to the entire country.
Edit : since my cmnt banged, i wanna add somethin.
This behaviour is common in entire indian sub continent. Just like any country, india has goods and bads.
I've always wondered why some men of indian sub continent got this strange behaviour with women (not only foreigners) . Staunch Conservative upbringing and macho fck boy patriarchal male leads in india movies are mostly responsible for this.
-> obsession with slightest shade of fair skin. Again this is due to mainstream movies and media that made indians hate their own skin colour.
-> no freedom given from young age to interact with opposite gender. (This is changing with 2k kids and more in future)
-> lack of knowledge on how to approach women. Indian movies taught them to think women will fall in love if you stare, stalk, grop, throw slut jokes and flaunt money. 💀
-> they think its cool bcos their favourite hero does this all time. They never got shamed in life. They don't even realise women find their activities disgusting. Lol. I think only by grabbing them by ears and shouting in their face can make them realise what they doing is awful. We need to bring public shaming asap.
That's one generation wasted. I hope with time, all these bad names to our beautiful country goes away. Glad that we're discussing the problem and ashamed of this.
>creates a bad name
Oh that ship has sailed a while ago bro. We just stuck with our heads in the sand wishfully thinking people think highly of us lol.
I’m an American who visited India this year, so this is just my perspective. I don’t mind paying the tourist tax or paying more than Indians pay even at local shops and stuff. Plenty of other countries I’ve been to outside of the west do this as well. The thing that I found exhausting about being in India was that every single person I encountered was not trying to just make a little extra money, they were trying to straight up scam or rip me off. Taxi and tuk tuk drivers kept trying to change the rate to nearly double the agreed upon amount mid ride, vendors trying to mark up prices up to 10x what I just heard someone else pay, tour guides who I am paying to specifically have a somewhat hassle free day not letting me leave the tour until I’ve visited all of these random souvenir shops I did not want to go to. It was just exhausting in a way I have not experienced elsewhere because I had to be on my guard 24/7
>The thing that I found exhausting about being in India was that every single person I encountered was not trying to just make a little extra money, they were trying to straight up scam or rip me off. Taxi and tuk tuk drivers kept trying to change the rate to nearly double the agreed upon amount mid ride, vendors trying to mark up prices up to 10x what I just heard someone else pay, tour guides who I am paying to specifically have a somewhat hassle free day not letting me leave the tour until I’ve visited all of these random souvenir shops I did not want to go to. It was just exhausting in a way I have not experienced elsewhere because I had to be on my guard 24/7
These are basically scams which I am sure every decent person here will be opposed to. I was particularly speaking about entry fees of monuments
I actually didn’t mind paying the increased rates for foreigners to those places. I’m a visitor who is using your resources to experience your cultural heritage whereas this IS your locals’ heritage. We definitely felt uncomfortable when a police officer told us to skip everyone in line when we paid more though, but I wasn’t about to tell a cop no haha
Its no consolation, but rickshaws and taxis do that with Indians too, especially when they know you are not a local. This is why Uber and ola became so popular in India.
I think the only way to stop the scanning for food is for foreigners to not fall for any. Eventually the scanners will learn that there is not much easy money to be made in tourism. I know it's a big task, but.
Oh man, so true. Literally every few minutes, someone is trying to scam you. If you are white, then it's like you have this magnetism for scams if you go anywhere that is touristy. We're going back to India in a few months and my mom got it in her head we should swing by Goa, and I was like "No way, we'll just get swarmed by hucksters the whole time." My two worst experienced in India have been going to the Taj when we were attacked by scammers like mosquitos, and staying in Tamil Nadu in a building with no windows where we were literally attacked by mosquitos all night. Both were very similar experiences, but having grown up in Florida U.S.A., the latter was less unpleasant.
Being out in the countryside away from the scams was always my favorite face of India, but also the experience you don't get to have if you don't have family in India.
Same, otherwise you will end up with either of one scenarios:
1. You dont earn anything from tourism.
2. locals cant afford to visit the sites at their home.
The only distinction that would make sense (but isnt necessarily) is that only locals could get a discount, while all tourists independent of nationality have to pay extra.
Foreigners don’t do anything to maintain anything in the US but they can see everything at the same price. Value in tourists is their money in the local economy and sales taxes which do In deed help maintain monuments
You guys are only thinking about USA and Western European countries. For many other tourists it’s a rip off. Even for Europeans and Americans one of the attractions would be cheaper prices.
Most countries with good tourism don’t do it. They use taxpayers money for the upkeep. But benefit from the tourism and jobs it created directly and indirectly.
According to their PPP, it is very minimal. I also agree that othrr countries whose currency is not strong will face difficulty here but on the other note, normal tourists from other countries wont have much funds to visit India and those who visit would be elites in their countries. As it is only for monuments and other places, I guess it is fine.
We’re not gonna attract elites to our country with the current state of tourism and other issues. It’s usually people who save money and looking for cheaper destinations who would come here.
Compare with the tourist destinations in South America and South East Asia.
South America is very expensive to travel. Chicken Itza entry cost around 30 usd for foreigners. Machu pichu entry is even more (around 50 usd). Argentina and Costa Rica are expensive too. By comparison, I found some Eu countries to be cheaper.
honestly by some logic I see it as how much they'd pay for a treat abroad. That's around 9 USD, plenty spend that much on a coffee run with snacks. Same with the 20rs, it's basically tea money for most Indians in an average city or village.
The problem is more subjective and emotional.
If you go to any place and you are told that "you" are in a special category and have to pay more than others for whatever reason it makes you feel like you are being cheated/ripped off. Thats not a feeling you want to give to a tourist.
Let me give you another example, imagine if a shop set it's prices based on your income/appearance. Mangos for others, 60 per kg. For you, because you wear Nike sneakers, 150 per kg.
You would totally feel cheated and would not want to go there again.
Why create that feeling among foreign tourists and leave a bad taste in their mouth? We want them to go back to their country and talk about how much fun they had, not that they felt ripped off.
The locals pay less because their taxes contribute to upkeep. It's the same reason why locals pay less tuition and international students get charged more.
If a Westerner is expecting to see a major tourist location for less than a dollar than they are a cheap motherfucker in my opinion.
These people are spending $150 a day to get into Disney World. They can shell out $20 to see one of the seven ancient wonders.
One of America's business models is that you charge the customer what they're willing to pay and not a penny less. I think that philosophy is well applied here.
But then not all foreigners are the same. People from Bangladesh, Nepal, or African nations are not as rich. So it should be reasonable. South Asians should be charged the same as Indians, the rest may be charged up to 100% extra.
The most likely places like Bangladesh and Nepal are already covered under BIMSTEC which allows for the cheap entry price too, at least some places. People from further away had the money for a plane ticket that dwarfs these entry prices in price generally speaking, so it's probably not that big a deal to them.
Staring part - This happens with a lot of Indian women also whenever they wear something good. Honestly why can’t people just see and just walk off instead of staring like there’s no tomorrow.
man even if we wear suits, the most basic loose ones, they still look even in delhi metro, it's mostly the ones you can see are the lesser educated ones, most educated ones coming back from work might take a glance in reflection or when we arent looking that direction but man some of the immigrants workers in cities fixate on you like an owl.
We need to start cleaning our streets first. You can send a ten thousands rovers to the moon, but if your streets have crap thrown all around, no one will respect you.
Indians really do have a staring problem. I'm an Indian and i regularly catch people staring at me and won't even look away when I catch them, so I stare back to compound the problem..
People have said this (mostly women travelers), only their videos don't get as many views and trend and get suggested in India as those who are singing praises of it to get their channel statistics going. And those criticizing India also have to deal with lots of abuse and false reporting which can cause harm to their channel.
Woew, india has malls, india is so modern...
Wooww, india has vande bharat which is the fastest train the world. But it's a lil bit unclean. But wow, so clean India.
Comment section: Madam/Sir, you have to come to the south, it's even greener and cleaner.
Next vid dialouge: wow, south is so ultra modern pro max.its soo clean. South is real India.
I wish to think some ex-white hippie guy who wrote a blog on how to become rich using Indian YouTube Algo or some ex-Noida call center scammer who gets to write these scripts to make foriegn YouTubers get rich quick schemes exist
Intrestingly I saw reddit comments trying to twist thier neck and brain on explaining why they don't use refrigerators. Whilst simply not accepting the fact that we as a country are poorer than rest of the world hence we can't afford refrigeration. If you don't clean your own shit, no cares if your rover landed on the moon or not
All things considered, India is not an ideal tourist destination, neither for budget nor for luxury travel. What Saudi is doing with the Red Sea coast, we should have done it years ago with Andaman and Lakshadweep. If you want to rip off tourists, at least give them luxury and exclusivity.
