On a recent journey into blogs, I came across a reference to this article written by expat Americans living in Delhi (that is Delhi, India, not Delhi, NY or Delhi, LA) about how they became <a href="http://ourdelhistruggle.com/2009/12/01/tourists-are-attractions/">tourist attractions for middle class Indians</a>. Having been one of those middle class Indians who had barely seen a handful of foreigners throughout my entire life in India, I could understand exactly what the blogger was talking about.
That said, I wanted to share what I saw on our recent trip to India (Red Fort, to be specific). There was this oriental lady who wanted to get a picture with a local lady, who was absolutely photo-shy. While the coaxing was going on, I managed to unobtrusively take a picture of my own (though, like the blogger did, I should have taken the time to go and ask them for permission!).
<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0182.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0182.jpg?w=300" alt="" title="Tourist Attraction" width="300" height="225" class="size-medium wp-image-1402" /></a>
Then there was the time when we were in Fatehpur Sikri. We were just following our guide around when I came about this dude who was sitting still like the Buddha. I took a picture immediately (of course). Immediately, his two companions approached me and said "50 Rupees please!" For a moment or two, I was speechless and flabbergasted! Then I realized they were joking (I hope!) and we all burst out laughing.
<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0352.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0352.jpg?w=225" alt="" title="The tourist Buddha" width="225" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-1403" /></a>
Bottom line, the touristy behaviour cuts both ways. Whatever a human does not see often is something that he or she wishes to keep a keepsake of, in one way or the other. Sometimes the souvenirs come in the form of a picture postcard and sometimes it is in the form of photos with the kind of people you don't normally see in your daily life.
That said, I wanted to share what I saw on our recent trip to India (Red Fort, to be specific). There was this oriental lady who wanted to get a picture with a local lady, who was absolutely photo-shy. While the coaxing was going on, I managed to unobtrusively take a picture of my own (though, like the blogger did, I should have taken the time to go and ask them for permission!).
<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0182.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0182.jpg?w=300" alt="" title="Tourist Attraction" width="300" height="225" class="size-medium wp-image-1402" /></a>
Then there was the time when we were in Fatehpur Sikri. We were just following our guide around when I came about this dude who was sitting still like the Buddha. I took a picture immediately (of course). Immediately, his two companions approached me and said "50 Rupees please!" For a moment or two, I was speechless and flabbergasted! Then I realized they were joking (I hope!) and we all burst out laughing.
<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0352.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2010/05/img_0352.jpg?w=225" alt="" title="The tourist Buddha" width="225" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-1403" /></a>
Bottom line, the touristy behaviour cuts both ways. Whatever a human does not see often is something that he or she wishes to keep a keepsake of, in one way or the other. Sometimes the souvenirs come in the form of a picture postcard and sometimes it is in the form of photos with the kind of people you don't normally see in your daily life.
No comments:
Post a Comment