The New York Times published an article on Indian tourism to Switzerland, today. The most jarring thing about it was seeing DDLJ’s title translated in English; I’ll spare you that. 😉
For years, Bollywood’s producers and directors have favored the pristine backdrop of Switzerland for their films. The greatest of the Bollywood filmmakers, Yash Chopra, is a self-professed romantic who has made a point of including in virtually all his films scenes shot on location in this country’s high Alpine meadows, around its serene lakes, and in its charming towns and cities to convey an ideal of sunshine, happiness and tranquillity.
In the process, they have created an enormous curiosity about things Swiss in generations of middle-class Indians, who are now earning enough to travel here in search of their dreams.
“The moment you cross the border it is something else,” Mr. Purohit said, “where the scenario changes.”
“No noise, no pollution, no crowds,” said Kamalakar Tarkasband, 72, a retired army officer. [nyt]
No, just pretty scenery as a picturesque backdrop for photo ops wherein they imitate their favorite celluloid moments.
Raj Kapoor may have been the first Indian director to use foreign sites for shooting on location — in Venice, Paris and Switzerland — when he filmed his 1964 hit, “Sangam.” But the entire bus knew the story of how Mr. Chopra spent his honeymoon in the Swiss resort of Gstaad. [nyt]
SANGAM! That’s one of the dozen or so fillums I’ve actually seen; it was one of my father’s favorites. I loved it.
Here’s something interesting and overwhelmingly sweet, much like a gulab jamun, the round, syrup-laden dessert which often graces Indian buffets (see? I can write like a gora):
“He promised his wife on his honeymoon that every movie he made would have to have one romantic song or scene in Switzerland,” said Rajendra Choudhary, 24, who also studied management in Pune and joined the Enchanted Journey. Mr. Chopra, now 77, kept his promise. Most of the Swiss sequences are dream scenes in which lovers dance or romp on Alpine meadows strewn with flowers or roll in the snow in unlikely flimsy Indian garb on wintry slopes. [nyt]
Obligatory negativity:
But not everyone shares the dream. In June, the Zurich newspaper Tages-Anzeiger featured an article with the headline “Into the Luxury Hotel with a Gas Cooker,” noting that “in some hotels an entire caste of guests is no longer desired: the Indians.”
The article catalogued the complaints of hotel managers: guests who cook curry dishes on camping stoves in their rooms; guests who use bath oils that blacken tubs; guests who book for a husband and wife, only to show up with the entire family. [nyt]
The first complaint makes me wonder if a lack of vegetarian options is the issue. I just asked my most well-traveled friend what he ate in Switzerland and he said his most memorable meal was a repast purchased from a farmhouse; he waxed blissfully about cured meats, cheese and a good baguette. My mom can eat one out of those three. She hates cheese. She wouldn’t be knocking out some Ulli Theeyal in her room, but she’d probably be hungry. I’ve never been, so I don’t know. Maybe Switzerland is littered with veggie noms.
Here’s something interesting and overwhelmingly sweet, much like a gulab jamun, the round, syrup-laden dessert which often graces Indian buffets (see? I can write like a gora): ha! it’s too bad you didn’t write that like a desi restaurant menu: ‘cheese balls’ would have gotten a mention 😉
i read an article a few months back about an indian couple that opened up an indian restaurant on this tour’s route because of the sheer number of tourists. those desis – so enterprising!
Maybe Switzerland is littered with veggie noms. i haven’t been either, but when i went backpacking, we traveled though eastern europe and parts of central europe (e.g. germany) and i basically ate bread with butter/cheese (and cherry coke!) for most of the trip.
the presence of indian and chinese tourists was really striking when i was in italy in may. i could usually spot asian americans out of the brown and east asian faces too (they dress and move differently (along with english if one approaches), and don’t move in large groups), so it wasn’t just americans. the wealth of south and east asia seems palpable via tourism, just as japanese camera wielding tourists became a cliche in the 1980s.
(and of course the bangladeshi laborers aren’t included in the group of indians, they dressed and moved totally differently because they obviously weren’t on vacation)
“In Engelberg, where a visitor is more likely to encounter a woman in a sari than hear the clang of a cowbell, some European tourists are unsettled.”