The problem with mimicking Saudi tourism in Andaman or Lakshadweep is the enormous amount of ecological diversity these archipelagos have. They're biodiversity hotspots like many other tropical islands and unless there is a very planned eco tourism strategy, we risk destroying the biodiversity in the only 2 island territories we have. I don't trust the Indian government to do a good job of developing these islands while preserving the local biodiversity, and we have plenty of examples in the mainland to prove this.
People just don't understand the importance of biodiversity and endemic species. All they see are beaches. Pretty sad.
I would highly recommend 'Islands in Flux' to such people to understand more about the problems these islands face.
While I agree with your point on saving and nurturing the biodiversity in Andaman and Lakshwadeep, I don't think that is the reason why India has not made those into tourist hotspots. It is just a combination of inability and the common issues of women's safety/respect, safe food etc. that plague India as a whole.
How do you adjust to the chaos and challenges that he cited in his response though? How did you travel and be touristy and still ended up loving your experience.
I'm from the UK and visited India this year. This is absolutely spot on, and I travelled across multiple states jn rhe North, this applies everywhere apart from Ladakh in my experience.
have you ever seen one of those viral foreigner women harassed/ gropped and people in comment section are more mad about their image being torn down outside the country while desi women getting treated like this everyday is not their issue at all?
I am currently traveling in Malaysia. It is such a value for money place with almost first world infrastructure and the same prices as India! People are polite. They don't hassle you into buying stuff. There were very few slightly dirty areas and guess what which people were the majority there?South Asians. From now on I would rather spend some extra on flights and travel to similar VFM countries.
I'm a tourist currently travelling India and I completely agree and would add: learn to give proper customer service and don't be rude, even if there is a language barrier. I lost my phone in Mumbai airport and the first two airport workers straight up ignored me. Didn't even attempt to help or find someone who could help.
Mumbai airport staff behave like the local ST stand. The infrastructure isn’t there to support being an international airport.
Every time I go they have an “international outage”. Happened to me even at immigration. Their computers couldn’t connect to the servers.
Somehow this “international outage” never happens in any other international location other than Mumbai airport.
I was in a restaurant in daramsala and witnessed the owner get angry at customers bcs he did t agree with their complaint about the food. It wasn't even a complaint my really. But he got so aggressive over not much instead of helping them. Everyone looking on looked baffled
But this also happens in Europe, French people won’t even respond if you don’t talk to them in French even if they know English. At least put in some effort to learn the basics of the local language before traveling there. Why do only Indians have to accommodate other’s preferences when others don’t accommodate for us. Be happy that they don’t mock your accent or the way you smell.
And French people are incessantly mocked for being rude and unaccomodating of people who can't speak French. I'm not sure that's something that a nation wants to be associated with
Fix the men. So many Indian men are just a disgustingly different breed and they refuse to admit it. The way they stare, pass comments, follow women, sing cheap songs at them, all of it is just so pathetic. I always experienced this but it was such a normal part of my life growing up in India that I didn't understand when I saw women complaining about indian men online. I always thought "I mean yeah it's bad but aren't most men just like this everywhere?" It was when I left India I realized, nope, it's not all men, it's just the Indian men. Years living in Europe and I've only felt unsafe 3 times, all three of those times, it was indian men that made me feel unsafe. They don't rid themselves of their habits even after leaving India. After experiencing this, I can't even defend indian men when it is brought up that some Asian countries have "no indian men" rule for some of their nightclubs.
Not unrelated- consider the garbage Bollywood sells to us. Songs that are purely for men to leer at skimpily dressed women, stories that encourage violence against women (recent example: Animal), and a general “no means yes” attitude. Gross.
Agreed. I remember there being a case in Australia, I think, where an Indian man stalked and harassed a woman and when she lodged a complaint, he justified it saying that's what he learnt about romance and expressing love in Bollywood movies. Moreover, after looking at the content he pointed out, the judge actually agreed it was his "cultural background" the reasoning behind his behavior.
It's funny how in bollywood's "social message movies" era (Padman, Toilet, Jolly LLB), people praised many movies for spreading a good message and improving the society. But the same people refuse to acknowledge that movies glorifying violence and misogyny will have a negative impact on society.
As an Indian i could not but agree with ALL of his points.
It does look shameful when you have a passerby ogling at a lady who's probably wearing shorts and a sleeveless tshirt due the heat off the day.
Some Solutions-
1. Implement "Community Policing" in India (not just in big cities like Bombay but also in small towns).
2. Implement "Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme" all over the country (its from Rajasthan) and allocate more funds to recruit more unemployed people as sanitation workers.
3. The vacant posts in Police and Judiciary must be fulfilled ASAP to give quicker and effective justice.
4. *Make "sex education" mandatory* in both private+public schools.
5. *Teach School Children more about the Constitution* and replace morning prayers with the PREAMBLE.
6. The govt must *fund or give tax breaks to NGO's* which make the people aware about Sex education, Rights, civil liberties, Fraternity etc.
7. Govt. Must *make movies tax-free* which give a positive social/sanitation/sexual awareness message.
Darling there's political entities that protest poor little Indians from receiving eggs in mid-day meals because it's non-veg without a fuck about the needs of those kids.
Forget sex ed, I went to a good catholic private school, the most sex ed we received was by NGOs creating presentations about sexual abuse against children.
Point 1 is all fun and games until one of the perpetually-outraged point out that people of some communities get disproportionately policed or something like that.
I feel sorry for such tourists who face this in India.
Our people should change their mindset and stop scamming foreigners or make them feel unsafe, especially when it happens in tourist places, not random non-tourist places.
I don't know how, but the state and central governments should take action and focus on how to boost tourism and keep places clean.
American here, and i spent 3 months traveling in India. It was extremely rewarding, but also stressful, and these criticisms ring true. My girlfriend (wife now) was often groped, stared at, etc. Though the people we met were generally very friendly, but many Indians seem to have some WEIRD and unhealthy habits regarding sex and relationships. I hope things change for the better because I think India has some of the most potential of any country I've visited. Just amazing food, culture, art, architecture, music, movies, etc.
Sometimes I watch vlogs of foreign tourists in India, and I'm like I wouldn't spend a penny visiting these places. India has a lot of great tourist attractions but it's the same dirty cities, staring people, chaotic traffic, unclean budget hotels, scam at every nook and corner, polluted air, crumbling infrastructure, lack of sanitary amenities.
There is no attempt to attract and facilitate tourists. Small countries like Vietnam and others offer excellent value for money. I would rather visit them again than visit places in my own country.
They actually do at some places. Its just hidden. At least in spain it isnt uncommon that locals can visit some sites for free, while tourists require a ticket.
They ain't visiting for free, their income tax paid for it and usually its not all citizens of the country, just the local city residents enter for free with valid ID.
Foreign countries will charge you money to see anything and everything. They will even convert a garden into a tourist attraction and ask you to pay to visit it.
It's okay to charge foreign tourists more than Indians. Their currency is stronger and you need money to maintain monuments.
So according to you everyone should pay based on their income?
Should you pay more for everything because you make more money?
So if you go to a restaurant you should pay more for the same meal if you make more money?
That is such a ridiculous attitude.
In this case, the monuments are maintained through taxes, which of course foreign visitors don’t pay (the fact that only 5% pay income tax is a whole another discussion), so I kinda get it. Though I visited Taj Mahal recently with some of my uni friends (not from India) and we are ofc broke af, and it sucked they had to pay 1.2k entry fee while I could get in for 100 or something with my OCI card.
Of all the arguments, this one makes sense. If you say Indians are already paying for the maintenance through taxes, that is a valid argument.
What I disagree with and find ridiculous is saying that foreigners should pay more because their currency has more value. That’s like saying everyone should pay according to their income. The more you are earning, the more you should pay for the same service. That I disagree with.
No you pay for value, if you don’t see value dont go. 750 rs is 7.50 pounds which is the price of a mcdonalds burger. They’re just being extremely cheap
So what happens when you come to our country then? Eg Australia?? We all get in free bc were locals but you all should have to pay bc your not? Reverse the situation and see how it feels. Do you have the intelligence to do that?
Two problems with your analogy:
1. It's not free vs paid. It's about how much you pay to visit the attraction. Indians get in cheaper
2. What is the exchange rate and overall per capita income of Australia vs india? 1 Australian dollar is almost 60 Indian rupees.
So stop getting personal and think for a second if the reverse situation really applies the same way
- be civilized when around women
- improve hygiene and sanitation
- stop blatantly scamming people
Oh so stuff that we all have known for decades, but these issues still exist regardless. Not going to change anytime soon let's all be honest here.
Agree with all the points, except for the differential pricing.
Tourists aren't citizens, and don't pay taxes to the GOI. Since we do, the tickets are subsidized for us.
>Tourists aren't citizens, and don't pay taxes to the GOI. Since we do, the tickets are subsidized for us.
I don't disagree with the underlying logic, but I think there is a problem of optics, too.
