[eclectix 1st]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

The Tatas, they have pride.

Leela Palace too treat desis very very well, in fact I should say better than any other 5***** hotels in Bangalore. This is in spite of being having the highest ARR in the country.
cheers:

[nutmello]

hi al, i was in shanghai four seasons hotel last week. we were really treated like kings.every one were talking very highly about the emerging super power , india. it was finally a nice feeling that makes you very proud to be a indian.so no ill feelings about discrimination in india. outside, we have just arrived!

[straight6]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

no offence meant, but probably violent behavior is one of the reasons for getting discriminated.

If you read my post, you will see that he did that only after we were discriminated. Why would he threaten for no reason?

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

I am a white from the U.S. and I did not ask for this. Other Indians have treated me with great deference to my face and then have tried mightily to cheat me and steal every rupee they can from me; "

If you never know what attitude you are going to get from a white person then I have to tell you that it has been my experience that I never know what an Indian has in mind when we first meet.

I can add to what Dan has said. It is not easy being a foreigner in India, visiting or permanent.
I have had fights my whole life. I don't look like a typical Indian and am often mistaken for a tourist.

I can promise you one thing. Every paperwallah, taxiwallah, bead selling gypsy and shopkeeper quotes twice the amount to a white tourist than an Indian. Here is a typical sales conversation they would have with a firang

I give you very special price, you my friend saala bandar!
What you want to buy teri maa ki!

I am serious. And I have had many fights when I reply back with the choicest of words in Hindi.

So let's get this straight. As a firang you get treated with great deference, but it is superficial as most are all trying to cheat you. The general public naturally assumes you are both rich and stupid so they try to get the best out of you.
Even the Government decides the same, albeit legally, so the firang pays 2000 rupees to see the Taj Mahal. So basically you get screwed over everywhere in India, in the shops, in people's homes and on the streets.

NO WAIT, not everywhere in India, the 5 star hotels attend to you FIRST! Lucky firangs!!

[navin]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

That the people who work the hardest, get the least amount of respect in India and those who don't need to work get the most. I don't know why!

I know. Today I went to pick up my son and his friend (a girl). The friend's mom called me and told me that she would send a car to pick us all up.

After my son got home he thanked the driver. I asked the girl (about age 6) to thank the driver and she replied "I dont have to". To which I said "Why?". She said "becuase he's just a driver that's why!" and ran off laughing.

Now this is a 6 year old. I intend to have a chat with her mother when I meet her (the mother next).

My son has been taught to thank everyone and anyone who does anything for him from helping him with his shoes, getting him a glass of water, opening the door, anything. If he does not and I find out...oh he does not want that to happen.

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

I don't look like a typical Indian

Dude, you have trouble fitting in on Mars! What with those orange half pants, tattoos, and long hair about the only places you could fit in would be Haight-Asbury (SFO) or Grenwich Village (NYC).

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by straight6

If you read my post, you will see that he did that only after we were discriminated. Why would he threaten for no reason?

you didn't get the point still, right?

what's the guarantee that he won't get violent for any other reason?

what I meant was, if I suspect a trouble maker, I would do my best to use my "discretion" to keep him out if i was running a business. I don't care if he gets violent because of discrimination, or for any other simple reason like prohibited from smoking.

An I am not saying exactly that happened in ur friend's case, but offensive, voyeuristic, violent and other cheap behavioral aspects can (in theory) lead to the kind of discrimination we are discussing.

[amtak]

Let me ask you as simple question! How many of you actually thank the cabbie/rickshaw driver or for that matter the conductor of the bus or TC in the train etc. I do. I have seen a smile on their face after we thank them. Theirs is a thankless job which often results in some irritating behaviour from their end. Even I have face it but that doesnt mean we stop respecting others.

I have seen people caring for a dog more than a human being!!

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by amtak

Let me ask you as simple question! How many of you actually thank the cabbie/rickshaw driver or for that matter the conductor of the bus or TC in the train etc. I do. I have seen a smile on their face after we thank them. Theirs is a thankless job which often results in some irritating behaviour from their end. Even I have face it but that doesnt mean we stop respecting others.