Thats funny that Europeans didnt get unsettled when they decided to colonize the entire subcontinent – didnt they encounter women in Saris that time? Its not payback, but I find it amusing that broke countries in Europe are looking down at rich tourists from India and other countries… helloo???
btw, the complaints about indian tourists in switzerland could apply to the russians who are a fixture on the cruises between tallinn to helsinki, turku and stockholm. a lot of it has to do with new wealth conditioned against a culture of want. the russians elicit same prejudices from nordics because of their uncouth behavior as well, despite the fact that they’re white (and to be fair, i don’t think the ethnic estonians were that different from the russian estonians).
Thats funny that Europeans didnt get unsettled when they decided to colonize the entire subcontinent
how easy to generalize about a whole continent. who exactly did the poles and finns colonize pray tell? there are many european nations who were colonized themselves for all purposes. when settling historical scores why not be a bit careful to not slander people by associating them with dynamics to which they were also subjected?
(and to be fair, i don’t think the ethnic estonians were that different from the russian estonians).
Well, besides the fact that the Estonians are pro-Enlightenment Europeans and the Russians are semi-barbaric, well, you know. . . .
Well, besides the fact that the Estonians are pro-Enlightenment Europeans and the Russians are semi-barbaric, well, you know. . . .
the correct term of derision you’re looking for is ‘tatar’ 🙂
how does it matter if you have 1 adult in a room, or 2 adults + 3 kids? As long as they cram themselves into just that one room, what’s the hotel losing?
OH&S- occ health and safety. the hotel can lose its licence.
Anna, it’s got nothing absolutely to do with vegetarian options. It’s all about the cost yes i agree – classic desi mentality. nothing wrong with it may i add.
If you are in a middle class hotel in india – have a look at the rules posted behind the door 🙂
Correct! You don’t see it, though?! Interesting. . . . I’m pretty sure it shows up in a number of statistics, like domestic violence, male life expectancy. . . .
Razib – Never said anything about Poles and Finns my friend – I know my history mate.
Was talking about the Dutch (Sri Lanka), French (Pondicherry), Portugese (Goa), and of course our good friends the Brits.. Germans were too late to the game but of course that a whole another story… anyways, dont get too carried away! peace out..
I recently moved to Geneva early this year, which is by far one of the blandest and most expensive cities I have lived in, but there has been nothing more comforting this summer than watching the droves of desi families in their winter jackets (it is 25 degrees) hang out outside the UN building, I catch snippets of conversations in Gujarati and get the “hello we’re both brown and I am curious to know what your father does” nod-of-recognition every day I go into work. I wish they would invite me over to their hotel for oondhiyu expertly cooked on their camping stove.
How do you feel about the Muslim invasions of Spain, Portugal, Anatolia, Greece, Sicily, etc., etc., swiss-cheese? Oh, those naughty, naughty Europeans!!
When I read this article (granted I didn’t get to the end of the article)….my first thought, how cool is it that they have a Bollywood tour! I can imagine my family loving it! 😛
As for the hotel thing, I can see some in my fam doing that..not the cooking part, but bringing your own food b/c you don’t like the veggie options. In fact, my entire fam got their own tour bus and traveled on tour in Europe…and ate Indian food cooked by the tour company. The kids (18 and under) hated it b/c they didn’t get to eat the European food…but the adults were in heavan! Indian food and seeing Europe? What could be better? 😛
Re: Poland colonization (sort of):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Courland_and_Semigallia
Though I’ve mainly (once) heard it associated with “Latvia.” To think, 300 years later, they might have come 50 miles from Seerpersad Naipaul.
. Germans were too late to the game but of course that a whole another story
that’s the simple story. more specifically bismarck didn’t see the benefit of overseas colonies and squelched attempts as long as he could. but more generally the germans did have a colonial enterprise, it was just in east-central europe. of the member nations of the EU, poland, the czech republic, slovakia, romania, finland, estonia, lithuania, latvia and bulgaria, have long histories of being ruled as colonies or dependencies or what not of other powers, nations and cultures (in romania and bulgaria’s case, by a non-western culture in the ottomans). and of course the swiss just famously wanted to be left alone.
in any case, i understand the thrust of your comment, and it probably was totally innocuous. but i figured i would try and make a stamp before the inevitable devolution into resentment over colonialism, complaints about white racism, and of course blithe anti-white racism, occurred.