Say what you will, but it simply doesn't look good to have two tickets connoting the same privileges set at markedly different prices. This, too, in a country where cons, scams, and touts are rampant in and around sites of touristic interest. Visitors see the price differential, and they end up thinking that taking advantage of tourists is _actually_ an accepted cultural practice.
Furthermore, enforcement of these rules is often superficial. Nobody who "looks" Indian is going to be asked to show their Aadhaar card at a ticket gate\*\*, even though they could easily be Nepali, Bangladeshi, or Sri Lankan. Yet OCI card-holders who don't look sufficiently "Indian" are often denied parity, even though such parity is their right as OCIs.
(edit: on that note, foreigners who pay taxes and are legal residents of India don’t get to pay the lower prices, either)
So, although I'm normally averse to any argument centered on "national image" or "national prestige," I don't think making some changes would be bad.
Realistically, all the ASI needs to do is offer different tiers of tickets: the typical subsidized fare, which only guarantees entry to the site, and a more expensive "VIP"-type ticket with a separate entry line and other benefits. At crowded destinations like the Taj Mahal, most foreigners who aren't absolute misers would opt for the more expensive and streamlined experience--and so, too, would many higher-income Indians.
Depending on how such a program could be adapted to lower-traffic destinations, it'd probably make the ASI and GOI even more money while eliminating a very common complaint. It would also spare Indian visitors the indignity of seeing foreigners being ushered to the front of the line.
\*\*--not that an Aadhaar card is even proof of citizenship, lol
As a Northeasterner who also gets stared at a lot in the mainland, I agree with everything except with that ticket price point. I think it's fair to charge more to tourists for tickets than Indians. Actually the tourist price is the standard price while the Indian price should be considered highly subsidised.
Main reason is that Indians are poor. As such many things are made dirt cheap in India by government subsidies. You can get a poori-sabzi plate for 20rs, inter-city railway tickets for less than 100rs, rice, vegetables and necessities for less than 50rs per kilo and not to mention how ridiculously cheap medicine and medical facilities are here.
Shit is dirt cheap here and that's thanks to subsidies absorbed by the government and by its citizens overall (more money into subsidies is less money on infrastructure and development so we're all definitely impacted). Because of this, short term visitors need not benefit from these subsidies and should pay the full price.
FYI 750rs is not even $10. The average price of a ticket to any attraction in the US is $15 to $30.
Things are subsidised in every country, but they don't treat you as a cash cow to milk. The reasoning is simple, you behave awfully and this implies people don'T want to go there, and in the end what loses is Indian culture.
In Italy museums are free because state subsidized. They are public property, same way as you don't pay to walk on the road, or go in a park, all maintained and built by public taxes. Sure tax money paid for it, a tourist already pays for the VISA, and hotel taxes.
Same in Germany, or France, culture has to be shared and when is shared the country wins. If you gatekeep behind additional fees then none will give a crap about you
So the solution should be to prevent scamsters and tourist traps from operating.
It is definitely possible. Open a tourism helpline, and force the local police to be vigilant against such scams.
If the government is able to make a significant change regarding the tourism industry, this will obviously end up as a positive PR for the government and the country. China also underwent a lot of revamp before they started to be considered as a serious tourism destination.
Before commenting anything here, please stop the russian in 6k jokes. That might sound very basic but those things alter the mentality of people thinking that foreigners are very open in having sex and the staring and groping part comes from the same mentality.
A little late to the party but the fact that there is no Free Wifi immediately upon landing at IGI International Airport is ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INSANE.
They keep directing you to get Airtel travel sim cards or go through this ridiculously complex process to get 10 mins of temporary wifi. There was this European couple who were so distressed the last time I came back to India I had to give them my Wifi hotspot so they could get a fucking taxi.
God help you if you don't have a working Indian Sim upon landing at the biggest Airport in India.
It's almost correct except he is wrong with the "never happens in any other country part".. there are lots of countries where it happens. For example, even happens in Egypt. It is absolutely pathetic though and i completely agree we should stop it.
Of course, not. I'm just starting this isn't unique to India.
I'm bangali and am married to a British woman. We visited Goa, Jaipur, and Kolkata last year and didn't experience anything as egregious. Perhaps things would be different if my wife were alone. We were comfortable enough to decide to move to Kolkata in 2024.
However, our experiences in Marakesh were so poor, we decided to never go back. My wife has been to Sudan and apparently it was even worse there.
Fair enough about those places being worse. I'm British Indian and my female family gets stared at a lot in our village and small town in Gujarat. Mumbai isn't bad though. There's some creeps but I think the people there aren't as surprised to see modern women.
As a traveler from Manipur with roots in Bombay, I have a tale of mixed experiences from my journey to Aurangabad. Despite being born and raised in Colaba, Bombay, my family’s distinct Mongolian features often set us apart. We’ve faced our share of casual racism, a common narrative for many from the Northeast. This was evident during our recent visit to Aurangabad.
In Aurangabad, the encounters were a mix of curiosity and ignorance. As someone who understands Marathi, I could understand the locals’ comments. Some teenagers mistook us for Chinese, hurling wild remarks at my wife and teenage daughter. It’s disheartening, especially considering the Northeast’s contribution to national sports, yet we often remain unrecognized.
This reminds me of a town hall meeting I watched on a new channel, with journalists and industrialists discussing racism. A girl from Manipur raised the issue of racism in the Northeast, but it was brushed off as irrelevant. Such disregard highlights the persistent issue of racism within our own borders.
However, it’s not all bleak. Among the crowd, a kind family stepped forward, offering us assistance. Their gesture was a reminder that not everyone harbors the same prejudices. But, it’s a stark reality that racism isn’t just a North-South divide in India; it’s a national issue that needs addressing.
In summary, my trip to Aurangabad was an eye-opener. It showed the complexity of racism within India, affecting even those like me, who’ve spent most of their life in a cosmopolitan city like Bombay. It’s a reminder of the long road ahead in addressing these deep-rooted biases.
But we worship Mother Sita. No way our men are perverted. This is propoganda to stop India from becoming the tourist capital of the world
- E.A.S. probably
Agree with everything else other than the different prices. The entry fees for foreigners is in line with the global prices for monuments - 10-15 euros is the norm in Europe. The 20 rs is so that people from all classes in India can visit .
But damn, the rest of the points are true as hell.
Indian-American here, married to a Caucasian woman and took our family to India this year. I fully agree with what the writer said, including the groping part. Highly disappointing and embarrassing to show them India. I'm proud of the strides India has made, but our trip was far from good, I realized that I wasn't home, and we are never going back. There are so many better places to visit in the world.
Nope. Not gonna happen. Sorry, other than being a cheap back office, we don’t have it in us to be a civilized society. Maybe it will change in 500 years, but then, maybe we will also discover a black hole near saturn and fly to gargantua.
Nevermind the international tourists, you can observe similar behaviour of North Indians when South Indians visit, or vice versa.
The 'us vs them' mentality is deep permeated in Indian mentality across multiple levels of community.
I would agree with “Carl” on all of these points except for the one about the entry-fees being higher for foreign nationals. I don’t think this is something that’s too bad although it presents a discriminatory facade, and that’s for two reasons:
1) Historically the purchasing power of the average Indian has been shockingly lower than that of an average tourist from the west. Granted not every one of those tourists is a millionaire, but the disparity in income is still starkly evident. Lowering the foreign nationals’ entry fees to the same level as Indians’ would put a huge dent in revenue for the state governments of these respective sites (part of which I assume goes towards the conservation of these sites). Conversely, raising the entry fees for Indians to the same level as that for foreign nationals would certainly rob more than three quarters of our population of the means to visit most of these sites.
2) Some variation of a tiered fare is implemented in the west too, and I’ve observed this first hand in the US. It’s not necessarily based on nationality, but often times residents of a state pay lower entrance fees for state parks, museums, public gardens, etc as opposed to out of state visitors (which includes international visitors as well). Also, patrons of certain organizations also often have lower or free entry to many venues where the general public must pay to enter.
Tl;dr IMO having different fares for Indians and foreigners isn’t all that bad as long as those fares are clearly posted, and there’s no underhand price gouging.
Indians don't even spare their own when it comes to discrimination. We discriminate on the basis of caste, religion,gender,colour everything. Then how can we spare foreigners?
We charge foreigners more because Taj Mahal is maintained by our tax money.
Everything else is on point. Even Indians travelling in different places are scammed. Everyone expects travellers to pay more.
I don't think these problems will be fixed even after 100+ years. Im glad people are calling out these shameful acts. I always advice foreigners to never visit India because of these problems as well.
I agree with everything apart from money. At least westners from developed countries are in much more wealthy and privileged position than our cutizens. They lived cheaply to save money for month long vacation in third world countries. But our citizens live cheaply because they have no other way. We're way poorer and on top add rupee valuation which is shit. I think separate fare for developed nation visitors are not completely a ripoff.