I do, and quite often as well. That i dont always get a smile back is a different story.

[diabloo]

This is straight out a Munnabhai MBBS Part 1 movie, where Sanju Baba thanks the hospital sweeper !!!

Originally Posted by amtak

Let me ask you as simple question! How many of you
actually thank the cabbie/rickshaw driver or for that matter the conductor of the bus or TC in the train etc. I do. I have seen a smile on their face after we thank them. Theirs is a thankless job which often results in some irritating behaviour from their end. Even I have face it but that doesnt mean we stop respecting others.

I have seen people caring for a dog more than a human being!!

[amtak]

Originally Posted by diabloo

This is straight out a Munnabhai MBBS Part 1 movie, where Sanju Baba thanks the hospital sweeper !!!

I certainly don't give a "jadoo ki jhappi". This is not a movie. I am a teacher's son. Its in my blood to give respect to people be it anyone. For that matter I don't even do a shoo or hatt to the Eunuchs who try to take some money from you at the signals while you are in your car or rick. Just fold your hands in the "namaste" manner and say I am sorry. They would move on and would mostly still bless you.

This is life, give respect, get respect. As the famouse saying goes, don't demand respect, command respect.

[Technocrat]

Amtak: I do thank rickshaw drivers. Over the years I have found that a simple thanks to anyone be it the sweeper, a shopkeeper, maid or anyone brings a smile on that person's face which is really a nice feeling

That i dont always get a smile back is a different story.

This happens mostly but doesnt matter, I thank & smile anyways

[SumitB]

Originally Posted by amtak

I certainly don't give a "jadoo ki jhappi". This is not a movie. I am a teacher's son. Its in my blood to give respect to people be it anyone. For that matter I don't even do a shoo or hatt to the Eunuchs who try to take some money from you at the signals while you are in your car or rick. Just fold your hands in the "namaste" manner and say I am sorry. They would move on and would mostly still bless you.

This is life, give respect, get respect. As the famouse saying goes, don't demand respect, command respect.

Amtak, I have been brought up on similar principals and no, I am not a teacher's son. I have always been taught the importance of a smile and humbleness and I have my father to thank for this.

[shankar.balan]

The so called "Sterling Companies" with their offices in London, right upto the 1970's were repatriating all moneys earned here in India to their country. This while paying the local labourer/ worker/ manager ridiculously low salaries and keeping them in pretty bad conditions.

Lurker is right also about the Christian Light's conversion of the dark heathen etc - Pope John Paul 2 even said quite recently in fact that "there is a great harvest of souls in the east" etc?

India was a perfectly civilised nation before the blighted Mughals and certainly before the Brits. We are often referred to as the Cradle of Civilization.

Its just that we guys have somehow lost the ability to value our fellow men and our country men and even look down upon our own countrymen - how horribly perverse this is!

Originally Posted by lurker

that is because they do not need to. The damage by their forefathers has been more than sufficient to ensure their prosperity for generations.
the initial part of the British rule was about loot and plunder. though that loot continues even today albeit in other forms, but that is besides the point. once they collected enough to significantly raise the standard of living in Britain and give muscle to their armada from the loot accumulated mainly from India and other colonies, (it set the foundation for the modern western infra that folks on this forum swoon upon) they became desperate to justify it morally.

that is where the civlizing part came in and as a result the attention was focussed on the spreading western civilization, the light of Christianity amongst the dark heathens (it is a project that continues till today) etc. how the Aryans invaded, came on horses and spread about replacing dark (and thus naturally evil or so it is implied) natives and other stories. It is primarily that amongst other activities that caused the dissonance that is being discussed here.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by SumitB

Amtak, I have been brought up on similar principals and no, I am not a teacher's son. I have always been taught the importance of a smile and humbleness and I have my father to thank for this.

Yes Sumit. It is our parents whom we look up to. Just the way Navin pointed out the incidence about the lady (little girl) not thanking the driver but his son doing the needful.

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

The Tatas, they have pride.

Off-topic: AFAIK, Jamsetji built the Taj hotel because he was denied entry in a brit managed hotel. No wonder they don't give firangs any special previleges.
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