Tourism in India

Our country is blessed with natural beauty. There is hardly any country in the whole world which has as many beauty spots as India has. When a famous English poet visited Kashmir valley, he was so much impressed with it’s awesome natural beauty that he could not help uttering these words “ If there is heaven on this earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.” There are so many places of historical significance that if somebody were to visit all of them, it will take him not less than 6 months. Tajmahal, one of the wonders is the most beautiful monument in the world which was built by Shahjahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaj mahal. It's breathtaking view in the full moonlight is beyond desription. Ajanta and Ellora caves are world famous for it’s architectural marvel in Painting and Sculpture. Goa is famous for it’s beaches. Besides this, there exists great Indian culture and tradition. Cultural diversity is so great that as many as 128 different languages with different dialects are spoken across the length and breadth of the country. Perhaps, there is no other country in the world where there is so much diversity in language, food habits,dress code etc. Indian hospitals are amongst the best in the world in terms of facilities provided and the expertise of medical doctors and surgeons attending to the patients coupled with the fact that they are most economical when compared to other hospitals in the world. India is also the country of temples, churches, Mosques etc and is considered an ideal place for spiritual upliftment. Having said that , the fact is that number of tourists coming to India every year is miniscule considering the size of the country. It is shocking to note that tiny countries like Taiwan, Singapore,Bangkok etc are attracting more tourists than ours. Our tourism ministry is doing very little to promote tourism in the country. We are lacking in providing basic infrastructure like proper road, Transport, Hotels, Airports etc which makes it very difficult for the tourists to plan their travel well in advance. We need to change our attitude towards them. We need to look at them as our customer and not as outsiders and treat them with respect and care. There are instances of rape, murder, cheating etc which is damaging our reputation in the eyes of foreigners. Tourism can bring maximum foreign exchange to this country if handled with care

An Important Decision

When I look back and see what I have done for the upliftment of the poor and needy in my life, I find I have done nothing except feed myself and my family. I have indeed always wanted to help poor but I never translated my thoughts into action. I was too busy trying to handle day to day activities and problems. Anyway, it is never too late in life Even now, if I do something worthwhile, I would not feel guilty of being selfish and self centred.

I have decided to open a bank account in which every month, I will deposit 10% of my income in that month. This money will be exclusively utilized for helping poor families. I don’t want to donate in charity funds, since I know money in charity funds will be misappropriated by unscrupulous elements. I have worked out the strategy on “How to utilize funds” I will visit municipal schools of Mumbai city, talk to the school principals and identify some bright but poor students who are unable to pay school fees. I will then meet the families of these students and assess their living condition. I will look at the scorecard of the students to checkback how they have performed in exams. Having satisfied myself with these observations, I will decide to give monetary help. I will make cheque payment to school authorities towards Annual fee of the student. This financial assistance will be given to the students as an incentive in lieu of good performance of the student in the previous year. In the current year, the performance of the student will be monitored closely and in case the performance will go down below certain standard as decided, the incentive will be withdrawn. If need be, I will give private tuitions to these students free of cost to help them understand the subjects better.

There are many talented students in our country who are poor but unable to continue studies for want of fund. I know whatever help I will give in my individual capacity will be insignificant considering the level of poverty in our country but if each one of us do a bit for the upliftment of poor, it will make huge difference..

