7/7 - Being Occidental in India

Hello, this topic is a hard one... I will try to explain how people see you here. Not the other students, I am speaking about seller and rickshaws.

So to resume we could actually say that 80% of Occidental people (to don't say white) are tourists so the fact to be Occidental, even living in the country, you will be considered as a tourist. But actually the problem isn't to be white or not, I think the problem is to be local or not.

Indeed when I was traveling, with my friends (2 Indians and 2 occidentals) we generally let my Indian friends to find a rickshaw for a good price and then, when the price was fixed, went out of our hiden place... like you know these movies when they do hitchhiking, they put the hot girl along the road and friends are hiden somewhere and when a car stop they all run inside the car... this kind of thing.

But after some time I saw that when my Indians friends were categorized as tourists too, the price was as expensive as us.

So it's not your skin color who define the price as some people could say, it's just where do you come from. For exemple, if you are in Jaipur and the rickshaw know you are not from Jaipur, he will ask more. The rickshaw guy can easily understand that white people are not from Jaipur but it's more difficult to guess if the person is Indian.

If you say "I want to go to Taj Mahal, is it far from here ? I don't really know where I am, how much is it ?" he will take you, you will never arrive to the Taj and you will pay 200rs even if it was close at the beginning.

So the main idea is to show you know the place, before to leave your guesthouse try to check different distances between places so you will know the price, when a rickshaw will ask you 100Rs for 2km just say something like "Are you kidding? I'm living here and I pay 25Rs everyday to go there" or just move and he will change the price.What I want to say is: be sure of you and the price you should pay.

For sure if you ask for some touristic places they will know you're not from the city so maybe you can try to check before to leave some restaurants or places around that touristic place like "I need to go to the restaurant Ambrai, it's close to Agra fort, it should be 40rs from here"... actually I've never tried, but you can understand what I mean, just be sure of you and you will pay the same price as Indian maybe not the real local people but still cheaper than "lost tourists".

Try also to ask to different local people the price of rickshaw. bus is also a really cheap alternative actually (don't be afraid about the girl in front of the bus and men behind, it can be tough if the bus is full so it's just to don't have any troubles... but if you're in group you can stay together, it's not a must do and take care about pickpocket on the bus, a lot).

For long distance think about Ola cab. For exemple local people said us, in Jaipur, to don't take rickshaw but only Olacab, indeed rickshaw are really expensive and quite rude and the fare of Olacab is different depending on cities (you can check on the app=>settings).

If you find a good rickshaw guy, you can ask his number and call him when you need.

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For items in shop, you can find in ALL the products a price on it, this price is the MAXIMUM price, if you see 25Rs and the guy ask you 45Rs you say NO and you just give 25Rs (if it's inside a restaurant or a museum they maybe have taxes or a little extra, just don't buy it there :p). Just be used to check prices on products even if you don't buy so maybe next time you will know it. If the product is scanned like in big market or brand (Royalmart, Mcdo, Nike,..) you will not have problem, otherwise keep this part on your mind.

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If you are traveling don't forget your Student Id and your FRRO. You should pay "Indian student" prices for museum and monuments (if they have student prices). But unfortunately, sometimes they will not accept because you're not Indian, even if you are really "Indian student". I can just say insist a lot and you can show your FRRO and insist on the fact you're living (with an address proof on your FRRO) in India so you are not a tourist. If you are with indian friends just let them taking tickets, they will ask like 4 tickets for indian students and just give all your student Id cards together. :p

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As a student you will see beggars with a different eye than as a tourist. Indian students will say you to never give money, you don't know who will keep the money after, but you can give food if you have... sometimes that creates some weird moment when beggars don't want food but just money, you understand the hidden part. For sure it's not for all the people but you never really know who they are unfortunately.

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The non-filtered water: don't worry about this, before to come all the people say you to don't drink this water, only bottle... but actually it's the same for Indians, they can't drink this water so a lot of places have filtered water (house in SFS Colony, a lot of restaurants, the school,...) so just check if there is a machine which is filtering the water. You can actually fill a bottle at the school everyday to don't pay everyday a new bottle.