No Don, I am not one of the people who come from rich families, who have servants to fulfil my ever wish. To the contrary, my mother is a doctor and my dad is a Bank Manager. We are middle class people, with a simple home & simple needs. <BR>As for the life of the servants, it's no worse & no better than the lives of the homeless and poor in any other country in the world, including the USA. <BR>Dorothea, in your entire visit to Bombay/Mumbai, if all you can remember is the smell, then I feel sorry for you. I guess you should stick to travelling within the USA - and that too, to only the places where you won't see poor/homeless and stinking people/places.

Don, <BR> <BR>Why just point at India's people who seem to lack a will to improve their lives? Why not also point out the people on welfare in America who don't have the will to improve their lives? <BR> <BR>Until one has walked in the shoes of another person's life, I don't think one really has the right to comment on who does or who does not have the will to improve their life. <BR> <BR>Poverty in India is not based on the will of India's poor, but rather due to cirsumstances & political issues within the country. <BR> <BR>Yes, India has its big share of problems, just as any other country does, but please, let's not bias the future traveller, who's looking to enrich their life with India's beauty. Afterall, this is a travel column, not a social & political view column. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Great to hear something positive from Arti and friends. As one who has been to 9 different regions of India on 5 trips in the last two years, I am certain there is hope and a future for this country of contrasts. My recommendation to any traveller new to any country: introduce yourself to a young adult, buy them a coffee, and listen to their stories. And above all else, don't judge India by what you see in Mumbai! Comfortable hotels and packaged tours are fine for a start, but you have to get under the veneer to find out what really is going on!

Okay, here's my view. I am an Indian and lived there all my life, until I moved to Hong Kong 6 years ago. I think the way to think of India is - extremely DIVERSE. More than 20 states, each like a country in terms of language, food, culture, rituals, even the way people dress and look. Poverty, yes, illetracy,yes but did you also know that a very large percentage of all the world's software is now written in India? Did you know that the Nawab (King)of Hyderabad had so many jewels that he had to air them once in while on the roof of his palace? I'm not saying good or bad, I'm saying diverse. The brits came to India when it was an agglomeration of several princely states and stayed for 500 years. When they left , just over 50 years ago, India became the world's largest democracy. It is working hard to slowly narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots, and the other remenants of its past legacy, but it will take time. When we lived there, did we have a helper - sure and she probably lived in a small shack. But there is nothing I could do about it, not in a big way anyway. I remember helping her with her kids schooling and that my mom used to teach one of the help's kids in the evening. But these big problems will take time to solve. Other than that, if you travel there, know before-hand about what you wnat to do. If its luxurious hotels and relaxed atmosphere, great food and shopping, experiencing the culture and meeting westernised people - there are plenty of places you can find these- but Mumbai is probably not one of them. The Rajvilas at Jaipur is. So, do your research well and enjoy. <BR> <BR>And Dorthea - get your facts straight before you make statements like - 'Most people in India are not living but barely existing'. The poverty level is below 30% which I assume you understand means that 70% are not poor.

I'm not sure why some people, including Deepa, gave the impression that Mumbai(formerly Bombay) cannot offer luxury. <BR> <BR>Deepa, agreed, The Rajvilas Hotel, in Jaipur is top class but why rule out Mumbai in saying it's not for people looking for luxury hotels, good food, shopping, & western culture. <BR> <BR>Don't forget that some of the top notch hotels are in Mumbai, including, but not not limited to The Taj Mahal, The Oberoi & The Leela, not to mention, many, many others. Aside from staying at these luxury hotels, one can get a chauffer driven Mercedes, ride around a westernized beyond belief city, dine at gourmet restaurants, shop till you drop or till your credit card is maxed out at designer shops, rub shoulders with the rich & dance away the night, sipping the choicest of cocktails, at the most exclusive discos & bars. <BR> <BR>All this & more in Mumbai(assuming one can dish out the bucks). <BR> <BR>

<BR>I don't think most people who come a long way to India from America or Europe are looking for or even interested in things like luxury hotels, chauffer driven Mercedes, westernized beyond belief cities, etc. They come to the country to see a different culture, and more importantly, to see the daily life of the ORDINARY folks. It is exactly in that account that India fails to impress its visitors, not because of poverty, but because of the general picture of the society. <BR> <BR>I know that my 10 days stay wasn't nearly enough to get into anything more than just a quick glimpse of the society. But still, what I experienced in India, comparing to other third world countries I'd visited, was quite discouraging.

