I read today – Tourism ministry hires 15 agencies for Rs 70 cr Incredible India campaign …
And remembered what Harini, TV producer, blog mela host and friend told me a few days about why she hates Rajasthan …. the way men just look at you there and say you, aurrrrrrat…
And there is another reason I dislike Rajasthan – oh, its a beautiful magical place alright – but that state never fails to amaze and dismay me with its orientation towards foreign tourists… at the exclusion of ‘locals’ (or is the word ‘natives’?)
This happened last October on a holiday in Rajasthan – I had made reservations at a haveli-type-hotel in Jodhpur – because we were travelling with an elderly family friend… I had found this place and booked on the net. We reached in the middle of the night ——-
and many unpleasant hours later, the manager told us that we could leave if we did not like the place – and he said, this is the problem with you Indians… And why – were we creating any nuisance – no, but we were complaining about the fact that the waiters at the restaurant had taken our order and then not served us – at all…
And oh, he was a Rajasthani… not “Indian”, mind you – Rajasthani… And this was in Jodhpur, India.
And the argument started…. And things only got better (in hindsight, things always seem better – because by then you think they are funny…)
The manager continued, if I had known that you were Indians, I would not have given you bookings here… After which of course, there was no point in arguing – what does one say? And as we came out, the auto driver who took us in search of another hotel told us, par aap yahan kaise pahunch gaye? woh loge to sirf firangi ko andar aane dete hain… (how did you reach this place? they allow only foreigners inside…)
Ok, so we didn’t get thrown out of the railway compartment – but then we weren’t in South Africa either… This was India in 2004….
Incredible India alright.
*****
And this is something I had written long ago on my previous blog…
The colours of racism
Have you always, like me, associated racism with ‘white’ ?
Read this very interesting article by Martin Jacques in the Guardian, The Global Hierarchy Of Race.
Racism, he points out, is not the ‘prerogative’ of the whites although they are on top of the pile. In various rungs lower down are the yellows, the browns and various other colours of the spectrum.
A veritable race rainbow ?
The one thing in common is, he points out, is denial as the natural response to any society to insinuations of racism. Nations are never honest about themselves: they are all in varying degrees of denial.
A friend of mine was in Korea recently and has lots of stories of discrimination…. Koreans consider themselves superior to Indians and other South Asians…. basis what, please? You can be called Paki in the UK or jihadi in the US…. But then, why am I talking about the whites ? Closer home, in a country dangerously obsessed with skin tone, you can be called a dark madrasi…
Racism obviously begins at home….
Update : Tarun asks me why I am “afraid” to mention the name of the guesthouse in this post here – as I replied to him, it just didn’t occur to me – and the point was not about this particular guesthouse but the general attitude in the place – some of the localites later told us that there were many such small hotels/guesthouses which catered only to foreigners – no harm in that I guess, except I wish they would mention this clearly in their website / at the time of making reservations. Incidentally and not at all surprisingly, such places ara rated very high in the lonely planets and rough guides of the world – but clearly, we were not the target audience for these guides.
This place is called Haveli Guesthouse and believe me, the place is nowhere like these pictures on their website suggests.
What can I say? And it’s all true…..so true.
This is a perfect example of an Indian mind.
I had a friend who said that Indians were born to be slaves… and coming across such people one does feel that most of them are born to be slaves.
This was the same thing when the Tsunami came and hit India.
To many people in Bangalore it was as if happening in some distant country. Very few people obviously went there to help, a few gave a lot of money, and the remaining 99% watched it on TV.
An Indian is an Indian outside India, inside India he is not an Indian .
Hey,
why don’t you mention the name of the hotel in your post? What is it that you are afraid of? The best we can do is expose people like this, and give them the nasty publicity they demand. Do not underestimate the power of blogging – further, you are adding to this crime of racism by letting this hotel’s despicable behaviour slide by. The only way these people will learn is when their hotel is boycotted, and they are reduced to begging on street corners – then we will see what they feel about us bloody Indians. Hopefully you’ll drop by my blog with the name of the hotel… see what we can achieve with just a little blogging.
