Having been an entrepreneur for the most part of my working life, I have to say I saw the world through the eyes of a business man, albeit, an Indian business man.
For many years all my travels in India and abroad were business related and relegated to short trips, cheap flight tickets, budget hotels (smoking rooms only), business lunches / dinners which were sometimes the only meal of the day, cigarettes - lots of them, coffee - lots of cups and without fail an exorbitant laundry bill every-time. I sometimes think hotels make their profit off of your clothes.
In all that time, I never once felt that I was an Indian traveling abroad. I was always an equal in my meetings, discussing solutions to problems that were unique to our mutual business' or negotiating financial terms, policies, procedural options, stock options and sometimes after long sessions in a board room - a quiet drink and dinner in the bar room of an opulent star hotel with my business associates, whom a few hours ago I felt like strangulating because he/she was squeezing the blood out of me.
In all fairness, a good negotiation is when both parties involved feel like they came out on top, or were in a win-win situation. And that was the case in most situations. Now, I could ramble on about negotiations for a couple of pages but that would defeat the purpose of this blog.
This is a blog about how it feels to be Indian in a foreign country as a tourist or it could be the ramblings of an Indian male tourist. I have a strong feeling this is going to be a ramble on travel.
Anyhoo...
Many years on, I'm still an entrepreneur, but have added 'Tourist' to my occupation as well. I have started traveling in Asia and must say we live in a truly beautiful part of the world where our cultures are so different yet each and every one of them has a point of circumscription.
Though every country in Asia has its varying cultural contributions there is always at least one point of intersection.
Across S.E. Asia, I've noticed that the most visible commonality yet diverse point of intersection is our food. Most tourists from western countries see the wide range of differences in our food, whereas for me, I only see how similar we are. I can discuss food in detail and that will be another blog. Look out for it.
I must also talk about hospitality. There are layers to Asian hospitality and like the dance of the seven veils in babylon, Asian hospitality needs to be unveiled one sensual dance at a time. To most tourists the first visual treat they notice in Asia is the smile - its been recorded in many blogs how the 'Thai Smile' has melted many a westerners heart and then some; The Indian love of anything foreign is legendary so tourists, are welcomed into the Indian fold unconditionally.
I guess what im trying to say is, being an Indian tourist in Asia, these wonderful traits are lost on me. Since
'An Indian Travel Manual'
Errol Manuel
