Team-BHP - Are Indian tourists terrible? Or simply misunderstood?

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Originally Posted by mayankk (Post 4638200)

Indian tourists can be best judged from what they do at and to Indian destinations. The himalayan destinations filled with lays wrappers and bisleri bottles are tell tale signs. I once saw a couple of french folks walking past a Tempo Traveler which had a family from the plains. The women and the kids had thrown out wrappers and bottles from the windows forming a sort of perimeter around the van. These two "tourists" picked up these 5-6 pieces of garbage and deposited it in a huge trashbox that was not 10 meters from the bus.

Oh yeah! Reminds me of my visit to Elephanta caves a couple of years ago.
On the Boat there were some foreigners who were diligently putting back every plastic wrapper (from the Lays) and bottle (Mineral water) they have back in their bags. Whereas us Indians we were merrily disposing all the plastic back into the sea!!

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Originally Posted by vibbs (Post 4638317)

On the hike to Tirumala from Tirupathi, the walkway has literally hundreds of dustbins, at a rate of one every 10 metres. Inspite of this, people threw trash every where on the path. I once saw a kid eating some snacks and throwing the packets all over the road while his parents were walking behind him. And they weren't even bothering to correct him. I pointed him to the dustbins present every 10 metres and he ignored me :Frustrati .

clap: Found some europeans being obnoxious in Bali.

https://www.asiaone.com/asia/tourist...er-bali-temple

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In the offending video, Dolezalova and Zdenek Slouka, also a fitness model, can be seen hugging and laughing on temple grounds. Dolezalova then bends over and hikes up her skirt as Slouka splashes water from the temple's fountain on her backside.

https://youtu.be/wvhJl_FTWZM

Though I think this behavior is beyond rude, especially since they were aware of the significance of the place.

I think Indians generally don't hurt religious sentiments for the taboo it holds in our country.

-Slick

One thing I've noticed with Indians (and let's not get wound up over this as regions, languages and land are mere illusory divisions), is the fact that whatever state they may come from, they assume that, that state pretty much defines the country and the world at large.. this is most often found in people who do not travel much. Examples can be the north portion of the countrymen being excessively "north" in the south region, vice versa and same with east or west. Now these actions may not seem too abnormal within the boundaries of the country, but they repeat the same mistake abroad (many have been shot in the U.S for doing that).

Indians have over-excessive, almost absurd love for their country.. they can't stand that people elsewhere have no idea of bollywood, or cricket or "masaledar" khana. Be it belting regional movie songs, talking in Indian slang, or simply acting their boorish best as described above by others, i.e cutting people off, jumping queues, talking loudly, buffet binging, carrying towels, t.v remotes, local condiments, spoons, bathrobes etc right out the hotel during checkout, etc, Indians do it all, though today with global awareness and increased education/exposure, it is far less than before.

For the week I was there, I felt at home in New York, though chaotic and overpopulated, it was all well controlled and also while being colorful and multi-ethnic, the way it all blended in smoothly reminds one of M&Ms, different colors same taste. The cultural mix in India is more like Hajmola candy, explosion of bitterness, sweetness and spice all at once - quite self explanatory, though there is some magic in it, sometimes.

P.S - I'm a countryman, and I can call no place else as home. Happy "Independence" Day, on a coincidental note.

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Originally Posted by dark.knight (Post 4638665)

Indians have over-excessive, almost absurd love for their country..

Absolutely, and social media serves to amplify this as seen on twitter for example in hysterical responses to critical tweets - either in humour, or fully sincere - on any prominent Indian: for example, our celebrities.

One hopes this rampant nationalism is a passing phase as more Indians get more secure about themselves and their place in the world at large. Unchecked muscular nationalism can only end in tears.

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Originally Posted by dark.knight (Post 4638665)

Indians ...... assume that, that state pretty much defines the country and the world at large..

That is because we have our castes, our religions, our villages, our districts, our states and within the country we constantly define ourselves in terms of the "other". As we move from the well to the pond to the river to the ocean we start feeling "brotherly" towards the fellow beings on the previous strata.

If they are in a sea of other races, Indians and Pakistanis also become best of mates. :)

Indians are the most selfish people on Earth, and this manifests when we travel. Specially when in a large bunch, ganging-up and living a hive life.

