Tipping in India
 

While I plan on carrying many Rs to use for tipping in the streets, small purchases etc. I am wondering how well U.S. dollars would be accepted in the bigger hotels etc. Any thoughts on that would be apprecited.

Thanks,
Bob

It would never have occurred to me to tip Indians in any currency but their own. I think it might create problems in ways we can't imagine. Things are not simple in such a stratified society so I think it best to not complicate things for those you wish to reward.

joannaay is right, you'll want to tip in rupees. As a rule of thumb, tipping in the local currency is best. The sole exception I can think of is in Cambodia, where the US dollar is used in preference to the Cambodian riel for almost everything.

what hotel in your town bob accepts ruppees?

What does "tipping in the streets" mean? And yes, use the local currency.

I'm assuming he means to give money to beggars or when he takes pictures. Many people ask you to take their picture and then demand 10 rupees. Some of the people merely want to see their picture. We usually kibitzed with them and requested 10 rupees from them if they asked for a picture. It's always fun to interact with the local people.

In my many, many months in India, over four or five trips, up, down, all over, I've had someone 'ask' me to take their picture and then demand money, precisely... once.

What a surprise. We had them asking constantly. Maybe they were afraid you'd growl!

The first time I went, it was people wanting to have their photo taken with me, not me take theirs. Not the second time though - don't know whether it was a north-south thing, or just that I got older...

Yes, I was afraid the OP might mean beggars. I hadn't thought of photos, I won't pay for them.

Thanks all for your comments...will definitely take alot of small change in R's

Bob

i won't pay for photos either. But I will ask if it's ok to photograph and I respect people if they say no. Asking for money for photos is just another form if begging. It's sad to see parents asking their children to request money.

I respectfully disagree with the stance that it's somehow improper or encouraging begging to pay a small fee for the opportunity to take a photo of someone. I look at the image as a commodity that belongs to the person in question and that person has a right to give or sell their image as they see fit. Often the people being asked have very little, relative to the person asking, and how can it be wrong to pay a little something for what we receive, nothing sad about it in my opinion, as long as there is good will on both sides of the transaction.

@Dogster: We were asked for 50 rupees (not 10) in Khajurahao after we took photos with a group of young women on their way to the river to fill water jugs. We were without money, but I was a bit dumbstruck. A sadhu asked us for money as well in Khajurahao.

I think dollars wouldn't be much of a worry since it's one of the most common foreign currencies and could be exchanged around the world. But I think they would appreciate it if you give them rupees to take out the hassle. I mean, you're tipping them... don't make them work so hard for it to the point that they're going to have the currencies changed.

"could be exchanged around the world" - and that is relevant how? The tipper is the one doing the traveling, not the tippee.

heya indiana: sadhus are a whole different ballgame. They have the sadhu eye: they can tell if you're taking their picture with a telephoto lens from behind them - and do tend to place themselves picturesquely at temples as living works of art to be worshipped, photographed and paid, simultaneously.

Different rules apply.

It does say a

oops:

It does say a little about our different traveling styles, doesn't it? Some get the clawing palm, some not. Of course, this depends a lot where you go. If you stick to the circuit, you will come across repeated photo opportunities with a price tag: I see that as business, not charity. Like the sadhus, those colorful, perfectly ethnic photo ops are part of the business. Don't confuse that with charity.

In India - not tourist India - a wiggle of the head, a smile, an enquiring glance will get you all the pics you need: distributing money after the event is kinda crass, patronising and culturally vulgar - sets up expectations, particularly amongst the children and turns them into feral beggars. It's the same principle as not handing out soap and pens and sweeties...

So, joannay's kind thoughts are right - and completely wrong, simultaneously. This is about India, specifically - our world view is, actually, not particularly appropriate. The whole issue is way more complicated than that. It is just possible you do more harm than good.

Not that my words are going to stop any of you doing it.

I forgot to add the traditional caveat to my words of infinite wisdom: IMHO.

There are some in this forum who think they should, could and must tip everything that moves in India - then distribute largesse to each beggar individually - after all, they <i>can</i>. You make a lot of instant friends that way. Indeed, all of India will be your friend.

What's wrong with that?

I make a distinction between asking a stranger for something, a photo which is not nothing, and being asked for money for nothing, begging. Neither case applies to me personally as I don't ask strangers for their photos and I don't give money to beggars (the occasional leper excepted as they wait quietly for alms at a distance).

