A Travellers Guide to Staying Sane in India P3

Welcome to my last post on Staying Sane in India, in which I’d like to talk about ‘Getting Around’, ‘Dealing with Beggars’ and ‘Managing Sensory Overload’. I’ve previously covered ‘Staying Healthy’, ‘Dealing with Overly Interested Men (For Women)’, and ‘Bargaining and Minimizing the Rip-off Factor’. As a series I hope my personal experiences will provide you with the basis to which better understand the nuances that make India such an individual and special travel destination!

There is so much to do and see in India

Getting Around

Travelling around India can be an exhausting and fascinating experience. In addition to being the cheapest way to see the country, local transport can provide a unique opportunity to engage with locals and better understand the travel reality for the more than 18-20 million Indians who get around by train every day.

It can also be overwhelming and challenging. The first step is to overcome some culture shock with the standards you’ll face. While standards vary from state to state, buses are often old, dilapidated, lacking in suspension, and have no air conditioning. Trains are a little more consistent nationally, but are generally old, dirty looking (but kept relatively clean), and sometimes crawling with little cockroaches and occasional mice (always a good way to wake you up!). Buses tend to be more packed to the rafters, while trains are generally better, although sometimes locals will pack more bodies than those permitted for the seat, particularly in sleeper class.

While I could dedicate a whole article to understanding the intricacies of the transport system, here are a few key tips to make your journeys easier:

1. 

   Obstacles on the roadways in India

   When travelling by bus, you can generally buy local bus tickets on the day. The best way to ensure the safety of your pack is to put it in front near the driver (v. on the roof) and to situate yourself close to the front of the bus.

2. If travelling by tourist bus, you’re better off to book your tickets a few days in advance. Be prepared for some crazy driving and for the bus to look at least 20 years older in person than it does on the shiny poster in the travel agent’s office.
3. It’s best to buy tickets for longer distances a few days (and in peak season sometimes a few weeks) in advance. www.makemybooking.com is the easiest way to purchase tickets on your own, although finding a printer can sometimes be difficult and costly. At the very least, it’s worth looking at before you speak to a travel agent to ensure you are charged a fair price.
4. If you purchase your ticket at the train station, be prepared to be overwhelmed by beggars, bodies, bad signage and friendly but incorrect guidance from officials. Try to keep your cool and keep asking until you get a consistent answer. For ladies, as unnatural as it sounds, you have the right as a woman to force your way to the front of a cue of men, no matter how long it is. Exercise your right and embrace getting pushy!
5. For some shorter train journeys, if you elect to buy your ticket at the station, it is not always possible to purchase tickets for the class you want. Purchase a general class ticket and go to the compartment you want, and you’ll be able to pay the difference to the ticket collector on board.

In contemplation

Dealing with Beggars

While dealing with beggars is never a pleasant aspect in touring developing countries, it’s hard not to be deeply impacted on a frequent basis by those in India. Whether deformities such as blindness or amputation are natural or caused by suspicious origins (as depicted in Slumdog Millionaire), saying ‘no’ often can be a heart wrenching experience, particularly when the beggar is deformed, a child or a young mother with a baby.

There are no perfect rules to dealing with beggars, and what might feel right in one situation, e.g. giving money to a young mother, might not for say handing over money to a kid begging at a train station. While you don’t want to encourage bad behavior (such as parents pulling their kids from school because they are more profitable beggars), perhaps the best approach is to go with your gut and try to be compassionate regardless of whether you give money or not. If handing out money doesn’t feel right but you want to find a way to help, explore volunteering options and make it part of your experience in India, or find a good charity to donate to.

Temples of India

You’ll also have to try to make peace with the fact that many Indians will see you as an opportunity to make money, no matter how lovely or sincere they might seem. You might have an hour conversation with a family at a festival and suddenly find the conversation has veered towards how little money they have and how they need more for food. Although this can be a constant disappointment, try not to take it personally, and focus on taking away the valuable parts of your interactions.

Managing Sensory Overload

India is perhaps the most sensory-overwhelming destination in the world. Weird smells, constant approaches from locals, cows relieving themselves everywhere, beggars begging, and vehicles flying by with blaring horns; all make even the simplest outings exhausting. It is also easy to get sick due to the pollution and dust. Some simple steps to managing this are:

1. Don’t try to hit all the sites and schedule in recovery days. Better to take it easy than to get sick.
2. Indulge in simple Western pleasures. Enjoy cable or watching movies if your budget permits it. Eat some Western comfort food or retreat to a nurturing spot with a book or laptop.
3. 

   Smile!

   Give yourself time out from trying to have a totally local experience 24/7. Tourist hangouts are there for a reason.

In Conclusion

Like it or not, it’s not a day in India if you haven’t provided some form of entertainment for locals. Embrace it or ignore it, but the more humor you can find in it, the more you’ll enjoy yourself. Try not to waste your time in India getting worked up over things you can’t control. Remember that you don’t benefit from losing your cool; you’re the one who suffers. No matter how much someone (or a group) is driving you nuts, you most likely have it a whole lot better than they do and overall, Indians are a generous, playful, lovely people. Most importantly, try to keep an open heart to enjoy India for all it’s worth.

Banner image from Lana Palmer on flickr.com

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