Anything you ever wanted to know about...

[danalec99]

I want to have a real immersion trip. I'm really serious about the culture, not just a touristy trip. I wouldn't be taking the time to learn the language and study the culture and the history and politics and everything if i wanted to stay in expensive hotels and stuff. I know more about india than even some of my friends who live there haha.

Very good point, as long as you have ample time on your hands .

Email/PM me if you plan to visit Kerala.
Edit: Don't leave India without visiting Kerala.

 

[Alpha]

Time to list the India FAQ's

Questions asked to Indians abroad:

Q. What does that red dot on women's forehead mean?
A. Well, in ancient times, Indian men used to practice archery skills by target practicing by aiming at their wife's red dot.
In fact, that is one of the reasons why they had many wives. You see,
once they mastered the art of archery and hit the target....

Q. You're from India? I have read so much about the country.
All the wonderful places, the forests, the snake charmers, the elephants. Do you still use elephants for transportation?
A. Absolutely. In fact we used to have our own elephant in our house.
But later, we started participating in elephant-ride sharing schemes with our neighbors, to save the air. You see elephants have an "emissions" problem.....

Q. Does India have cars?
A. No. We ride elephants to work. The government is trying to encourage ride-sharing schemes.

Q. Does India have TV?
A. No. We only have cable.

Q. Are all Indians vegetarian?
A. Yes. Even tigers are vegetarian in India.

Q. How come you speak English so well?
A. You see when the British were ruling India, they employed Indians as
servants. It took too long for the Indians to learn English. So the British isolated an "English-language" gene and infused their servants' babies with it and since then all babies born are born speaking English.

Q. Are you a Hindi?
A. Yes. I am spoken everyday in Northern India.

Q. Do you speak Hindu?
A. Yes, I also speak Jewish, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism and Christianity.

Q. Is it true that everyone there is very corrupt?
A. Yes, in fact, I had to bribe my parents so that they would let me go to school.

Q. India is very hot, isn't it?
A. It is so hot there that all the water boils spontaneously. That is why tea is such a popular drink in India.

Q. Are there any business companies in India?
A. No. All Indians live on the Gandhian principles of self-sufficiency.
We all make our own clothes and grow our own food. That is why you see
all these thin skinny Indians -- it is a lot of hard work.

Q. Indians cannot eat beef, huh?
A. Cows provide milk which is a very essential part of Indian diet.
So eating cows is forbidden. However in order to decrease the population of the country, the government is trying to encourage everyone to eat human meat.

Q. India is such a religious place. Do you meditate regularly?
A. Yes, sometimes I meditate for weeks without food and drink. But it is difficult to keep my job, because I have to miss work when I meditate like that. But the bosses there do the same thing. That is why things are so inefficient there.

Q. I saw on TV that people there walk on burning coals. Why do they do that?
A. We don't have shoes. So we burn the bottom of our feet to make it hard so that we can walk.

Q. Why do you sometimes wear Indian clothes to work?
A. I prefer it to coming naked.

One of my best friends from Mumbai was eating at this pizzeria in richmond and this idiot blonde from our university started staring at her, so she looked over and yelled, "what?!" The girl said, "How does it feel?" To which my friend said, "how does what feel?" The girl said, "How does it feel to be eating pizza for the first time in your life?" Then she kindly explained that Bombay is the largest metropolitan area in the world :mrgreen:

 

[Mansi]

Max -

me achaa ho. shukria! aapse delhi pasand hai?

lol you mean 'aapko delhi pasand hai'? (do you like delhi, cuz what you said means 'does delhi like you'

I want to have a real immersion trip. I'm really serious about the culture, not just a touristy trip. I wouldn't be taking the time to learn the language and study the culture and the history and politics and everything if i wanted to stay in expensive hotels and stuff. I know more about india than even some of my friends who live there haha.