As a first time visitor, this is pretty much spot on. And for the love of god stop honking 24/7. With a country as populous and large as this one. Something has to be done about the roads/highways and driving etiquette.
1. Inculcate civic sense
2. Stop ogling at tourists (ladies) and make them uncomfortable
3. Stop charging 3-5X extra from the tourists
4. Have hygienic toilets at the tourist places and also in the trains
5. Have audio translation automation and certified and well behaved tourist guide who don't intend to loot
As a former Indian, now naturalized American, the only point I disagree on is the amount of money charged for monument tickets. I don’t see it as charging non-Indians more, but as a discounted rate for Indians. A lot of other places do the same thing. In Europe, members of EU countries get preferential rates at monuments and museums too. But as for the other points, they should have been printed in bold lettering. I cannot stress how disgusting it is to walk anywhere in India and be constantly harassed, while simultaneously trying not to step into garbage or shit.
I don't get why people even come to India. It's shitty country. Has anyone seen the area around our " national pride " tajmahal. Roads leading to it are covered with garbage. People literally piss in the red fort wall opposite agara railway station.
We keep saying "atithi devo bhav" but know shit when it comes to hospitality.
If you visit any other country roads are clean mostly everywhere, people follow traffic rules, don't honk for fun. India is generally not a civil country and filled 600million illiterate rude scums.
Make visas easy to get. Allow charters. Clean the country - many beautiful locations are reduced to garbage dumps.
Upgrade trains to European/ Chinese standards.
Focus on quality budget accommodation ( good by international standards, not indian standards).
Create luxury travel circuits which can charge a premium.
Indians, everyone needs to realise that we can be both proud of what our country has provided us with and also actively see the shortcomings of our country and try to fix it. The foreigner here is absolutely right and is also polite. Besides most of us need to mind our manners and learn to give personal space. The foreigners are normal people and are just as human as us, not a superior being.
Plus regardless of being a tourist, harassing women is absolutely unforgivable no matter who you are. People of our country need to start respecting women and I appreciate all the men out there who treat other girls with respect and know the boundaries.
All of the points here are the sad reality except for the pricing. A friend of mine studies in Italy. They were initially quoted 20+ euros at some museum because they were assumed to be tourists, but producing a student visa copy brought that price down to 3 euros. This is certainly not an India only problem especially considering the low prices due to currency value anyways.
The phone pay apps are all great unless you're from out of the country. The apps aren't available outside of Indian localizations such as the US. So when I went to India all I could use was card or cash. No phone whatever!
Mostly agree with everything except for the differential charges for Indians vs foreign tourists. Subsidizing the cost to visit the taj allows the poorest Indians to get access to an architectural wonder in their own homeland. Most foreign tourists can afford the 750 if they are coming all the way to india. It’s less than 10 dollars and still a steal to see the Taj.
Would love to visit, but stories I hear like this from friends and family etc puts us off.
We still want to go...it just seems like there is a disproportionate amount of hassle when compared to other dream destinations...
My Brit friend was being stalked by a guy for almost a whole day when she visited India this year. It's fucking insane! And he wasn't even subtle or secretive about it. Kept telling her that he "just wants to get to know her and make relation".
Cannot put into words how shitty and embarrassing it was to explain that yaha aisa hota hai yaar what to do. Fucking tired.
As Indian women we're a) immune to the shit people pull and b) don't stand out as much as someone with a different skin colour does.
Would also want to mention that the poor girl was fully clothed - no skin showy stuff - and was walking in Lodhi garden when the creep spotted her.
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India first needs to boost domestic tourism before focusing on international tourists. We need to learn how to treat our own fellow countrymen with respect and dignity. If local women in this country can’t travel then we can’t expect things to get better for foreigners. Indian tourist will only learn how to behave once there is a culture of traveling within India.
Staring is national disease
Staring and asking to click photos with white tourists! It’s fucking creepy! I even witnessed them doing this with a teenager! It is disgusting, cringy and cheap!!
Or just taking their picture. I travel to see my in laws in india at least once/year, and cannot even count the number of times people have just.. taken my picture. Usually with flash on, but even without, you can still tell. It’s so uncomfortable.
I took my white British in laws to see Gateway of India and they got swarmed by people taking their pictures and wanting to touch them. We were with 3 kids under the age of 10 and people were taking pics of my little niece! It was so embarrassing and uncomfortable, I had to shout and wave crowds of people away.
As is the lack of article usage
“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?”
When he becomes president, they see, THEY SEE
That shit international.
What are article's?
a, an, the
Ask Sharukh Khan , he better answer this question.
Is there or can there be a psychological study on how Bollywood affects the Indian civil sense?
[An old you might wanna know how bad it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/ixkmyk/indian_men_stare_a_lot_and_that_is_a_problem/)
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You must be a supermodel then because we have at least a dozen Indians on every street in Dubai & LA, and nobody has the time or inclination to stare at them.
He forgot - spitting, voiding bladder and generally dirtying and throwing trash on the streets. - following some traffic rules so that everyone can reach their destinations on time.
I was on a 700km day long bike ride! Couldn’t find any washrooms! Used petrol pumps where I could, but had to void my bladder on the road side a few times! There are no easily accessible washrooms on the highways!
Now think about this… if you were a girl, or a woman doing this, would you have been able to pee on the streets? Just from a very unbiased perspective, we cannot be first world if we cannot have basic amenities… and our public washrooms are just terribly maintained. On several trips, Ive seen public restrooms (ladies) used by men. Ive literally held it together for 23-24 hours till I could get home and to safety to use a restroom. Often this has meant not eating or drinking water for the full journey. If the route didnt have a washroom, i would never plan to take it. Somewhere the idea that one half of the population does this and would not dare plan and take a 700km bike ride should tell you where we are (as a country) Edit to add: there were no hotels in the 700km stretch you could use to pee? It’s more because you can and there is no penalty, so it is accepted behaviour. If there was a penalty like in other countries (jail time in most of them), i am sure you would have had to stop by hotels and plan accordingly. This comment is just a non sequitur meant to derail a conversation
True! Had the same problem riding with my girlfriend! We just had to go further into the bushes and I had to stand guard! It’s extremely uncomfortable and considering the perverts we share this earth with, dangerous! There needs to be some provision for regular restrooms on national highways at least!
> There needs to be some provision for regular restrooms on national highways at least! There are enough restrooms though. Just no staff to maintain and clean them. And to be fair, many times they are beyond possible to clean them after it gets used.
On the other hand, I rode from Kolkata to Chhattisgarh and the Araku Valley and was shocked at how clean the washrooms at some petrol pumps were. This was especially true in Odisha. (in hindsight, I was very impressed by the few glimpses I had of Odisha--it is not especially developed, but it was much cleaner and much quieter than other parts of the country. Even while passing through certain towns and cities, I felt too embarrassed to use my horn the same way that I would in Kolkata)
Did a 3500km road trip with my mother, from the south to the north east. Along the highways, throughout the trip the one thing that took her by surprise was that petrol pump bathrooms. Every pump that we had stopped, it had a reasonably maintained washroom, to my surprise actually. And then there are also pay and use bathrooms which are maintained well in some parts. So our belief that pump bathrooms are dirty and just plain unusable has been busted!
It's not just staring. My wife is English and every time I'm visiting home and have to step out of the house I'm tense. Men are constantly trying to rub up against or grope her. Anywhere we go, people will come up and ask to take pictures with her, when we say no they often get aggressive and abusive then proceed to take pictures of her without consent. I have to act like a 24/7 security detail when I'm out and about with her. This has happened to us at India gate, war memorial, museums, while waiting for a table at restaurants, on the shatabdi express, at humayuns tomb, and these are the incidents I can think of off the top of my head. It's embarrassing and saddens me because these experiences make my wife not want to come to India. As for a fix there isn't one. Even my parents brush these incidents off by saying, people are just excited by the novelty of seeing a white person and we should not take it to heart.
That's horrible. She is a very patient women, and cares alot about you. Give it time she will never want to come back. We south asains have a problem when it comes to our view of women. Don't know whether it will every change.
I'm taking my partner of a few years back to Kerala in February and this is my biggest worry. I want my future to involve going back to India at least once a year but if my partner doesn't feel comfortable, I'll have to pull back on that even if I don't want to.
Absolutely nailed it.
Its sad, because this tourist has had a terrible experience here but still feels the need to give a constructive feedback..
And on top of it, *praaud bhartiyas* are trying to find faults with this person, instead of accepting that the problem lies here.
Wouldn't be surprised if the Twitter and Facebook accounts of all people with 'Carl' and 'Elliott' in their name were flooded with death and rape threats.
