“Don’t hand out money to beggars in crowded places. You will be swarmed. In fact, authorities advise that you don’t give money to anyone asking for a handout. If you want to give, by all means do so — India has many, many worthwhile charitable organizations. Your money will go to a better cause of you give it to a charitable organization. Many beggars work for gangsters, so the money you give to them, just ends up in the gangster’s pocket.” So says the author of Mariellen at breathedreamgo, a well-meaning online travel agency.

This word of caution has sound bases; indeed India’s charitable organizations exist, like everywhere else, and perhaps authorities have this policy. It seems sensible to act upon responsibility rather than on impulse (1). And what I am going to say below does take into account the fact that children beggars pose a difficult conscience problem (see here). But there is a but. And this but is the reality of the people you meet in person, and who look at you in the eyes when you are there. This would be the same thing, the same problem everywhere in the world, mind. The difference in India is the numbers, and, relatively speaking, the degree of poverty.

So it is a clearly a mistake to believe that all “beggars” beg because they are forced to do so by “gangsters”. As everywhere, they are organised traffickers who use small fish to attract bait in their large invisible nets. So it’s true you never know whether what you give might in fact end up in some exploiter’s pocket. On the other hand the sheer numbers of people asking for money or other things hints at a much wider problem, that of culture clash between an overall poor population in India and the tourists rich enough to pay the air fare to go there – something that 90% of the population in India will never be able to do in their life.

Many people beg because they have eyes and see the visitors are rich, it’s as simple as that. And it’s useless to say that you aren’t, even if by western standards you are probably right. If you can pay say 10000 rupees (150 Euros) for a one week tour of Rajasthan, that can be as much as a year’s worth of work for a rickshawalla, it’s a fortune for him and his family. How can you prevent these people from looking at you as if you were walking piggy banks? Most of the kids that ask you for money, foreign coins or anything that comes from you, know that whatever you give is from your excess needs, whereas for them it can make a huge difference.

But nobody likes the harassing beggars, nobody likes the sight of poverty. Nobody enjoys being disturbed from enjoying their “Indian experience” by dirty urchins pulling at your sleeves. That’s the core of the question. Foreign tourists want to have a poverty-free enjoyment of India; they want to benefit from the scenery and the monuments, but not the natives – or only a choice of special "touristically-correct" natives (with colourful turbans or saris, you know). They want to feel they are in control. For them it isn’t a problem if you arrive with your wallet full of 100 dollar notes: nobody bothers them when they do that in other countries! After all (they might say), it’s my freedom to go to India and I already give a lot of money to goodness knows how many tourist agencies, customs officers, taxi divers, hotel managers, restaurants, etc. All these are Indians, aren’t they? This money will eventually benefit the country, won’t it? Such rationalizations , even if partly true, can be ridiculous too (see this guy’s advocacy of “Not giving to beggars”).

So the other but in Mariellen’s cautionary words is the illusion that you can come to India and leave it, and continue to believe that nothing need to change in your attitude towards the general problem of poverty, and more deeply, economic injustice. By telling people not to give, and that you shouldn’t give, you are making yourself (perhaps unconsciously) the ally of a system where the rich remain rich and the poor stay poor. I prefer to give to the people who are in front of me, and consider me rightly a walking piggy bank. I know it’s often exasperating, but in fact I prefer that because at least I’m not escaping reality. I’m not changing it, of course. I don’t believe that by adopting this attitude, the general situation for poor people will one day be any better. But at least I’m not refusing the reality of the people in front of me, who may be acting under pressure, or maybe not. And I’d say, the chances are that the guy who asks you to buy his wares, even if he’s working for the so-called “gangsters”, is also hoping to trick his boss out of a few rupees that he’ll hide from him, and spend for himself or for his family.

Eventually, I think the whole touristic attitude contains a flaw. Going to another country with such a big difference of means is not unlike entering someone’s home who would be ashamed to let you in because he knows he cannot afford your standards of living. The relationship is biased; tourists and natives aren’t on an equal footing. Pretending otherwise is an illusion. So, even if it’s still an intrusion, visiting India like a tourist is perhaps less obnoxious if you accept who you are, and what you represent for the vast majority of the people. A little experience will enable you to adapt your attitude, too. You might still give, but also you’ll learn to proportion your giving to the people who ask you, and sometimes to talk to the people before you give, etc. This isn’t a “method”, it’s just my experience. I’ve found that, up to a certain extent, if I have a sort of contact with the person first, then I am more at the same level, and can give without that dreadful guilty feeling. But I also understand that I can’t demand this exchange of words first. For some people, my very presence is like an insult (“a rich foreign tourist in my country: what’s he coming here for? I’m a man like him, how come he earns 100 times more than I do?”), and so I realise that I have no particular right to ask for that relationship as a matter of course.

Does this means you should stay in Europe and stop visiting developing countries? No, but it means that you should not forget that when you visit places like India, the reality you’re confronted to is caused in part by your coming; you’re part of the problem. And refusing the consequences of the problem you’re causing will not suppress the problem. I suggest on the contrary as the only human attitude the one which doesn’t obliterate the fundamental reality in such countries: the situation of the people you meet, and what you can guess and slowly understand of the lives they live.

