Tips for the first time traveller to India

Try to see all of India in one hit. It’s impossible. Refuse to leave your comfort zone. India is different to what you’re used to at home. That means monkeys clambering over the walls of the Red Fort in Delhi, for instance, but also unthinkable poverty that’s commonplace on city streets. Ignore advice from experienced travellers and tour specialists. They will give you a far deeper experience on your first holiday to India. Encourage street kids. Talk to your guide before opening your bag and giving money or pens to street kids. There are charitable organisations that will make sure your rupees and well-meaning gifts get into the right hands. It is really hard to ignore the kids when you’re wandering around. However, giving in the right way will result in a much better outcome in the end.
Here’s what Rajat Kumar from our India experts, ExplorIndya, had to say about giving pens to children in India: “The whole idea of gifting pens to kids bothers me. I don’t diss the reasons behind it. I diss the act itself. When this started, the reasons behind it were very noble as the pen was seen as a direct tool to empower the child to study and write. But today it has become a game that locals play with tourists, and tourists encourage with the act itself. It is ironic because it actually drives children to skip school and hang out in areas frequented by western tourists because they know they will get handfuls of pens. They just keep them in boxes, where they collect hundreds of pens, and it is a satire.”

Voyeuristic slum tours. We all tend to get a little snap-happy on holiday, but taking photos of anyone without their permission is not okay. Try to travel with empathy for other people’s circumstances. The same can be said for visiting a slum area just to stare at the residents.
Rajat has some advice about supporting impoverished people when visiting India for the first time: “We support slum tours to see what these families do, how they survive, and what their stories are. We ensure that they are not voyeuristic and simply for taking photographs, but that they are tours that actually tell an honest story of what the slums are, and why people here are poor. Which is mainly because the government won’t improve their conditions, as they want them to move away so that they can develop this prime real estate.

“But actually, in many ways, these are thriving communities, the children are educated and speak English, they have skills which are being passed down – but their geographical reality hasn’t changed. So you can’t just generalise and say, ‘Everyone is poor here.’ You have to dig deep, open your mind, and you will see the different layers.”

Ignore cultural sensitivities. Finding out more about cultural sensitivities is an important part of travelling. India is no different. From how you dress to how you behave in certain places, listening to the advice of your group leader or local tour guide is crucial for having a deeper understanding of what you’re doing, and why. For example, avoid being intimate or getting drunk in public, and wear appropriate clothing, especially in places of worship and rural areas.