Man – there are a bunch of Brown Uncle Tom’s (of the Euro-zone variety here). Here goes..(sigh):
SwissPride – “In June, the Zurich newspaper Tages-Anzeiger featured an article with the headline “Into the Luxury Hotel with a Gas Cooker,†noting that “in some hotels an entire caste of guests is no longer desired: the Indians.†Dont you find this kinda repulsive? Look, I am not trying to stir anything nationalist here – we were also invaded time and time again by Muslims, so whats your point exactly? All I was saying is that Europeans dont need to be unsettled by Indian tourists – just like they forgave Americans (with their ketchup demands) because of the Dollars they were spending in Europe – they have to come to terms with Indians (and their chutney and vada-pav demands)- thats all. This is the post-colonial reality which some folks dont seem to get!
Even my husband’s central Delhi office building has a sign up imploring people to “not wash cooking vessels in the stairwell”. So it’s not just Swiss hotels getting angsty. I think the hotels are probably more uptight more about the spicy cooking smells getting into the soft furnishings.
Zurich has a very nice vegetarian restaurant called Hilti . Its actually the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe, some 111 years old. And amazing food. But other than that, I was literally reduced to boiled vegetables, bread and chesse, and ice-cream!
Razib, are there a lot of desis in Italy? I heard an estimate of 300,000 somewhere. Which is like 0.5% of the population.
Granted, there are some people whose food habits are just too different to adjust. If you are vegetarian, no one should force you to eat meat. And no one should have to have an experience akin to a Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman episode. But I never got the Indian obsession with “too bland”. Give me a freaking break. Is it really that much of a hassle to eat “bland” food for a freaking week? Maybe all those spices deaden your taste buds that they can’t appreciate “bland” food. Some people’s taste buds are so used to overspicing that I had a hard time getting a couple of Indians to appreciate Persian kabobs which were marinated in a very light lemony juicy marinade. Really tasty. But these people need a thousand spices in every freaking dish. FWIW, I am the champion of eating hot food. I haven’t met a person who can eat a spicier dish than I yet. I could go on Man Vs Food and help out the host in some of those hot wings challenges. Anyway, I think a lot of the newly rich Indians needs to learn what it takes to behave like a rich person and get a little adventurous in their eating.
Having said that, I do realize Switzerland is a damn expensive place. But do people have to really stay in a hotel? I would think a cheaper hotel with a couple of rooms for the family would be more comfortable than a midrange hotel and have everyone crammed into one room.
BUt I do agree that it is funny to see some sort of payback. I really can’t feel sorry for the Swiss. Europeans don’t take into account Indians feelings when they tour india. So why shouldn’t Indians be the “ugly” traveler for a change. I get a slight kick out of seeing the whining in Europe.
Also , Europeans need to stop lecturing the US on social issues. Looks like there is more intolerance in Europe towards foreign cultures than the in the US.
hey, at least we should be thankful that the ban on “minarets” wasn’t a result of some indian tourists expressing their ardent and visible appreciation of the swiss “sights”.
There’s an interesting blog entry about Indian tourists in Switzerland here: http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/a-foreigners-impression-of-london-paris-and-switzerland/
I just woke up a little while ago, so please forgive any lingering crankiness:
This kind of story in the NYT is why I’m so glad I use Global Voices online for my source for international news rather than the ny times. Not only do I get more desi content, but I get, in the aggregate, far less pablum like this. It’s infuriating to see these kinds of stories and realise the kind of structural discrimination that exists in the American media that believes that Indian tourism is ‘a story’ whereas this is not. I can’t believe the Indian tourists story is not even in the horrific travel section, but in the Europe section, as far as I can tell.
Furthermore, given that Switzerland recently banned minaret construction entirely by referendum (which was entirely unnecessary even if you’re a racist because they didn’t give building permits for them anyway), you would think that some mention of Muslim tourists from India or the opinions of Indian tourists on the ban might find some space into the article.
But I guess that’s too much to ask from the NYT 😉 Here is the much better news source http://globalvoicesonline.org/ And you can put it in google reader, so you can pick and choose what your read, find out about the experiences of Moroccan women who live with their parents until they are 40 or how Dhaka celebrated the world cup after Brazil and Argentina got kicked out, rather than the usual standard fare of the journalistic equivalent of an English breakfast that the NYT constantly produces on these kinds of stories.
And if it wasn’t for that horse, you wouldn’t have spent that year in college…
There is a lot more intolerance in Europe than in the US. UK is different, but rest of Europe, quite frankly don’t bother going there.
swiss_cheese
To be fair though. In the 80’s the Scandinavians where unwanted at the hotels because they where always drunk, these days it’s the british who have that reputation. In the alps they just don’t like other people, not even europeans.