Lakshmikanth, I am not sure I understand what you mean by an Indian is an Indian outside India – if that means Indians are treated well outside India, then well, that is not always the case. Except I guess, racism coming from a firangi and outside India is – I am not sure about the word – understandable? humiliating but not entirely unexpected – I really don’t know how to put this better – I don’t mean it is acceptable but just that one is not so shocked… – but within India, it is disgraceful and completely unacceptable…
(incidentally firangi is a racist word – inverse racism!)
tarun, “us bloody indians” ? why?! I have updated my post – the point was not to bring the owners of the hotel to the streets but to start a debate about the way racist attitudes can be present within a country – directed against people of the same country – either because of a notion that foreigners (read westerners) are superior, or because of some other trait like caste or complexion…
Hey, the “bloody Indians” was meant sarcasatically – I understood that the hotel-owner was Indian too. But how is it ok for these people to just cater to foreigners? What next? Hotels catering only to Brahmins (of which I am sure there are a few – this doesn’t make it ok). That is discrimination plain and simple. Anyway, thanks for mentioning the name. This place is going to become famous, I promise you that.
Sad reading that. I grew up in Rajesthan and remember it is a friendly place. On Korea though, I would disagree, I did a fair bit of travel in Korea and had only good experiences with people often inviting me home. Another think is if you found that haveli in Lonely Planet of Rough Guide, you can write to these publications. One thing that scares these places is bad publicity with firangs. Just mention that you are going to share your experience on the LP bulletin board.
Preetam, thanks for dropping by. My friend had a miserable two years in Korea – she was on a project for a software firm and still shudders at the memory…?
as for Rajasthan, I have also had good experiences in my earlier travels… but this time was terrible – and it happened not just in jodhpur… just one thought about the lonely planet guide – wondering if firangis actually preferred such places – which cater only to them and not Indians? still writing to them will be worth a try, I guess….
Charu,
I think enough hasn’t been said on this topic. The hotel manager you encountered was obviously arrogant, but we see bigotry in India at every level and everywhere and everyday starting from home. My mom thinks of the maid (‘bai’) who does the dishes is a different species. She gives her food etc. everyday but with an attitude as if she’s doing a big ‘punya’. She gloats about the amount of food she gives the ‘bai’. I love my mom, but this psychology (which is rampant in India) is the same kind of arrogance that the firangi’s treated us with. We’re all familiar with the ‘pride’ we have about our cultures and languages. Many of us consider our culture to be superior to the other cultures in India. When we see somebody we address them as ‘sardarji’, ‘madrasi’, ‘musla’ and many other crappy words. We always want to know the culture, religion, language of anybody we meet – and then we mentally stereotype and judge them – we’re gurus at that. Man, I have countless examples of how our psychology is soaked in racism.
And you know what, I’m not disgusted by it – its human nature – and at this point in time, our society has degenerated to a very low level. That’s just the way it is – nothing to be angry about. And in my opinion we’re already facing the consequences of our bad karma – its no wonder India is a poor country and everyday is a struggle – so we’re already paying the price – therefore no need to feel ashamed or disgusted with ourselves. However, I do hope that all of us realize this and take steps to change our attitudes – it will take a 100 years but lets start at least.
Let’s learn from the Americans – its the most accepting nation in the world that I know of. Now please don’t accuse me of being an american lapdog – because I’m not. Not everything American is good, but lets give credit where its due. They have done a *much* better job at reducing racism and bigotry than anywhere else in the world. I really hope that this aspect of America blooms even more.
Indian Brothers and Sisters, at the risk of being labelled a traitor I would like to say that
“I love you all – but not more or less than anybody else, ’cause all things living or non-living are creations of ‘Kudrat’/God and therefore all are ‘same’ “