Don, <BR> <BR>What part of your trip to India discouraged you so much & how can you judge the entire country in 10 days? Also, where do you get the impression that most visitors are discouraged when they come to India as you were? I hear from so many people that they loved every minute while in India. I also read on chat rooms, travel forums the same that their experiences in India were great. <BR> <BR>I never once said in my last column above that people only go to India for its luxury hotels, gourmet cuisines & its "beyond belief western culture" in certain cities. I merely said that the above can also be found in India, just as you can find India's traditional culture & a look into the daily life or "ORDINARY" Folks as you put it. Tell me Don, is there something wrong if there's a balance of the above to be found in India? <BR> <BR>FYI, there are people who do go to India to enjoy its luxury hotels & gourmet cuisines - I am one of those people. But I also go to India to enjoy its culture & "ordinary" life as I lived that ordinary life for 20 years while I was there. <BR> <BR>Don, please don't be quick to judge what others want or do not want & if their experience in India was discouraging. India can offer something different, good or bad, to every visitor - it all depends on what you want to get out of your experience while there. <BR> <BR>You obviously chose not to enjoy any part of your trip to India, which of course is your perrogative, but I truly feel you missed & judged India too quickly in a mere 10 days. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Ritika, Your point is well taken in terms of Mumbai being able to offer luxury. However, that sort of holiday (assuming that is what a person was looking for) is not easy to find there unless you live there or are with someone who knows it well. Mumbai is not a walking city in that you could just walk out of the Oberoi (one of my favourite hotels for business visits)and enjoy the city (in a luxurious way), if you were a tourist. Other cities like Delhi you could and you certainly could in resort type places like the Rajvilas or the Lake Palace hotel. <BR> <BR>For me, Mumbai is more a place for productive business visits (since it is the financial capital of the country) but not for experiencing the real India,whether for a luxury vaction or one into rural India or for enjoying India's natural beauty.

<BR>Ritika <BR> <BR>To the contrary of your assertion, I enjoyed many parts of my trip to India. I experienced a very unique culture, and a very colorful life style. I didn't know much about India's rich history prior to my visit and learned a lot during my short stay. I don't pratice any religion but I found hinduism very interesting. I was amazed by the chaotic scene in Varanasi but I truly admired people's devotion to their beliefs. Needless to say, of course, I was very impressed by the beauty of the Taj Mahal, the uitimate symbol of love. <BR> <BR>But I was discuraged, only modestly by the difficulties related to poverty, but by a general feeling of a gloomy future of the country and its people. <BR> <BR>At the airport before we headed home, a fellow traveller asked me if I would come back to India, I told him that I don't know, but it won't be on the top of my list. And he said that he would probably come again but it would be for other parts of the country. "It would be interesting to see how everything goes in 10 years in those places we have been", he said, "but I do think there would be much change at all". <BR> <BR>That was the general feeling among us.

Having been to New Delhi and Bangalore on several occassions, I would say the caste system in India is the root of most of the problems for the poor. They are destined to live their lives as beggars as these 'low class citizens' will never get help from the rich and often sneered and despised. There is no opportunity for education and inter-marriages among theses classes is strictly no-no. The disparity between the rich and the poor is just too great to imagine!<BR>I always felt we need to be thankful of what we have. Whatever unhappiness that we have is nothing compared to what these folks in India are experiencing.<BR>Once I was in the taxi and an old man with a makeshift wooden trolley came by and using his stubs-he had no fingers, knocking on the window asking for money. Such is life...

Yes the caste system is ugly, and a big irony of the so called "largest democracy". However, the number one problem, in my opinion, is the population explosion. It is getting worse and seems no one can do anything about it.<BR><BR>Again, I am glad I went to India for a unique experience, but I don't have much hope for the future of that country and the situation for the poor will get worse before it gets better, if ever that happens.

There are many things in India that can be changed, as there can be many things changed in other countries that are not good either. But for those of you who are judging India just based on poverty, misjudging it too quickly.<BR><BR>Regarding the caste sytems, yes it exists but more & more people are trying to eliminate that each day.<BR>To make a point on that same note, you can find a differentiation in people's minds in the US also. It's called the homeless. People walking out of their work, homes, cars, also pass by homeless people & see them in a different so please don't go on & on about the caste system.<BR><BR>Let's stop this thread. It's going no where except arguing opinions...<BR>