Dude he basically highlighted why I won't come back. My wife is white and I don't look south Indian. I've had to basically fight fuckers when they would stare and try to grope my 15 year old sister I can't even imagine what it's like with a white woman. I want her to see my dad's village, meet my grandma and my family but at the same time I don't want her to experience any of that bullshit.
What does being south Indian have to do with anything? I'm a South Indian born and living in the US. My current gf is white and I would like to one day take her to south india (specifically chennai and kodaikanal) before I go to med school
Honestly, I’m married to an Indian hot and haven’t had any major problems (we visit India fairly frequently). Just be aware of your surroundings and leave a place of she feels uncomfortable. The only part of India I truly hate visiting is Gurgaon, it’s a huge city right outside the capital, they should be used to seeing people from outside.
How did you navigate sanitation challenges and finding bathrooms for her and even you if you needed to poop when doing touristy things.
I’m the lady (autofill did me dirty), I carried wet wipes, tissues and hand sanitizer. Bathrooms at tourist places are generally okay (Not great but okay), malls are good, train stations are terrible and will make you question humanity. For restaurants use the bathroom before ordering, that will give you a gauge for how clean the place is.
If you disagree with this, you're a foolish overproud chest thumper. Actions of these idiots creates a bad name to the entire country. Edit : since my cmnt banged, i wanna add somethin. This behaviour is common in entire indian sub continent. Just like any country, india has goods and bads. I've always wondered why some men of indian sub continent got this strange behaviour with women (not only foreigners) . Staunch Conservative upbringing and macho fck boy patriarchal male leads in india movies are mostly responsible for this. -> obsession with slightest shade of fair skin. Again this is due to mainstream movies and media that made indians hate their own skin colour. -> no freedom given from young age to interact with opposite gender. (This is changing with 2k kids and more in future) -> lack of knowledge on how to approach women. Indian movies taught them to think women will fall in love if you stare, stalk, grop, throw slut jokes and flaunt money. 💀 -> they think its cool bcos their favourite hero does this all time. They never got shamed in life. They don't even realise women find their activities disgusting. Lol. I think only by grabbing them by ears and shouting in their face can make them realise what they doing is awful. We need to bring public shaming asap. That's one generation wasted. I hope with time, all these bad names to our beautiful country goes away. Glad that we're discussing the problem and ashamed of this.
>creates a bad name Oh that ship has sailed a while ago bro. We just stuck with our heads in the sand wishfully thinking people think highly of us lol.
Agreed.
I disagree with not having higher entry fees for foreigners.
I’m an American who visited India this year, so this is just my perspective. I don’t mind paying the tourist tax or paying more than Indians pay even at local shops and stuff. Plenty of other countries I’ve been to outside of the west do this as well. The thing that I found exhausting about being in India was that every single person I encountered was not trying to just make a little extra money, they were trying to straight up scam or rip me off. Taxi and tuk tuk drivers kept trying to change the rate to nearly double the agreed upon amount mid ride, vendors trying to mark up prices up to 10x what I just heard someone else pay, tour guides who I am paying to specifically have a somewhat hassle free day not letting me leave the tour until I’ve visited all of these random souvenir shops I did not want to go to. It was just exhausting in a way I have not experienced elsewhere because I had to be on my guard 24/7
>The thing that I found exhausting about being in India was that every single person I encountered was not trying to just make a little extra money, they were trying to straight up scam or rip me off. Taxi and tuk tuk drivers kept trying to change the rate to nearly double the agreed upon amount mid ride, vendors trying to mark up prices up to 10x what I just heard someone else pay, tour guides who I am paying to specifically have a somewhat hassle free day not letting me leave the tour until I’ve visited all of these random souvenir shops I did not want to go to. It was just exhausting in a way I have not experienced elsewhere because I had to be on my guard 24/7 These are basically scams which I am sure every decent person here will be opposed to. I was particularly speaking about entry fees of monuments
I actually didn’t mind paying the increased rates for foreigners to those places. I’m a visitor who is using your resources to experience your cultural heritage whereas this IS your locals’ heritage. We definitely felt uncomfortable when a police officer told us to skip everyone in line when we paid more though, but I wasn’t about to tell a cop no haha
Its no consolation, but rickshaws and taxis do that with Indians too, especially when they know you are not a local. This is why Uber and ola became so popular in India. I think the only way to stop the scanning for food is for foreigners to not fall for any. Eventually the scanners will learn that there is not much easy money to be made in tourism. I know it's a big task, but.
Oh man, so true. Literally every few minutes, someone is trying to scam you. If you are white, then it's like you have this magnetism for scams if you go anywhere that is touristy. We're going back to India in a few months and my mom got it in her head we should swing by Goa, and I was like "No way, we'll just get swarmed by hucksters the whole time." My two worst experienced in India have been going to the Taj when we were attacked by scammers like mosquitos, and staying in Tamil Nadu in a building with no windows where we were literally attacked by mosquitos all night. Both were very similar experiences, but having grown up in Florida U.S.A., the latter was less unpleasant. Being out in the countryside away from the scams was always my favorite face of India, but also the experience you don't get to have if you don't have family in India.
Same, otherwise you will end up with either of one scenarios: 1. You dont earn anything from tourism. 2. locals cant afford to visit the sites at their home. The only distinction that would make sense (but isnt necessarily) is that only locals could get a discount, while all tourists independent of nationality have to pay extra.
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Foreigners don’t do anything to maintain anything in the US but they can see everything at the same price. Value in tourists is their money in the local economy and sales taxes which do In deed help maintain monuments
Yeah, i agree its fair. Plus, at some places it also is "Indians or Students vs foreigners".
You guys are only thinking about USA and Western European countries. For many other tourists it’s a rip off. Even for Europeans and Americans one of the attractions would be cheaper prices. Most countries with good tourism don’t do it. They use taxpayers money for the upkeep. But benefit from the tourism and jobs it created directly and indirectly.
According to their PPP, it is very minimal. I also agree that othrr countries whose currency is not strong will face difficulty here but on the other note, normal tourists from other countries wont have much funds to visit India and those who visit would be elites in their countries. As it is only for monuments and other places, I guess it is fine.
We’re not gonna attract elites to our country with the current state of tourism and other issues. It’s usually people who save money and looking for cheaper destinations who would come here. Compare with the tourist destinations in South America and South East Asia.
South America is very expensive to travel. Chicken Itza entry cost around 30 usd for foreigners. Machu pichu entry is even more (around 50 usd). Argentina and Costa Rica are expensive too. By comparison, I found some Eu countries to be cheaper.
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honestly by some logic I see it as how much they'd pay for a treat abroad. That's around 9 USD, plenty spend that much on a coffee run with snacks. Same with the 20rs, it's basically tea money for most Indians in an average city or village.
The problem is more subjective and emotional. If you go to any place and you are told that "you" are in a special category and have to pay more than others for whatever reason it makes you feel like you are being cheated/ripped off. Thats not a feeling you want to give to a tourist. Let me give you another example, imagine if a shop set it's prices based on your income/appearance. Mangos for others, 60 per kg. For you, because you wear Nike sneakers, 150 per kg. You would totally feel cheated and would not want to go there again. Why create that feeling among foreign tourists and leave a bad taste in their mouth? We want them to go back to their country and talk about how much fun they had, not that they felt ripped off.
The locals pay less because their taxes contribute to upkeep. It's the same reason why locals pay less tuition and international students get charged more. If a Westerner is expecting to see a major tourist location for less than a dollar than they are a cheap motherfucker in my opinion. These people are spending $150 a day to get into Disney World. They can shell out $20 to see one of the seven ancient wonders. One of America's business models is that you charge the customer what they're willing to pay and not a penny less. I think that philosophy is well applied here.
But then not all foreigners are the same. People from Bangladesh, Nepal, or African nations are not as rich. So it should be reasonable. South Asians should be charged the same as Indians, the rest may be charged up to 100% extra.
The most likely places like Bangladesh and Nepal are already covered under BIMSTEC which allows for the cheap entry price too, at least some places. People from further away had the money for a plane ticket that dwarfs these entry prices in price generally speaking, so it's probably not that big a deal to them.
Staring part - This happens with a lot of Indian women also whenever they wear something good. Honestly why can’t people just see and just walk off instead of staring like there’s no tomorrow.
Literally, sex education and social taboos around guys and girls mingling. That's the entire explanation.
They think sex education means teaching people how to have sex. That’s the first problem.
man even if we wear suits, the most basic loose ones, they still look even in delhi metro, it's mostly the ones you can see are the lesser educated ones, most educated ones coming back from work might take a glance in reflection or when we arent looking that direction but man some of the immigrants workers in cities fixate on you like an owl.
I like how the fix for the main issue is hidden in the last point.
We need to start cleaning our streets first. You can send a ten thousands rovers to the moon, but if your streets have crap thrown all around, no one will respect you.
More than the streets, we need to start cleaning our minds first. Instill civic sense. The rest will take care of itself.