Power of Prayer

I was deputed at Lagos, Nigerian capital as country manager by an Indian I.T. company based at Mumbai sometime in the year 2005. I was supposed to develop company’s business in the whole of African continent as part of my assignment. I had very unusual experience on the very first day I landed in the city of Lagos. My sponsor who happened to be an Indian made arrangements for my stay in the guesthouse which was located in Northern part of Lagos. From the airport, I proceeded straight to the guesthouse. I was carrying a packet containing my passport,visa and an air ticket to Doha in the front pocket of black colored suit which I was wearing. It was a long journey from India and as such I was very tired. As I reached the guesthouse, I got down from the car and asked the driver to offload my luggage from the dicky of the car. The driver of the car who was a Nigerian helped me in offloading and carrying the luggage to the guesthouse. The driver luckily understood English so I had no difficulty in communicating with him. The housemaid in the guesthouse was Nigerian but she was trained to cook Indian vegetarian food. I thanked my sponsor for taking care of my food habits. There were two other guests from Indian origin who were staying in the same guesthouse. After I finished dinner, I went into my room and started making preparation for my next day’s visit to the clients. It was 10 O clock in the night and since I was very tired, I switched off the light and went to sleep. Next day, I woke up at 6 O’ clock in the morning. Suddenly, it did strike me that I must check my passport and visa. I searched it in the front pocket of my black colored suit which I was wearing the previous evening but I could not find it there. I became tense and started searching everywhere but I did not find the trace of it anywhere. I tried very hard to recollect where I could have kept it, but I failed to remember. I was very nervous and did not know what to do. I was in an alien country without passport and visa. I had heard that it is very unsafe to live in Nigeria. I could not imagine, what could have happened to me if my passport falls in the wrong hands. I lost all hopes of getting it back. I thought for a moment I must pray to God as last resort. I closed my eyes and prayed to Him for 5 minutes to help me get back my passport. By now, everybody in the guesthouse came to know that I had lost my passport. When my sponsor came to know of it, he telephoned me and said, “Don’t worry, I have contacts at the highest level in labour ministry, I will soon arrange a duplicate passport for you.” But I was not satisfied. I was cursing myself for being so forgetful as not being able to take care of even my passport. I was not in a mood to visit the customer but since I had fixed the prior appointment with him, I had no option but to honour the commitment. After an hour or so, while I was sitting with the customer discussing business, I got a phone call in my cell. It was that of my sponsor. He gave me the good news which I could not believe. He said, “Somebody whom I know has found your passport outside the guesthouse”. When I returned in the evening., he narrated the whole story. It runs like this.

“ At about 8 O’ clock in the morning, a car was passing through the road facing the main gate of guesthouse. As the car approached the main gate of guesthouse, a screeching sound came from the car. The owner of car who was sitting on the back seat heard the sound. He asked the driver to stop the car. He opened the gate on the left hand side and peeped outside to see if something had stuck in the car tyre. At that moment, he noticed a small packet lying on the side of the road. He picked it up and looked into it. He found my passport inside the packet in which my sponsor’s name was written. He coincidently knew my sponsor and immediately telephoned him and informed him of what had happened. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Even till date, I have not been able to find answers to the following:

· My passport was lying the whole night and morning till 9 O' clock the following day on the
roadside but nobody noticed it. How come?
· How come that car develops snag exactly at the point where my passport was lying.
· How come, the person who found my passport knew my sponsor and he was quick to hand over the passport to my sponsor.
Was it a coincidence. I don't think so. After this incidence, my faith in God has increased tremendously.

Unconditional help

My experience has been that if you are afflicted with sense of guilt and if your self image is low, you must help someone without expecting anything in return. I am diabetic and regularly get my blood sugar checked in a pathalogical lab "Belle View" which happens to be at a distance of about 3 km from my residence. One fine morning at about 8.30 am, as I was entering the building in which "Belle View" is located on the first floor of the building for check up of blood sugar, I heard a female voice "Beta, Meri madad karo" ( son, will you help me) . I turned back and saw a very old lady perhaps in the age group of 80-85 years who was struggling to walk with a stick. I hesitated for a moment. Then suddenly, I reached my hand to help her. I held her hand tightly and asked her. "Apko kahan Jana Hai" ( Where do you want to go) . She was speaking in Hindi Language, so I replied in Hindi. She said "Mere ko autoriksha me baithna hai. Mera haath pakad kar Auto Riksha tak chalo" ( Help me in reaching to autoriksha). She could barely walk. I adjusted her stick which she was holding so that she could get firm grip on it. Then I supported her with my shoulder and with great difficulty somehow managed to bring her to autoriskha which was waiting at some distance. After she was seated comfortably inside autoriksha, she thanked me profusely and asked "Kya tum muslim ho" ( Are you muslim). I replied in negative. She put her hand on my head and blessed me. I gave her some money so that she could pay autofare. After she went, I rehearsed the whole scene mentally several times and felt good. Perhaps, this was on account of unconditional help given to someone.