I think it's the tourist culture that promotes a false sense of intimacy that allows tourists to think it's not rude to ask for something they would not ask for from a person on the street in a western country. That, to me, is the height of patronizing. And I'm not sure how it makes me completely wrong, or kind for that matter. It's just what I've deduced after spending a good deal of time in 3rd world countries including India.

Actually, tourists in western countries don't even bother to ask - they just go ahead and take pictures regardless. I ask, and respect the answer "no". If you don't ask strangers for their photos does that mean you don't take photos of people?

My usual subject is gardens, without people. So yes, I generally don't take pictures of people. Occasionally from the back, no faces. I think it's people's faces that matter most to them and so to me. Also, the longer I travel the fewer photos I take. When I bring the equipment it's to work on a particular subject, a garden or gardens. And I take pictures of friends.

I love to take pictures of people and it is always a delight when I can bring a smile to their face by showing them their picture. I agree that one should not be rude and take pictures when someone does not wish it to be taken, although from afar, I see no harm. I am also delighted to pose with people or for people who want my picture. We all know that we are different from one another and if I can make someone happy by posing for them, I'm delighted to make them smile and share a smile with them. I also love to offer to help out families or couples by offering to take their picture with their camera so they can all be included in the picture.

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Well, thank you joannay. I think we've all gained an interesting perspective from your comments.

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Crash! <i>sound of Dog's head thudding into the wall</i>.

Ahhh, that's better.

I hate having my photo taken, and I'm afraid that includes afar. But my especial bete noire is the wretched guy (why is it always a guy?) with a videcam held out in front like he can't see anything unless he gets it on tape. Sorry, but I'm feeling especially sour on the snap-happy right now because I had to go to Dubrovnik thanks to the vagaries of the bus schedules and I got an overdose of homo touristicus groupus magnus. (Voyager of the Seas, capacity 3,114 passengers, was in port.)

"...homo touristicus groupus magnus."

So then, by definition, those in a large group. I think you're on to something here, behavior condoned and encouraged while protected in a large group.

I suspect then, conversely, that the behavior is far less practiced by travelers on their own. Just guessing.

I would definitely tip in Rupees. Someone in one of the hotels I stayed in left American Dollars as tips. Since I was one of the few people staying at that hotel at the time, everyone new I was American. So one of the hotel staff, I'm assuming the one with the short straw, shyly approached me and asked if I would exchange the dollars for Rupee's since it was hard for them to do it. Although I am currently not living in the States, I couldn't help but do it.

you should tip ppl in their own currency so tht they stay happy

This topic always amazes me! I agree that you should always tip in local currency when possible; however there are times, i.e. when you arrive in a country, when you do not have appropriate denominations of local currency - the ATMs at airports do not dispense small change. In these infrequent instances I will use some dollars and try to tip extra for the trouble. Once I have local currency I will use it and will also exchange for dollars, which I have done a number of times.

No, not "when possible", always. I think it's our responsibility to make sure we have "appropriate denominations of local currency". It's easy to do, one just needs to want to do it. There are always easily accessible currency exchange booths at international airports or we can get change at any shop before leaving the airport. In many places foreign currency is not inconvenient, it's useless to precisely the people who need the tips the most.

Joannay, your comment is precisely why I don't normally enter into this type of a thread. Have been on the road for nearly 40 years and on this forum since 2003, I never apply "always" to any situation.

Airport transportation for my last three trips to Tanzania, Egypt and Peru was pre-arranged and all three taxi drivers requested payment in dollars. As they asked for payment in dollars I also assumed that I could tip in dollars. Furthermore, arriving in the middle of the night, which happens more than I like, is not conducive to making a lot of stops in the airport. I don't know where you travel, but many places we go it is difficult to get small change from shops as the tend to hoard it. Having said all this we do all we can to use local currency.

Enough said, I am out of this thread.

Since gpotvin is gone, then to whom it may concern: I would not normally say "always" but we're speaking of India, not Peru. We will never know now who's the more experienced traveler but if the previous poster had spent much time in India then they'd know about the difficulties changing dollars might cause the people they'd most likely be tipping and would also know that to use the word "always" in this context is appropriate. One can "always" buy a little something and get change for tipping.

And, by the way, I'm not sure I see much difference between my word "always" and their word "never". Hmmm.