Why I have no desire to see India

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by RCR

Thank you, daffy4u. There IS danger everywhere.

There can't be many places that haven't suffered violence.

I've been to Thailand, Indonesia, the UK, the US, India, Iran, Turkey, France, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan and other countries, all of which have suffered turmoil of one sort or other. Some of those places I would be delighted to return to. If I was booked to fly to India right now, I would go with pleasure.

As it is, I'm booked to fly to Thailand again at Christmas. I've been there before when there was rioting and bombings. There's no way I would allow the current troubles in that country to stop me going there.

(Hmm, in New York once I did the tourist thing of going to the top of the World Trade Centre. I certainly won't do THAT again).

Ah, but then, you aren't a member of one of the groups being targeted. Or, is it open season on the Aussies and no one told me??

In addition, if it does become Aussie hunting season (the way it appears to be for the Americans and Brits), who exactly is supposed to risk their life to pull your ass out of the fire when you are held hostage??

Or, are you willing to just throw up your hands and not expect any help? Just curious.

Me, I'm not going anywhere where there are a lot of people who want to kill me simply because (1) I'm an American citizen and (2) I'm a tourist. In my opinion (and please note that this is strictly an opinion) it would be tantamount to being American and Jewish in 1943 and deciding it would be a fun time to visit Germany just to take in the view of the Alps.

In other words ... not a particularly good idea.

[Patricia]

Ah, but we are fortunate in having a choice about where we live and where (or whether) we travel.
Many of the inhabitants of Mumbai, Afganistan and Iraq are either too poor to travel, or other countries are reluctant to accept them.

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Ah, but then, you aren't a member of one of the groups being targeted. Or, is it open season on the Aussies and no one told me??

In addition, if it does become Aussie hunting season (the way it appears to be for the Americans and Brits), who exactly is supposed to risk their life to pull your ass out of the fire when you are held hostage??

Or, are you willing to just throw up your hands and not expect any help? Just curious.

Me, I'm not going anywhere where there are a lot of people who want to kill me simply because (1) I'm an American citizen and (2) I'm a tourist. In my opinion (and please note that this is strictly an opinion) it would be tantamount to being American and Jewish in 1943 and deciding it would be a fun time to visit Germany just to take in the view of the Alps.

In other words ... not a particularly good idea.

I agree wholeheartedly.

It annoys the hell out of me when I read of morons deciding to take a vacation to some 'hot spot', putting their lives in danger, then bleating that their govenment did not act swiftly enough when the do get into trouble. It also makes me ten times more annoyed when I hear that they have children in tow with them.

The history of India is fascinating, but after I read the book "The City of Joy' by Dominuque Lapierre it toned down my urge to visit.

It's all so sad that humans are their own worst enemies.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Ah, but we are fortunate in having a choice about where we live and where (or whether) we travel.
Many of the inhabitants of Mumbai, Afganistan and Iraq are either too poor to travel, or other countries are reluctant to accept them.

Very true, unfortunately, when people who live in hot spots and war zones travel, we call it "being a refugee." I'm not certain they have a choice in the matter either way.

I feel incredibly fortunate that I live in a country that is relatively speaking at peace within its borders. And, yes, I absolutely get the irony in that, considering that the wars in Afganistan and Iraq were, for all intents and purposes, started by the US.

But really, having a figurative bullseye painted on your back makes me want to hunker down, put a fire in the fireplace, pick up a good book and a glass of good wine, wait for a cat to curl up in my lap, and stay the hell put.

[arvsinha]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Yes, but at home, I don't get singled out simply because I am a tourist. I'd like to think that, while foreign tourists are from time to time hurt or killed in random acts of violence here in the States, no group who wants to simply massacre them because they are tourists will ever start operating here.



No problem, Kovid. If I want to give business to an Indian cab driver, all I have to do is travel to any mid to large sized American city and hail a cab.

[QUOTE]Ah, but then, you aren't a member of one of the groups being targeted. Or, is it open season on the Aussies and no one told me??

In addition, if it does become Aussie hunting season (the way it appears to be for the Americans and Brits), who exactly is supposed to risk their life to pull your ass out of the fire when you are held hostage??

Or, are you willing to just throw up your hands and not expect any help? Just curious.

Me, I'm not going anywhere where there are a lot of people who want to kill me simply because (1) I'm an American citizen and (2) I'm a tourist. In my opinion (and please note that this is strictly an opinion) it would be tantamount to being American and Jewish in 1943 and deciding it would be a fun time to visit Germany just to take in the view of the Alps.