Can I also say that I hate Sangam. I remember being bored out of my mind watching this overlong movie at a cousin’s place. My cousins seemed to love it. I guess I understand why these movies going overseas had an appeal at one time. But why do Indian movies still do this crap even now? It just looks so dorky when they have some non descript blondes dance behind the hero and heroine near some foreign sites. Who the hell cares about that stuff now? Isn’t the novelty over? Bollywood, grrrr.
At least the Swiss didn’t make monkey noises at Indian tourists like some europeans do when they spot a black player with the ball at a soccer match.
Switzerland always wanted to isolate the selves, they are not a part of EU, they didn’t join the United Nations until 2002. Another fun fact about Switzerland is that women didn’t get the vote until 1971. It’s just a beautiful country with ugly people, but if people want to see the alps they might as well go to France and see Chamonix.
Pravin
About the monkey noises you would have to be more specific than just saying Europeans, it happens in Italy, Spain and in former eastern Europe.
What some people must remember is that Europe is very different from America, they hardly have any immigrant middle class and the homogeneous society is universally celebrated. That Europe actually need immigration because of their demographics to sustain the work force is something they struggle very hard with.
SM needs to run a “write like a gora contest”. It’ll be lots of fun.
Switzerland is exceedingly boring, the Swiiss as bland as a poorly made emmenthal. I live right next door and haven’t bothered to visit. As a child, my parents once took me to Zurich. I liked the chocolates and the fluffy down bed. That memory is enough. Italy is another matter and should not be missed, ugly tourists or no. I visited in June–as Razib said, lots of Indians this time. It pleased me no end that the African hawker called me Hema Malini. He didn’t get the sale though. The India/Indian tourists don’t bother me but their recently poor, loud nouveau riche Silicon valley brothers with their ditzy arm candy does.
@ Pravin ” Is it really that much of a hassle to eat “bland” food for a freaking week? ” You know, I think it is for some people. When I first moved to the US I literally doused everything I ate in ketchup, salt/pepper. It was many moons before I could “de-tox” my taste buds from years of spicy food and start to appreciate the actual flavor of what I ate vs just the spices. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my chili chips and desi food but if I had visited Switzerland then I pbly would have found the food inedible.
Having just returned from Geneva last week, I can vouch for the lack of vegetarian options. My omnivore preschoolers thought the food to be boring and bland. The best meal they ate was overpriced, low quality Indienne food. I have never missed my rice cooker so much.
As far as, hotel rooms, we booked an expensive (according to me) jr. suite, so that all of us would have spots, but the hotel room was 1/2 the size of a regular hampton inn in the US. I agree with posters opinions of the French, Italian, and Austrian Alps.
Great article thanks.
That’s because unlike in Western cultures, mothers (and parents in general) don’t love their children. I didn’t say that. So says Stanley Kurtz who’s done “field-work” in India and proved that neither do parents love their children, even romantic/conjugal partners don’t love each other.
You should know better Amon
Dog bites man = Non-western Parents pursuing Western kidnappers who stole their son
Man bites dog = Non-western parents who sell their children for profit
Dog bites man = Indian tourists spending heckuva a lot of money in Switzerland buying into a marketing campaign designed and executed by the Swiss, targeted at them
Man bites dog = Indian tourists planting themselves in Switzerland and sullying the place with curry smells
Anna’ma, this is the last time, I mean it, the last time, you will post links to eye-popping veggie dishes, that I get to read about at 8.00 am in the middle of nowhere, with no means to either make or savour such manna. @#$*****@@@. I am v.v.v.cross
Isn’t America the biggest tourist bargain compared to some of these European countries? Unless you are a backpacker, it looks like Western Europe is just overpriced and not that hospitable. Maybe more Indians should come over to the US for longer periods and explore the different time zones. Rent a car and driiiiiive. Decent motel prices. Cheap food. A lot of Gujarati owned motels meaning maybe you can get some understanding on vegetarian meals .Maybe even make a deal to have them supply home cooked meals.
I know one thing – Switzerland is very low on my places to visit. Unless some company is paying me for a conference to go there, forget it.
SO true! Or Val d’Isere.
I’ve always found Switzerland to be shady and backward as a nation. The fact that they basically forbid naturalization even for native births is a good indicator of their character, as well as the facts you listed. Color me loveless.
The picture of the Swiss Alps is so roted in the Indian mind, I’m an avid skiier and spent almost 4 weeks in Val d’Isere, when I told this to my relatives the only question I got was. Could you see the Swiss Alps from France?
