Comments for Telling tales about India at http://inthefray.org , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://inthefray.org Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:19:50 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://inthefray.org/content/view/1733/38/#comment-2775 He does a pretty good job of identiftying the stereotypes in most exoticist travelogues, though he ends up exotifying daily life in India (movie theaters, newspapers in parks) as his conclusion. He clearly wants a pat on the back for being able to live a life that he thinks is more authentic than that of the typical tourist. I wouldn't bill this as the "hidden side of India," which of course plays into our interpretation of the article as an exotifying travelogue. This guy is not an expert on the hidden India just because he went to a Cricket match and once was (shockingly!) stereotyped as a rude white traveller. - SG Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:00:50 +0100 http://inthefray.org/content/view/1733/38/#comment-2658 Dear Anonymous: You have never been to India, have you? It would appear to me that you are the type of person who only wants to read pretty candy coated stories about the world surround. I have actually been through the whole of India and indeed it is a land of opposites and overwhelming experiences. India has everything to offer including bad stuff. NYC itself might be said to be the same. I read the article above and did not find anything the writer said to be incorrect. For him to have captured all of India would require volumes. He was merely talking about one part and one area. I am sure that if you want to fund another trip for him or multiple trips for him to come back with a through and through Encyclopedia he would be more than pleased to go along. To censure this mans very real experience for your need to feel good about the money you give which is only a drop in a very large bucket of such vast need is to be naive. Please visit India yourself, the whole of India and you'll see it for yourself. India is a beautiful country with beautiful people and lots of need. The World Bank in 2000 lists it as being entirely a place where 75-92% of the population live on less than $2 USD a day. Aparently you're okay with this. Think about it. Eyes that don't see, heart that don't feel. Very appropriate American way of thinking. - Anonymous Tue, 29 Aug 2006 05:25:35 +0100 http://inthefray.org/content/view/1733/38/#comment-2445 I was disappointed to see this piece about India. As someone who involved with founding ITF, one of the things we agreed on was that stories would not be written only for a perceived white American audience. This story reeks of stereotypes and seems to be written for other befuddled or bewildered cheap white tourists who want to exoticize India's culture, poverty, and seeming anarchy. If you want to write a story about India, refrain from using Rajasthan or Bodh Ghaya as reference points. They are tourist areas in extremely poor parts of India and hence do attract both white tourists and Indian hustlers. It's like using Amsterdam's Red Light District in an article about the Netherlands. I am not someone who is blind to India's problems, but ill-treating foreign tourists is hardly near the top of the list. India's travel infrastructure is actually pretty tourist friendly, except if you insist on traveling on 3rd class trains and staying in 2 dollar hotels. If ITF keeps publishing these sorts of exoticist travelogues, I am afraid I would probably stop reading the magazine. - Anonymous Mon, 10 Jul 2006 08:36:42 +0100