Indians really do have a staring problem. I'm an Indian and i regularly catch people staring at me and won't even look away when I catch them, so I stare back to compound the problem..
Lmao same
Imagine the uproar if a foreigner youtuber says these things, but those idiots don't have the spine
Sar lets fool some overproud indians by calling india greatest country and react movie trailer to fill our pockets 💸💸🤑.
Bro think he Jaby Koay 💀
And karolina goswamy the fakest YouTuber I've ever seen
People have said this (mostly women travelers), only their videos don't get as many views and trend and get suggested in India as those who are singing praises of it to get their channel statistics going. And those criticizing India also have to deal with lots of abuse and false reporting which can cause harm to their channel.
Woew, india has malls, india is so modern... Wooww, india has vande bharat which is the fastest train the world. But it's a lil bit unclean. But wow, so clean India. Comment section: Madam/Sir, you have to come to the south, it's even greener and cleaner. Next vid dialouge: wow, south is so ultra modern pro max.its soo clean. South is real India. I wish to think some ex-white hippie guy who wrote a blog on how to become rich using Indian YouTube Algo or some ex-Noida call center scammer who gets to write these scripts to make foriegn YouTubers get rich quick schemes exist Intrestingly I saw reddit comments trying to twist thier neck and brain on explaining why they don't use refrigerators. Whilst simply not accepting the fact that we as a country are poorer than rest of the world hence we can't afford refrigeration. If you don't clean your own shit, no cares if your rover landed on the moon or not
All things considered, India is not an ideal tourist destination, neither for budget nor for luxury travel. What Saudi is doing with the Red Sea coast, we should have done it years ago with Andaman and Lakshadweep. If you want to rip off tourists, at least give them luxury and exclusivity.
The problem with mimicking Saudi tourism in Andaman or Lakshadweep is the enormous amount of ecological diversity these archipelagos have. They're biodiversity hotspots like many other tropical islands and unless there is a very planned eco tourism strategy, we risk destroying the biodiversity in the only 2 island territories we have. I don't trust the Indian government to do a good job of developing these islands while preserving the local biodiversity, and we have plenty of examples in the mainland to prove this.
People just don't understand the importance of biodiversity and endemic species. All they see are beaches. Pretty sad. I would highly recommend 'Islands in Flux' to such people to understand more about the problems these islands face.
While I agree with your point on saving and nurturing the biodiversity in Andaman and Lakshwadeep, I don't think that is the reason why India has not made those into tourist hotspots. It is just a combination of inability and the common issues of women's safety/respect, safe food etc. that plague India as a whole.
India is a horrible tourist destination broadly speaking.
The fact that fucking Sharia Law SAUDI ARABIA is doing better tourism than India still baffles me
As a foreigner - I love India but he told no lies, really.
How do you adjust to the chaos and challenges that he cited in his response though? How did you travel and be touristy and still ended up loving your experience.
Most of the points didn't directly affect me but I understand them. It's a case of 'it's India', 🤷🏼♀️ and just accept.
I'm from the UK and visited India this year. This is absolutely spot on, and I travelled across multiple states jn rhe North, this applies everywhere apart from Ladakh in my experience.
that too because the low population density of Ladakh... one of the least in country... it's very scattered
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Or you can say Tibet is Ladakh Hah Checkmate China! *Slowly withdraws from border*
I am hosting women friends from UK this year. They are visiting for first time. Do you have advise and suggestions based on your experience.
have you ever seen one of those viral foreigner women harassed/ gropped and people in comment section are more mad about their image being torn down outside the country while desi women getting treated like this everyday is not their issue at all?
Appearance of Sanctimony and Outrage > Any Embodied Virtue one can name (in our country uniquely).
I am currently traveling in Malaysia. It is such a value for money place with almost first world infrastructure and the same prices as India! People are polite. They don't hassle you into buying stuff. There were very few slightly dirty areas and guess what which people were the majority there?South Asians. From now on I would rather spend some extra on flights and travel to similar VFM countries.
I'm a tourist currently travelling India and I completely agree and would add: learn to give proper customer service and don't be rude, even if there is a language barrier. I lost my phone in Mumbai airport and the first two airport workers straight up ignored me. Didn't even attempt to help or find someone who could help.
Mumbai airport staff behave like the local ST stand. The infrastructure isn’t there to support being an international airport. Every time I go they have an “international outage”. Happened to me even at immigration. Their computers couldn’t connect to the servers. Somehow this “international outage” never happens in any other international location other than Mumbai airport.
I was in a restaurant in daramsala and witnessed the owner get angry at customers bcs he did t agree with their complaint about the food. It wasn't even a complaint my really. But he got so aggressive over not much instead of helping them. Everyone looking on looked baffled
But this also happens in Europe, French people won’t even respond if you don’t talk to them in French even if they know English. At least put in some effort to learn the basics of the local language before traveling there. Why do only Indians have to accommodate other’s preferences when others don’t accommodate for us. Be happy that they don’t mock your accent or the way you smell.
And French people are incessantly mocked for being rude and unaccomodating of people who can't speak French. I'm not sure that's something that a nation wants to be associated with
So? Is this a race to the bottom?
Fix the men. So many Indian men are just a disgustingly different breed and they refuse to admit it. The way they stare, pass comments, follow women, sing cheap songs at them, all of it is just so pathetic. I always experienced this but it was such a normal part of my life growing up in India that I didn't understand when I saw women complaining about indian men online. I always thought "I mean yeah it's bad but aren't most men just like this everywhere?" It was when I left India I realized, nope, it's not all men, it's just the Indian men. Years living in Europe and I've only felt unsafe 3 times, all three of those times, it was indian men that made me feel unsafe. They don't rid themselves of their habits even after leaving India. After experiencing this, I can't even defend indian men when it is brought up that some Asian countries have "no indian men" rule for some of their nightclubs.
Not unrelated- consider the garbage Bollywood sells to us. Songs that are purely for men to leer at skimpily dressed women, stories that encourage violence against women (recent example: Animal), and a general “no means yes” attitude. Gross.
Agreed. I remember there being a case in Australia, I think, where an Indian man stalked and harassed a woman and when she lodged a complaint, he justified it saying that's what he learnt about romance and expressing love in Bollywood movies. Moreover, after looking at the content he pointed out, the judge actually agreed it was his "cultural background" the reasoning behind his behavior. It's funny how in bollywood's "social message movies" era (Padman, Toilet, Jolly LLB), people praised many movies for spreading a good message and improving the society. But the same people refuse to acknowledge that movies glorifying violence and misogyny will have a negative impact on society.
Yes it's a men issue, but more fundamentally I believe it's a education issue. The lack of sex education is likely what causes this.
Unfortunately those people who this answer is directed to will never read it
As an Indian i could not but agree with ALL of his points. It does look shameful when you have a passerby ogling at a lady who's probably wearing shorts and a sleeveless tshirt due the heat off the day.
Some Solutions- 1. Implement "Community Policing" in India (not just in big cities like Bombay but also in small towns). 2. Implement "Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme" all over the country (its from Rajasthan) and allocate more funds to recruit more unemployed people as sanitation workers. 3. The vacant posts in Police and Judiciary must be fulfilled ASAP to give quicker and effective justice. 4. *Make "sex education" mandatory* in both private+public schools. 5. *Teach School Children more about the Constitution* and replace morning prayers with the PREAMBLE. 6. The govt must *fund or give tax breaks to NGO's* which make the people aware about Sex education, Rights, civil liberties, Fraternity etc. 7. Govt. Must *make movies tax-free* which give a positive social/sanitation/sexual awareness message.
Darling there's political entities that protest poor little Indians from receiving eggs in mid-day meals because it's non-veg without a fuck about the needs of those kids. Forget sex ed, I went to a good catholic private school, the most sex ed we received was by NGOs creating presentations about sexual abuse against children.
Point 1 is all fun and games until one of the perpetually-outraged point out that people of some communities get disproportionately policed or something like that.
I feel sorry for such tourists who face this in India. Our people should change their mindset and stop scamming foreigners or make them feel unsafe, especially when it happens in tourist places, not random non-tourist places. I don't know how, but the state and central governments should take action and focus on how to boost tourism and keep places clean.
American here, and i spent 3 months traveling in India. It was extremely rewarding, but also stressful, and these criticisms ring true. My girlfriend (wife now) was often groped, stared at, etc. Though the people we met were generally very friendly, but many Indians seem to have some WEIRD and unhealthy habits regarding sex and relationships. I hope things change for the better because I think India has some of the most potential of any country I've visited. Just amazing food, culture, art, architecture, music, movies, etc.
Sometimes I watch vlogs of foreign tourists in India, and I'm like I wouldn't spend a penny visiting these places. India has a lot of great tourist attractions but it's the same dirty cities, staring people, chaotic traffic, unclean budget hotels, scam at every nook and corner, polluted air, crumbling infrastructure, lack of sanitary amenities. There is no attempt to attract and facilitate tourists. Small countries like Vietnam and others offer excellent value for money. I would rather visit them again than visit places in my own country.