:thumbsup: sounds good... you need to go off the beaten path a bit then i suppose

 

[Mansi]

Have you ever seen the movie Born into Brothels? Amazing documentary. But it probably goes along with that whole "media for projecting such an image of a coutry which has such deep and rich cultural heritage" thing you were talking about. ;-)

yes Uni, iv seen the film mainly during the research while i was making my own 1minute film on the same subject Born into Brothels was brilliantly documented and presented though, Zana Briski did a good thing :thumbup:

 

[Mansi]

Mansi, you know I want to go to India as well, so thanks for the thread.


OK, Mansi...what kinds of permits would I need to work in India? Is it like the stupid EU where I have to have to be born in, raised in, and offer my first born to the great and mighty EU? Or can Americans easily get work visas?

YW Jo
Like daniel mentioned, I think it's your employer who just has to sign the papers. I can find out more info on it if you like. Let me know :thumbup:

 

[ThomThomsk]

I share an office with Surinder, born and raised in west London, but whose parents come from Chandigar. You always know when his mother is on the phone because he switches to Hindi, or when he is talking to one of our Indian contractors because he speaks what I call Hinglish - English, to Hindi and back to English all in the same sentence. I don't know what they mean but I think the most common Hindi words are hanna and tika.

I also work with a Rohit, a Sanjeev and a Rajdeep, all of whom are programmers over here on work visas. Nice bunch of guys, and just 3 of the names amongst the many other Indians in our department. It sometimes feels like a very familiar place, even though I haven't been there (yet).

Thomsk

 

[Alpha]

Max -

lol you mean 'aapko delhi pasand hai'? (do you like delhi, cuz what you said means 'does delhi like you'

:thumbsup: sounds good... you need to go off the beaten path a bit then i suppose

damnit. well I know i can get "me firung ho" right

 

[Alpha]

I share an office with Surinder, born and raised in west London, but whose parents come from Chandigar. You always know when his mother is on the phone because he switches to Hindi, or when he is talking to one of our Indian contractors because he speaks what I call Hinglish - English, to Hindi and back to English all in the same sentence. I don't know what they mean but I think the most common Hindi words are hanna and tika.
Thomsk

I have a good friend who does that a lot. He'll speak in english but in conversations when you're talking instead of saying "uh huh" he'll say "achaa"

 

[danalec99]

Daniel thanks for those amusing answers

Those aren't btw, my answers. This is a fwd that's been circulating among the expatriate Indians for a while.

 

[danalec99]

Bace, what's your friend's business? Can you pass him my name? I'd love to work in India. PM me!

I hope it's in Bangalore. Bangalore is the most cosmopolitan city out of all.

 

[Alpha]

I beg to differ. Bangalore is a big tech center, and has quite a night life, but all slums aside, I'd argue that Mumbai is more cosmopolitan.

 

[danalec99]

I beg to differ. Bangalore is a big tech center, and has quite a night life, but all slums aside, I'd argue that Mumbai is more cosmopolitan.

Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) defenitely is cosmopolitan, I totally agree with you. So is New Delhi, Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta), Hyderabad and Chennai (formerly known as Madras).
But Mumbai has become over populated and polluted.

But imo, Bangalore is the classiest (cosmopolitan city) of all; at the moment!

 

[Unimaxium]

Aww man I'm starting to really want to visit India now.

Who's up for a Bangalore TPF meetup? Or wherever...

 

[Alpha]

I vote Delhi TPF meetup, since we have members from Delhi. But Delhi discos are kinda weird...they're open nearly 24 hours a day

 

[Mansi]

UNIAww man I'm starting to really want to visit India now.

Who's up for a Bangalore TPF meetup? Or wherever...

MAXI vote Delhi TPF meetup, since we have members from Delhi. But Delhi discos are kinda weird...they're open nearly 24 hours a day

Delhi definitlely has a LOT more to offer(interms of architec/monuments/people/streets/culture etc) then Bangalore, also i beg to differ Bangalore is not one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
Delhi Discos - you just have to go to the right places.. and No they are not wierd. Most of the good ones open from 10pm thru 3/4/5/6/am.
so YAY to a delhi meetup, there's a lot you can do here... plus short 3/4 hour travels to Agra(taj mahal) and jaipur if you want to keep it short