Hello Claude, coming to Sweden I am used to being on firstt name terms. Anyways, It was a wonderful article. I really liked it very much. May be its true and I agree with NINE of your TEN disappointments. The 10th too I agree but after I came to Sweden, I realised that Indians are nothing when it comes to go on a holiday. Now picture this, the swedes have official holidays of around 2 months every year, that is seven weeks in summer and two weeks during christmas. That leaves only ten monthss for them to work with. In these ten months, they can take their vacation or what we <indians> call casual leave for 30 days, that leaves nine months. In the nine months, there are ample long weekends and half red days, and you can go on leave if your wife is pregnant, and she gets vacations of her own. and this vacation can be upto six months, and one and half year for every child one has, till the time the child becomes 18. Effectually, it means if one has six children, he or she can get paid from the State for ten years without having to work. Hows that for a difference? But hey, congratulations for such a nice article, I really liked reading it.
RE:marvellous
by Ramdas Iyer on Jun 23, 2006 10:32 PM Permalink
cheerio boss for your comments. The way ppl crib abt holidays in India it would seem they work 24/365. What foreigners want is for black Indians to be at their service whatever time they choose to.
This is a really good article.. worth reading. I live in US with a roommate. Whenever we discuss India, I always tell him about these things. Traffic is a really main point in this article. I recently went back to India for a vacation & was surprised to see the way people drive. When I put this concern to my sis, she said she learnt how to drive from me.. means... I was a crazy driver when I was in India too. People definitely need to learn how to drive smooth like here in US which will help a smooth flow of traffic & less accident.
I really appreciate the author for coming out and writing such a timely article. No matter how much positively I think about India, there is always these issues that paint a really bad image. I guess educating our people and changing the mindset of our spoiled politicians are the key. The mass media have a greater responsibility to bring these changes. I wish the Indian television channels show quality programs rather than broadcasting freaky intolerable movi clips and serials over 90% of time. Let's all hope one day we can get away with all of this.
I will give 09/10 Marks for this article because the writer is failed to mention upper castism in india and how media fooling Indians by publishing civilians death in one of the corner of the newspaper for Muslims causualties as civilians death in Kashmir and it will be published on front page, if a Hindu is killed saying Hindu's are butchred in Kashmir. We are all one and should appreciate Muslim's support for thier kind support in all the war's against Pakistan and China.
Or are there any more to come? were you a cry baby all your life or are you a born looser? You gave 10 reasons as to why you dont like India, but did you do one thing in your life to put an end to any of those problems? Forget about having a doubt in your mind for leaving India and settling else where, i think you should be ashamed of writing such articles. Is this what you want to tell Indian Citizens, to run away from the country if you face any problems? what are you doing?? Be a man, face the problems and try to solve them. If you cant, atleast dont propogate such irresponsible and cowerdly articles. Thanks in advance for not writing any more articles ever in your life again. -Satish
RE:are you done with your complaints?
by santosh on Jul 03, 2006 11:02 AM Permalink
Satish, I think think there nothing wrong in pointing out wrong...I think that will creat the awareness about the things happening around which we always overlook and carry forward throughout our life. Hiding the bad things does nothing good. Let everybody be aware what's happening around and how to make it better. So instead of advising the writer not to write such articals, let's do our part to sovle those issues starting with ourselves....If everybody does his thing right then there is nothing wrong as such leftout...what do u say?
RE:are you done with your complaints?
by Aditya on Jul 06, 2006 05:07 PM Permalink
I fail to see where the writer says Indians should leave because of the problems here?! And what is so shameful in writing about them? It's shameful to have these problems for so long. And how on earth can you assume the writer hasn't done anything to improve India?! Even in case he hasn't, at least acknowledging a problem is the first step to fixing it. Because of people generally disregarding anything wrong with India, we so long overlooked the problems of HIV/AIDS etc. Fortunately, the gov has finally acknowledged we have a severe problem, although it still refuses to call it a crisis. In case you don't know, we have the highest number of ANY country infected with HIV. The writer has infact left out some pretty big points, one being the the lack of support (not just financial) for disabled/sick/incapable people. Ever seen wheelchair access on pavements? And how many people do you know who have trouble even standing? Not fair on them is it? Once these and other major problems run out of control (if they haven't already), we'll be blaming everyone for everything. Except our own ignorance and stamping out of any counter-efforts, just to have an illusion of a great country. Pitiful
Agree. But then who's perfect? Since leaving India; my respect for this country is growing everyday. The sheer size. Diversity. The upswing of economy. Tolerance. Culture. Values. When I mention my roots, the connection people make with its friendliness,hospitability and now progress is amazing. India, I lOVE YOU. Just get better.
RE:Amazing !
by Ramdas Iyer on Jun 23, 2006 10:23 PM Permalink
I have already posted a reply to this issue. Well RAjiv, if I can quit my job, come to your house and enjoy everything in your house, I mean "everything" for the amount that YOU pay, even for a few days, then I will accept all your views unquestioningly
Of all your complaints this one bothered me the most. How can you tell someone is a foreigner just by skin colour?. One could be a wealthy american with brown skin. India must be the only place in the world where such racial discrimination exists at tourist destinations. The department of tourism ought to be ashamed of itself for coming up with such rules.
I also recommend the author to complain to the department of tourism as often as he can. I'll do the same.
RE:Discrimination against the white tourist
by PS on Jun 23, 2006 04:48 PM Permalink
I don't know where you live Rajiv, but rates to places like WTC (before 9/11) was $20, to Madam Tussaud's £25, Warickshire Fort (1/10th the size of the smallest fort in India) is £10, and so forth. I think it is justified that foreign tourists are charged in equivalent terms. The govrmnt has made concessions for Indian citizens cause if they don't Indians would never be able to visit these places and never know their heritage. The problem is not the charge/fee, its the maintenance. If it could be 1/10 the standard in foreign countries. In India... that's wishful thinking.
Well, I'm really feeling bad to say that I'll agree with almost all of the things you have stated in the article published here. But still I'd like to protest against one point about racism. I'm born and brought up in India and I have visited many places where western tourist are a regular like Ajantha, Ellora, Pune and near by area. I know that at many places the foreigners are charged higher than Indians. But again its for all foreigners and not 'white' or 'yellow' tourists alone. This kind of practice (of charging more to foreigners) is there in many rather most parts of the world. Its for all foreigners (except NRIs)and not any particular race. So thats normal you classifying it as racism is absolutely wrong. Ya to the extent that many people dealing with tourists try to extract more money from white or Japanese tourist is right but it has nothing to do with race and its because of the plain fact that normally these are the tourists (as compared to one from African continent) who are capable of spending more. And thats purely commercial matter. It has nothing to do with races. Mahesh Kabra mahesh2k@rediffmail.com
It is generally an article I would agree with barring few exceptions: 1) White tourists are taken advantage of all over the world...be it Morocco, Pakistan, Yemen or any other poor country with an under-developed customs department.
2)Corruption: It is another social problem prevelant throughout, including the so called "G-8." In the US for example, the technical name is "campaign contributions."
3) The reason electricity was running in spite of the hurricane in New Orleans is because the generation and distribution is privatized...bottomline: technology does impact the generation and distribution of electricity.
hi, The points mentioned are very true. I just would need to add another point, the condition of roads and infrastructure in which the politicians here are completely ignorant.You will find all politicians/head of state /bureaucrats visiting foreign countries to study their systems, come back and do nothing for the country after spending a huge amount of tax payer's money....and tax payers are only the ones who are the employed class , others scarcely pay tax.. But then , the culture in India is far better than any and so I love India.........its just that we need to be more observant..