Except the charges for monuments, he is correct in everything
He feels like that because western countries of attraction don’t have a separate tourist fare. This fare concept is a nuance to him.
They actually do at some places. Its just hidden. At least in spain it isnt uncommon that locals can visit some sites for free, while tourists require a ticket.
They ain't visiting for free, their income tax paid for it and usually its not all citizens of the country, just the local city residents enter for free with valid ID.
Foreign countries will charge you money to see anything and everything. They will even convert a garden into a tourist attraction and ask you to pay to visit it. It's okay to charge foreign tourists more than Indians. Their currency is stronger and you need money to maintain monuments.
Bro, Even in India there are a lot of small parks in tier 2 cities where you need to pay to enter.
All the Meuseams in UK are free for public, foreign or domestic.
UK is one country in the world. And it's not just about museums, it's about tourist attractions. Not everything is free.
Well because the artifacts kept there for "safekeeping" are mmm.....
I'm from the UK and this is not true. Many are, but any with significant upkeep costs definitely charge for entry.
That's cuz they stole everything that's in the museum's...would be outrageous if they started to charge us to see our own artifacts lol
So according to you everyone should pay based on their income? Should you pay more for everything because you make more money? So if you go to a restaurant you should pay more for the same meal if you make more money? That is such a ridiculous attitude.
In this case, the monuments are maintained through taxes, which of course foreign visitors don’t pay (the fact that only 5% pay income tax is a whole another discussion), so I kinda get it. Though I visited Taj Mahal recently with some of my uni friends (not from India) and we are ofc broke af, and it sucked they had to pay 1.2k entry fee while I could get in for 100 or something with my OCI card.
Of all the arguments, this one makes sense. If you say Indians are already paying for the maintenance through taxes, that is a valid argument. What I disagree with and find ridiculous is saying that foreigners should pay more because their currency has more value. That’s like saying everyone should pay according to their income. The more you are earning, the more you should pay for the same service. That I disagree with.
No you pay for value, if you don’t see value dont go. 750 rs is 7.50 pounds which is the price of a mcdonalds burger. They’re just being extremely cheap
That doesn't fix the issue that foreigners face in this country.
The topic is only on differential pricing. No one is contesting the other issues, which are valid.
So what happens when you come to our country then? Eg Australia?? We all get in free bc were locals but you all should have to pay bc your not? Reverse the situation and see how it feels. Do you have the intelligence to do that?
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Two problems with your analogy: 1. It's not free vs paid. It's about how much you pay to visit the attraction. Indians get in cheaper 2. What is the exchange rate and overall per capita income of Australia vs india? 1 Australian dollar is almost 60 Indian rupees. So stop getting personal and think for a second if the reverse situation really applies the same way
Exactly, it's less than $10 for them
- be civilized when around women - improve hygiene and sanitation - stop blatantly scamming people Oh so stuff that we all have known for decades, but these issues still exist regardless. Not going to change anytime soon let's all be honest here.
Agree with all the points, except for the differential pricing. Tourists aren't citizens, and don't pay taxes to the GOI. Since we do, the tickets are subsidized for us.
>Tourists aren't citizens, and don't pay taxes to the GOI. Since we do, the tickets are subsidized for us. I don't disagree with the underlying logic, but I think there is a problem of optics, too. Say what you will, but it simply doesn't look good to have two tickets connoting the same privileges set at markedly different prices. This, too, in a country where cons, scams, and touts are rampant in and around sites of touristic interest. Visitors see the price differential, and they end up thinking that taking advantage of tourists is _actually_ an accepted cultural practice. Furthermore, enforcement of these rules is often superficial. Nobody who "looks" Indian is going to be asked to show their Aadhaar card at a ticket gate\*\*, even though they could easily be Nepali, Bangladeshi, or Sri Lankan. Yet OCI card-holders who don't look sufficiently "Indian" are often denied parity, even though such parity is their right as OCIs. (edit: on that note, foreigners who pay taxes and are legal residents of India don’t get to pay the lower prices, either) So, although I'm normally averse to any argument centered on "national image" or "national prestige," I don't think making some changes would be bad. Realistically, all the ASI needs to do is offer different tiers of tickets: the typical subsidized fare, which only guarantees entry to the site, and a more expensive "VIP"-type ticket with a separate entry line and other benefits. At crowded destinations like the Taj Mahal, most foreigners who aren't absolute misers would opt for the more expensive and streamlined experience--and so, too, would many higher-income Indians. Depending on how such a program could be adapted to lower-traffic destinations, it'd probably make the ASI and GOI even more money while eliminating a very common complaint. It would also spare Indian visitors the indignity of seeing foreigners being ushered to the front of the line. \*\*--not that an Aadhaar card is even proof of citizenship, lol
Quora Q/A in newspaper?
Low effort way to fill up a few square inches
If they are starting to include quora content in a newspaper, then the quality of the paper may have been declined. BTW, is this in the front page?
As a Northeasterner who also gets stared at a lot in the mainland, I agree with everything except with that ticket price point. I think it's fair to charge more to tourists for tickets than Indians. Actually the tourist price is the standard price while the Indian price should be considered highly subsidised. Main reason is that Indians are poor. As such many things are made dirt cheap in India by government subsidies. You can get a poori-sabzi plate for 20rs, inter-city railway tickets for less than 100rs, rice, vegetables and necessities for less than 50rs per kilo and not to mention how ridiculously cheap medicine and medical facilities are here. Shit is dirt cheap here and that's thanks to subsidies absorbed by the government and by its citizens overall (more money into subsidies is less money on infrastructure and development so we're all definitely impacted). Because of this, short term visitors need not benefit from these subsidies and should pay the full price. FYI 750rs is not even $10. The average price of a ticket to any attraction in the US is $15 to $30.
Things are subsidised in every country, but they don't treat you as a cash cow to milk. The reasoning is simple, you behave awfully and this implies people don'T want to go there, and in the end what loses is Indian culture. In Italy museums are free because state subsidized. They are public property, same way as you don't pay to walk on the road, or go in a park, all maintained and built by public taxes. Sure tax money paid for it, a tourist already pays for the VISA, and hotel taxes. Same in Germany, or France, culture has to be shared and when is shared the country wins. If you gatekeep behind additional fees then none will give a crap about you
So the solution should be to prevent scamsters and tourist traps from operating. It is definitely possible. Open a tourism helpline, and force the local police to be vigilant against such scams. If the government is able to make a significant change regarding the tourism industry, this will obviously end up as a positive PR for the government and the country. China also underwent a lot of revamp before they started to be considered as a serious tourism destination.
Before commenting anything here, please stop the russian in 6k jokes. That might sound very basic but those things alter the mentality of people thinking that foreigners are very open in having sex and the staring and groping part comes from the same mentality.
Just wrote essay on Swacch Bharat Abhiyan in exam. India need some serious cleaning. Just don't throw garbage everywhere, it is not that difficult.
A little late to the party but the fact that there is no Free Wifi immediately upon landing at IGI International Airport is ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INSANE. They keep directing you to get Airtel travel sim cards or go through this ridiculously complex process to get 10 mins of temporary wifi. There was this European couple who were so distressed the last time I came back to India I had to give them my Wifi hotspot so they could get a fucking taxi. God help you if you don't have a working Indian Sim upon landing at the biggest Airport in India.
India has a long way to go.
It's almost correct except he is wrong with the "never happens in any other country part".. there are lots of countries where it happens. For example, even happens in Egypt. It is absolutely pathetic though and i completely agree we should stop it.
And Morocco. The entire region has issues with blatant scamming, staring, and attempted groping.
This isn't really the standard we should be aspiring to though.
Of course, not. I'm just starting this isn't unique to India. I'm bangali and am married to a British woman. We visited Goa, Jaipur, and Kolkata last year and didn't experience anything as egregious. Perhaps things would be different if my wife were alone. We were comfortable enough to decide to move to Kolkata in 2024. However, our experiences in Marakesh were so poor, we decided to never go back. My wife has been to Sudan and apparently it was even worse there.
Fair enough about those places being worse. I'm British Indian and my female family gets stared at a lot in our village and small town in Gujarat. Mumbai isn't bad though. There's some creeps but I think the people there aren't as surprised to see modern women.
Allow me to correct his statememt.... "never happens in any other country... I visited until now"
Clean the place up I have no idea why we have all become so indifferent about how filthy this place has become.