(1) This is what this website advocates: “Be a responsible tourist-- If you want to give money to the locals try to do it in a more responsible way than just giving it to locals. There are organizations that use donations responsibly.  Giving money to beggars just promotes begging. If you think it is sad to see children in the streets begging it is because it is a lucrative business. Maybe not giving in and giving to beggars will get these kids off the streets quicker. Give your money to an organization with a good reputation for helping poor locals.” And just after, this is what they write: “Don't be more of a target than you already are-- In some countries, like India, if you are foreign you might as well have a target drawn on your forehead”. This is precisely my point.

Bonjour a tous,

Pas de photos pour ce post, desole, j'ai laisse l'appareil au "cottage" ou nous loge "Himalayan Adventurers", l'agence de trek avec qui nous sommes partis faire la rando.

Donc nous revoila a Manali, d'ou nous sommes partis il y a cinq jours, et le trek s'est globalement bien passe, mais avec tant d'amenagements et de changements de plans, qu'il ne ressemble pas, au final, à ce que nous avions commande! Nous n'avons pas tout fait, et puis nous avons du écourter d'un jour a cause de mauvais temps et de diarrhee  (Joseph surtout, probablement des amibes, nous a dit la doctoresse Dr Sucheta Sharma, ici a Manali).

D'ailleurs, pendant que je tape ce message, Joseph (et Margo aussi, qui a dû choper quelque chose et a aussi de la diarrhee depuis deux semaines) est en train de se faire requinquer avec une perf rehydratante contenant des antibiotiques! On etait un peu surpris au debut, mais de fait, le Dr Sharma nous a explique que c'etait le moyen le plus efficace de redonner aux intestins derangés un retablissement rapide. Elle a souvent des cas comme ceux-la.

Le trek a été perturbé par des glissements de terrain qui ont obligé nos plans à être modifiés, et un peu (mais relativement peu, en fait) de mauvais temps. Donc beaucoup de boue (suivez mon regard en direction de Frederique!) sur les chemins, ce qui a signifié des deplacements plus lents et plus fatigants.

Notre guide, Chandra, etait OK, parfois un peu distant, sans doute encore un peu inexperimenté.

Par contre, de supers repas (comme l'an dernier au Maroc), mais que tous n'ont pas pu apprecier du fait des soucis intestinaux! La vie est mal faite, quand meme!! Si on avait eu des plats comme ca en France, ce serait restau tous les soirs!

Voila! On pense cet apres midi (apres que nos deux vaillants patients seront sur pied; il faut que leur perfusion leur fasse absorber 1,5 litre!) aller visiter le "vieux Manali", mais la mousson a repris ses droits (je regarde au dehors du cyber, les gouttes tombent dru devant le temple en bois de l'autre cote de la rue), et on verra si la pluie va s'arreter.

Et demain 17h30, retour a Delhi (comme a l'aller, 16h de route... hum!)

Bises a vous,

yves

Bonjour!

Aujourd'hui vendredi 13 aout, nous sommes à Udaipur, sous la mousson, qui nous a fait rebrousser chemin puisque nous avions quitté la ville pour aller dormir à Ranakpur (à vos cartes!), mais l'hotel a telephone alors que nous sortions de Udaipur, pour nous dire de ne pas venir, car une riviere avait gonflé jusqu'à 1,20 m de hauteur, un car de touristes s'etant fait pieger dans la crue! Je suis converti au telephone portable! Donc demain, on prend les nouvelles pour savoir si la pluie a baissé, ou si on doit passer par un autre endroit (dusra jagah se, allez, un peu de hindi!) Et la destination: Jodhpur, plein de "pur" par ici!  dont on devra partir plus tôt, parce que le pqssage par Ranakpur nous aurait fait raccourcir le trajet de deux heures.

Sans ca, ca va. Il y a eu un petit coup de mou ce matin, la chaleur et les levers semblant durs aux garcons, ainsi que le côté "consommateur touristique", dont Vincent nous a fait la description. Des gens qui passent dans des superbes villes en une journée, alors qu'on pourrait y rester une semaine dans chaque, à parler aux gens de musique et à boire du tchai masala!

On voit bien sûr des merveilles, des merveilles à la queue leu leu, et evidemmemt le phenomène de saturation apparait, et puis Lucky, notre DJ touristique (chauffeur) a son idee de ce qui plait aux touristes! Donc il faut faire des compromis. Il y a aussi les couacs! A Bundi, on voulait rester deux jours, mais la chambre etait reservée à Udaipur! Donc obligé de partir! Cependant, Lucky s'etait trompé de jour de reservation, donc obliges à Udaipur de prendre un autre hotel, soi-disant beaucoup moins bien, etc. Et puis, ce soir, coup de malchance, retour à Udaipur, mais pour le coup, on a pu avoir la belle chambre de l'hotel qui avait ete reservé pour le premier jour! Vous suivez? Interro écrite tout a l'heure! Cependant, on a eu qu'une seule chambre sur deux, l'autre ayant deja ete reservée...

                                                                            Au moins il en rigole!!

Bref les voyages forment la jeunesse! On se tâte aussi pour savoir si on va jusqu'à Jaiselmer (je vous avais pas dit de ranger les cartes!), car le transfert à la fin du tour du Rajasthan, avec la montee vers Manali et le trek, est assez tendu, donc peut-etre qu'un jour de plus fluidifierait les choses! On verra!

Grosses bises plus fraiches (pluie = temperature en baisse, bien content!) a tous!