Surviving India
No pasta please, we’re Indian He may be loaded but he’s not the best travelling companion. Priyanko Sarkar on the quirks of the Indian tourist US philosophical writer Dagobert D Runes once said that people travel to faraway places to watch in fascination the kind of people they ignore at home. Obviously he hadn’t reckoned with the average thepla-carting Indian tourist who pays through his nose for exotic holiday packages but has to lug a little bit of Bharat along. It is not something that travel companies and the hospitality industry acknowledge openly, but the pugmarks left behind by Indian travellers aren’t exemplary. “Indian tourists lack basic hygiene and don’t respect the culture of the country they visit. In spite of giving them clear instructions, they do whatever they feel like,’’ says Puneet Sehgal, Yatra . com ’s senior manager on the frustration of having to deal with Indian women turning up in saris for parasailing in Thailand or men gracing formal dinners on cruis...