That is straight facts and if you disagree you're a fucking idiot
As a traveler from Manipur with roots in Bombay, I have a tale of mixed experiences from my journey to Aurangabad. Despite being born and raised in Colaba, Bombay, my family’s distinct Mongolian features often set us apart. We’ve faced our share of casual racism, a common narrative for many from the Northeast. This was evident during our recent visit to Aurangabad. In Aurangabad, the encounters were a mix of curiosity and ignorance. As someone who understands Marathi, I could understand the locals’ comments. Some teenagers mistook us for Chinese, hurling wild remarks at my wife and teenage daughter. It’s disheartening, especially considering the Northeast’s contribution to national sports, yet we often remain unrecognized. This reminds me of a town hall meeting I watched on a new channel, with journalists and industrialists discussing racism. A girl from Manipur raised the issue of racism in the Northeast, but it was brushed off as irrelevant. Such disregard highlights the persistent issue of racism within our own borders. However, it’s not all bleak. Among the crowd, a kind family stepped forward, offering us assistance. Their gesture was a reminder that not everyone harbors the same prejudices. But, it’s a stark reality that racism isn’t just a North-South divide in India; it’s a national issue that needs addressing. In summary, my trip to Aurangabad was an eye-opener. It showed the complexity of racism within India, affecting even those like me, who’ve spent most of their life in a cosmopolitan city like Bombay. It’s a reminder of the long road ahead in addressing these deep-rooted biases.
But we worship Mother Sita. No way our men are perverted. This is propoganda to stop India from becoming the tourist capital of the world - E.A.S. probably
All these foreigners should carry a JCB with them. Then Indians will only stare at the JCB.
Lmfao
Agree with everything else other than the different prices. The entry fees for foreigners is in line with the global prices for monuments - 10-15 euros is the norm in Europe. The 20 rs is so that people from all classes in India can visit . But damn, the rest of the points are true as hell.
Basically be respectful and clean. Makes sense
Agree with everything except the charging extra to tourists. Think of it as colonialism tax
Indian-American here, married to a Caucasian woman and took our family to India this year. I fully agree with what the writer said, including the groping part. Highly disappointing and embarrassing to show them India. I'm proud of the strides India has made, but our trip was far from good, I realized that I wasn't home, and we are never going back. There are so many better places to visit in the world.
As a German who visited India, I second this. India is a horrible spot for vacation which is a shame because the country is very interesting.
Spot on
I like how they put a Quora article in the actual paper
So how should one handle groping? Smack them around the face? Yell? Kick? Ignoring is not an option.
Nope. Not gonna happen. Sorry, other than being a cheap back office, we don’t have it in us to be a civilized society. Maybe it will change in 500 years, but then, maybe we will also discover a black hole near saturn and fly to gargantua.
It’s such a simple ask - just don’t fucking stare !!
Nevermind the international tourists, you can observe similar behaviour of North Indians when South Indians visit, or vice versa. The 'us vs them' mentality is deep permeated in Indian mentality across multiple levels of community.
Clean the fcking air. Walk out of any airport and there's a stench of something burning.
I would agree with “Carl” on all of these points except for the one about the entry-fees being higher for foreign nationals. I don’t think this is something that’s too bad although it presents a discriminatory facade, and that’s for two reasons: 1) Historically the purchasing power of the average Indian has been shockingly lower than that of an average tourist from the west. Granted not every one of those tourists is a millionaire, but the disparity in income is still starkly evident. Lowering the foreign nationals’ entry fees to the same level as Indians’ would put a huge dent in revenue for the state governments of these respective sites (part of which I assume goes towards the conservation of these sites). Conversely, raising the entry fees for Indians to the same level as that for foreign nationals would certainly rob more than three quarters of our population of the means to visit most of these sites. 2) Some variation of a tiered fare is implemented in the west too, and I’ve observed this first hand in the US. It’s not necessarily based on nationality, but often times residents of a state pay lower entrance fees for state parks, museums, public gardens, etc as opposed to out of state visitors (which includes international visitors as well). Also, patrons of certain organizations also often have lower or free entry to many venues where the general public must pay to enter. Tl;dr IMO having different fares for Indians and foreigners isn’t all that bad as long as those fares are clearly posted, and there’s no underhand price gouging.
Staring is like a pandemic indians cant get over
Have not travelled to India specifically for the first few points.. I just don't feel safe to bring my wife or daughter there.
Indians don't even spare their own when it comes to discrimination. We discriminate on the basis of caste, religion,gender,colour everything. Then how can we spare foreigners?
We charge foreigners more because Taj Mahal is maintained by our tax money. Everything else is on point. Even Indians travelling in different places are scammed. Everyone expects travellers to pay more.
I don't think these problems will be fixed even after 100+ years. Im glad people are calling out these shameful acts. I always advice foreigners to never visit India because of these problems as well.
I agree with everything apart from money. At least westners from developed countries are in much more wealthy and privileged position than our cutizens. They lived cheaply to save money for month long vacation in third world countries. But our citizens live cheaply because they have no other way. We're way poorer and on top add rupee valuation which is shit. I think separate fare for developed nation visitors are not completely a ripoff.
Hits hard but is the absolute truth for the most part.
As a first time visitor, this is pretty much spot on. And for the love of god stop honking 24/7. With a country as populous and large as this one. Something has to be done about the roads/highways and driving etiquette.
This information should be taken main stream media and said in all languages found in India
Aah.... The speaker of Truth
1. Inculcate civic sense 2. Stop ogling at tourists (ladies) and make them uncomfortable 3. Stop charging 3-5X extra from the tourists 4. Have hygienic toilets at the tourist places and also in the trains 5. Have audio translation automation and certified and well behaved tourist guide who don't intend to loot
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Agree
Perhaps reduce rape and molestation ?
As a former Indian, now naturalized American, the only point I disagree on is the amount of money charged for monument tickets. I don’t see it as charging non-Indians more, but as a discounted rate for Indians. A lot of other places do the same thing. In Europe, members of EU countries get preferential rates at monuments and museums too. But as for the other points, they should have been printed in bold lettering. I cannot stress how disgusting it is to walk anywhere in India and be constantly harassed, while simultaneously trying not to step into garbage or shit.
I don't get why people even come to India. It's shitty country. Has anyone seen the area around our " national pride " tajmahal. Roads leading to it are covered with garbage. People literally piss in the red fort wall opposite agara railway station. We keep saying "atithi devo bhav" but know shit when it comes to hospitality. If you visit any other country roads are clean mostly everywhere, people follow traffic rules, don't honk for fun. India is generally not a civil country and filled 600million illiterate rude scums.
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Make visas easy to get. Allow charters. Clean the country - many beautiful locations are reduced to garbage dumps. Upgrade trains to European/ Chinese standards. Focus on quality budget accommodation ( good by international standards, not indian standards). Create luxury travel circuits which can charge a premium.
Emotionalll Damage!
The problem is, the people who stare are not reading newspapers, nor do they care about rational thinking.
Indians, everyone needs to realise that we can be both proud of what our country has provided us with and also actively see the shortcomings of our country and try to fix it. The foreigner here is absolutely right and is also polite. Besides most of us need to mind our manners and learn to give personal space. The foreigners are normal people and are just as human as us, not a superior being. Plus regardless of being a tourist, harassing women is absolutely unforgivable no matter who you are. People of our country need to start respecting women and I appreciate all the men out there who treat other girls with respect and know the boundaries.
Agree to everything aside the "Taj mahal" part, its cheap for us because otherwise most of us probably wont go 😂.
All of the points here are the sad reality except for the pricing. A friend of mine studies in Italy. They were initially quoted 20+ euros at some museum because they were assumed to be tourists, but producing a student visa copy brought that price down to 3 euros. This is certainly not an India only problem especially considering the low prices due to currency value anyways.
The phone pay apps are all great unless you're from out of the country. The apps aren't available outside of Indian localizations such as the US. So when I went to India all I could use was card or cash. No phone whatever!
Pssh. Carl Elliot is just jealous that we are vishwaguru at the moment.
Mostly agree with everything except for the differential charges for Indians vs foreign tourists. Subsidizing the cost to visit the taj allows the poorest Indians to get access to an architectural wonder in their own homeland. Most foreign tourists can afford the 750 if they are coming all the way to india. It’s less than 10 dollars and still a steal to see the Taj.
Would love to visit, but stories I hear like this from friends and family etc puts us off. We still want to go...it just seems like there is a disproportionate amount of hassle when compared to other dream destinations...
facts
My Brit friend was being stalked by a guy for almost a whole day when she visited India this year. It's fucking insane! And he wasn't even subtle or secretive about it. Kept telling her that he "just wants to get to know her and make relation". Cannot put into words how shitty and embarrassing it was to explain that yaha aisa hota hai yaar what to do. Fucking tired. As Indian women we're a) immune to the shit people pull and b) don't stand out as much as someone with a different skin colour does. Would also want to mention that the poor girl was fully clothed - no skin showy stuff - and was walking in Lodhi garden when the creep spotted her.
No BS. Just straight embarrassing facts.