Mumbai's Roads

If you are new to Mumbai city and happen to drive the car in the streets of Mumbai, be careful else you may face lot of difficulties. Mumbai's roads are crowded. You will find people walking in the middle of road. Although there are footpaths on both sides of the road but these are occupied by vendors leaving no space for the general public to walk on it. There is no seperate lane for heavy vehicles, bicycles or auto rickshaws. All types of vehicles move together. Nobody follows traffic rules. Cars, buses, Autos overtake each other from either side. On top of this, people cross the roads anywhere, anytime without bothering to look at the passing vehicles. If you are not careful , you are likely to knock them down. The roads are dirty. People driving cars, taxis, autos atc are in the habit of spitting in the middle of road. Some of drivers are in the habit of chewing Paan ( beatle leaves). When these drivers spit on road, it leaves a red mark on the surface of road. Police is nowhere to be found. These people get away with fines if caught doing the act. While driving, even if your vehicle scrapes through the passing vehicle for no fault of yours, you get the choicest of gaali ( abuse). There are potholes everywhere. During monsoon season, the condition of road deteriorates even further which aggravates traffic congestion. It is a nightmare to drive on roads full of potholes. It takes anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes to cross a stretch of 5 kilometres during peak hours. If you reach traffic signal, you will be surprised to note that even though traffic light shows red signal, vehicles do not stop at it. There is total disregard of traffic rules. Vehicles come from all directions. This is extremely risky and dangerous. In some select signals which are manned by policemen, drivers do stop the vehicle but after crossing half the road thereby blocking vehicles coming from opposite direction. If you want to take left turn at junction, even if there is a green signal for left turn, you can't take left turn because you will be blocked by another vehicle ahead of you who wants to go straight. You will find speed breakers on main roads without any zebra mark or danger signal. If you are driving in the night time, you wont be able to notice it from a distance unless you come very close to it and if you are not quick to apply brakes, you are most likely to damage your car.

Idol worship

Most of Hindus worship idols not knowing that idol worship is not recommended in Vedas which is considered as most authentic scripture of Hindu Religion . According to Rig veda, there is only one God which has no shape, size or color. This is perfectly in synch with other religions. Those who worship idols are living in darkness. Idol worship is considered as sin in Holy book of Bible. Idols are made by man with his dirty hands. It is very difficult for a Hindu to accept that idols are lifeless. They can neither hear nor speak. They can't protect themselves. How can they protect others. Idols are to Hindus what teddy bears are to little children. Just as children cling to teddy bear whenever they get scared, Hindus cling to Idols. They think idols will protect them from all evils. They get false sense of security. They worship not only idols but even animals, plants, sun, moon etc. I am not against Hinduism. It is a great religion. I am only against superstition, blind faith. Most of Hindus do not know their own religion. They are misled, manipilated and confused by the so called swamis to satisfy their own selfish motives. Some of them are even sexually exploiting women and children.

Rich India Poor India

The country is divided into two segments from economy perspective The rich India and Poor India. The segment of the country's population which comes under Rich India is miniscule compared to vast majority of population which come under poor India. People coming under poor India do not have enough money to fulfill the basic needs. So long as there is unequal distribution of money, the GDP growth of the country which currently is second only to China is not going to benefit large percentage of population which come under poverty line. All the empty slogans of political parties like India shining, Feel good factor etc will not change the ground reality. The ground reality is that even today, 75% of rural areas do not even have proper sanitation facilities, safe drinking water and electricity. In a society like ours , it is a sin for a person to accumulate wealth beyond a point which is adequate for him to lead a decent life considering farmers committing suicides everyday because they are unable to repay loans taken from moneylenders and banks. On one hand, we have extremely poor people unable to make both ends meet, on the other hand we have filthy rich people who have amassed wealth worth thousands of crores. The distribution of wealth is highly skewed in favour of filthy rich. This economic divide between the rich and poor is increasing day by day at the national level and international level. The government is doing very little to bridge the gap. Are we insensitive towards the large section of population who have been denied the basic needs. There are many people who genuinely want to help but the money donated by them in various relief funds do not reach the poor. The subsidies given by the government in foodgrains and other essential commodities also do not reach the poor. GDP growth in absolute terms is not an indicator of economic prosperity. Unless the divide between the rich and poor is narrowed down, we cannot claim to achieve any economic progress in real sense.