Some recent examples:

1. Leave the buffet food tray covers open, post taking food and/or inspecting the food. Result: Food is cold.
2. Take your child's pram (with child) and inspect the buffet. Result: people cannot see what is being served.
3. Hog the child high seats, children are not seated in them, running amock. Result: People who genuinely need a high seat, wait or manage their child in person.
4. Be awake till 3:00 AM singing Antakshri, and being disruptive to neighboring hotel rooms. Result: People are groggy, after paying for a stay.

All this has nothing to do with living with 1B and being born into a rat race. As humans we can quite well understand a compact Mumbai local vs. a plush 5* star hotel dining room. But we refuse to. Geocentric. Worse group of people to meet on a trip are Indians. They ruin everything in no time. Be it business class or a road side dhaba.

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Originally Posted by vibbs (Post 4638317)

The same thing happened to me a few years ago. I had friends from North America visiting, and I took them to Elephanta. We are on the boat waiting to return back to Apollo Bunder, and a middle aged guy in front of us threw his empty can of cola into the sea. We all saw it, then saw each other, and I made a loud general comment about cleanliness without looking at the man, who obviously realized I was talking about him (not that he cared or apologized).

Not that I expect litterers to show any sense of shame, simply because I believe basic etiquette is simply not taught by parents or at schools anymore, maybe because somehow our society has begun to believe that saying please or thank you is a sign of weakness. So most probably don't even know that littering is bad, and this is across economic class or education level or region or religion. Many take this same ignorance abroad as tourists.

The other chemical in this toxic cocktail is new money, which brings with it a sense of entitlement, which I see a lot of urban middle class possess. Again, being polite is seen as a sign of weakness. All of us are aware of the social heirarchies existing in India, and we take that abroad - talking rudely to waiters, drivers, vendors, etc, all those we consider below us on the socio-economic scale back home.

The CEO of Philips Software in Bangalore long ago made an observation which is relevant here. He said Indian kids are micromanaged from their early years, into the teens and then through adulthood also, like for e.g what to study, pressure to top the class, which course to take later, what career to choose and finally whom to marry and even how many children of what gender to have!!!
Their is a phase wherein every human has to rebel. It's through this rebellion that one finds their place in the world and it generally it happens in teens. His take was that, that this rebellion doesn't happen to Indian kids and hence they ride motorcycles on footpaths because at that moment he is wild and free clap:
Our callous disregard to rules and regulations is probably borne from this and is exhibited wherever we go in the world..

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Originally Posted by car love (Post 4653940)

That is a good observation from the CEO. But the conclusion of his analysis is totally off the mark.

He would be right if Indian teenagers were driving, riding on footpaths even when the road was empty (being wild & free). What we find is along with teenagers, middle-aged dads, grandpas, neighbourhood ladies riding on footpath and reason being they do not want to wait on the road for the signal. They are not demonstrating rebellious but indiscipline.

Recently Indian bikers recently have been refused permits into Bhutan. We recently had to cancel our ride given the ambiguity with regard to permits.

The last thing we need is for Indian bikers in Bhutan to create a bad image problem as seems to have happened yesterday, when a rider from Maharashtra, part of a 15 bike convoy, climbed on top of a chorten.

https://indianexpress.com/article/in...hutan-6075446/

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Originally Posted by rakesh_r (Post 4676847)

An Indian tourist was detained by the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) for standing on the National Memorial Chorten in Dolucha.
https://indianexpress.com/article/in...hutan-6075446/

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Originally Posted by Red Liner (Post 4676855)

All over Instagram. This guy should spend a few days behind bars there to make this an event to remember.

Well I think there should be some initiative by the government to inculcate the need to understand local sentiments and act accordingly to our countrymen. We are the first to protest at the slightest evidence of any hurt to our sentiments. It is ironic that we just cant seem to understand that our actions too could hurt the sentiments of others specially if we were in a foriegn country.

I visited Bali a month back. On our trip to Turtle farm we realised that the relatively quite environs suddenly transformed into a loud macchi market sort of place. Needless to say this was due to arrival of 2 boat loads of tourists from our country who suddenly thought shouting hello, hey, yayyy, etc was uber cool. Much to the annoyance of others around them.

Edit: My 1000th post BTW (didnt want it to be a rant) :Frustrati