Jai Ho, Pravin @37.
We were vacationing in Europe in May of this year, and my friend Jyotiprasad and his wife Olga in Zurich, took us to a nice restaurant called Taj Palace, and the owners are Sekhar & Sikha Dhar. The ambiance, the food (both veg and non-veg) was exceelent. While we were dining a whole tour bus brought people from all over “Desh”, and they all came, ate and left happy. What more can we expect from Swiss? I am just saying;-). Flip the coin for argument sake, and think what an authentic Swiss couple would have found in Mumbai or Delhi to satisfy their food expectations. As far as view of the Swiss Alps and surrounding mountains, I must say it was breathtaking from a town called Lucerene – just an hour drive from Zurich. No wonder Raj Kapoor, Vaijayantimala and Rajendrakumar went there back in the sixties. “Dost Dost Naa Raha” and “O mere Sanam” are evergreen in my memory.
Switzerland is basically the Dubai of Europe, economy-wise (sans the ruling dynasty; but with the guest workers). I remember a couple of years ago meeting a Bangladeshi hawker/sometime hotel worker there who had some of the most brilliant observations about the country, one of which was to the effect that the survival of Switzerland was based on maintaining a certain kind of illusion (to the rest of the world), and only when you lived there as a worker for a few years you understood the real nature of the economy (only a small proportion of people living in Switzerland have “real” citizenship, or even equivalent to what in the U.S. would be considered permanent residents’ rights). It was far more evocative in Bangla, so the latter is a poor translation (he was extra happy that I spoke Bengali fluently even though I was not from West Bengal).
(only a small proportion of people living in Switzerland have “real” citizenship, or even equivalent to what in the U.S. would be considered permanent residents’ rights
This is a load of bullcrap–80% is a “small proportion”? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Switzerland
Migros chocolate is so cheap and pretty good. Just eat a few bars and you’re good to go.
Switzerland is basically the Dubai of Europe, economy-wise (sans the ruling dynasty; but with the guest workers).
This is a ridiculous analogy. Switzerland was built into one of the world’s best economies by Swiss people, and is still overwhelmingly Swiss–yes, like most rich countries poor people are moving in now in some numbers. Dubai, in contrast, was built by foreigners and is overwhelmingly foreign.
I think tvs is partly right about Switzerland being the Dubai of Europe. The Swiss people did quite frankly build nothing, their banking rules and low taxes attracted a lot of money to the country and Switzerland wasn’t really bothered if the money came from a dictator or a mobster abroad. The low taxes attracted a lot of foreign companies mainly banks and pharmaceuticals, which employed mostly foreign workers, now the term guest worker gives you a whole different picture. But it is true that it isn’t really the Swiss people bringing in the money to the country.
And as for its people they are a bunch of bigots, true Europe is to a much larger extent than the US, but Switzerland is one of a kind.
“Foreign” in Switzerland includes their neighboring countries such as Germany, Italy + mostly people from other EU countries, thats like calling a Texan in New York a foreigner.
San, Your logic is way off. A Swiss calling a German a foreigner is not like a New Yorker calling a Texan a foreigner–it’s like a New Yorker calling a Canadian a foreigner b/c they’re, you know, foreign. Sheesh.
“The Swiss people did quite frankly build nothing, their banking rules and low taxes attracted a lot of money to the country.” I see, it doesn’t count that we’re rich b/c it’s just our smart laws that made us so. Working with our minds to get rich doesn’t count. Only physical work counts, huh? Not in the modern world, genius. Sheesh.
“And as for its people they are a bunch of bigots.” Wow, you are so full of hate, I wonder why? Maybe you need some of our fine Swiss pharma products to get you thinking straight. Meanwhile, we Swiss will go back to our bourgeois comforts, bland food and all, and keep contributing to modernity. Sheesh.
@Pravin
I hated Sangam too.
@San The Italian alps are also quite beautiful, and have arguably better food (my favorite ski slope lunch is penne all’arrabita, and then good hot chocolate for after-skiing).
SwissPride
I wouldn’t call attracting money from various dictators and mobsters working with your head, it’s like the Swiss dodging during WW2, you just need to be shameless enough to do it. Why would I hate Switzerland? I live in New York City and really don’t have to give a damn, but since this post was about Switzerland and desi tourists, I just gave my two cents that if you are desi you probably would have a far better holiday if you went to a friendlier country.
As for the Swiss people wanting to live alone in isolation, I just say, knock yourself out, I won’t bother you.