In other words ... not a particularly good idea.[\QUOTE]

I think that the business of targeting americans and british has been blown out of ALL proportion.
According to the latest figures, out of around 156 dead in the attacks, only 12 were foreigners and they included many nationalities.
Considering that they targeted the poshest hotel in Bombay, where lots of tourists stay, you would know that casualties among foreign tourist has been minimal.
This kind of Terrorist Attack is probably unprecedented any where in the world.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by arvsinha

Considering that they targeted the poshest hotel in Bombay, where lots of tourists stay, you would know that casualties among foreign tourist has been minimal.
This kind of Terrorist Attack is probably unprecedented any where in the world.

Attacking tourist hotels certainly isn't "unprecidented". The Europa Hotel in Belfast in Northern Ireland - the "poshest" hotel in the city - for many years had the dubious distinction of being the "most bombed building in the world". The IRA would bomb it, it would be rebuilt, bombed again, rebuilt again, etc etc etc.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Well, they probably will. However, like cockroaches, more will spring up and continue their 'cause'.

I wish there was a solution.

Were you to take the entire worlds wealth, and somehow distribute it equally among its peoples, there would still be those who would find reasons to hate.

Eliminate organized religion and you will have race wars.

Eliminate all different races, make everyone the same color, and you will have men against women.

I read this story in a novel somewhere, some time.

The problem isn't poverty, religion, race or anything else.

Its us.

DG, I think there is a clue in your statement somewhere.

Personally, since I've retired, I consider a trip across town to be a long journey, although I do make an occasional trip to the mountains to vegetate (my version of meditate).

Some years ago I deployed to Saudi Arabia. This was a few months after the Kobar Tower bombing (also a few months after the Atlanta, GA bombing). My family was very concerned about my safety and were somewhat perturbed when I pointed out that I would be as far from the Kobar Towers as I lived from Atlanta and they were not concerned about my safety here. Things that seem so near when on the other side of the world are often not really so near.

[tHeFiRsTiDioT]

Its finally over...

[HarryT]

For me personally, travel is one of life's greatest delights, and I certainly wouldn't let some vague worry about "terrorism" put me off it, because, let's face it, these days there's nowhere that's free of it - it's just as likely to happen to you at home as it is on the other side of the world.

I take the view that we're only here for a short time and, when your life comes to an end, you're more likely to look back and regret the things you didn't do than those that you did.

[ashkulz]

Too true, Harry. It is a sad fact that the era of fighting wars with soldiers has passed, because everywhere you go in the world you find that it is one group (organized crime, warlords, terrorists, etc) against the civilization they live in. You can just be thankful that you have not been affected (which I certainly am, as all my near and dear ones are safe) and live on, without perpetual fear dogging your every action.

[RickyMaveety]

[QUOTE=arvsinha;297870]

I think that the business of targeting americans and british has been blown out of ALL proportion.
According to the latest figures, out of around 156 dead in the attacks, only 12 were foreigners and they included many nationalities.
Considering that they targeted the poshest hotel in Bombay, where lots of tourists stay, you would know that casualties among foreign tourist has been minimal.
This kind of Terrorist Attack is probably unprecedented any where in the world.

Well, people who were there and survived reported that the terrorists separated out all tourists holding British and American passports. So, do you think I'm supposed to think they weren't singling out those individuals??

The fact that most of the dead and injured were not among the targeted group does not make me feel any better about going there. It just makes me think that targeted groups should not travel to hotspots because a lot of locals are going to get killed or injured in the process of trying to protect those who are targeted.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For me personally, travel is one of life's greatest delights, and I certainly wouldn't let some vague worry about "terrorism" put me off it, because, let's face it, these days there's nowhere that's free of it - it's just as likely to happen to you at home as it is on the other side of the world.

I take the view that we're only here for a short time and, when your life comes to an end, you're more likely to look back and regret the things you didn't do than those that you did.

Just makes me really happy I traveled over much of the world before being a tourist meant taking some fundamentalist's bullet in the back.

Will I regret not seeing those countries a second or third time?? No ... not so much.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Eliminate organized religion and you will have race wars.

Eliminate all different races, make everyone the same color, and you will have men against women.
I read this story in a novel somewhere, some time.

The problem isn't poverty, religion, race or anything else.
Its us.

I think that the story might be Ursula le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Well, they probably will. However, like cockroaches, more will spring up and continue their 'cause'.

I wish there was a solution.

Were you to take the entire worlds weath, and somehow distribute it equally among its peoples, there would still be those who would find reasons to hate.

Eliminate organized religion and you will have race wars.

Eliminate all different races, make everyone the same color, and you will have men against women.

I read this story in a novel somewhere, some time.

The problem isn't poverty, religion, race or anything else.

Its us.

That does remind me of Lathe of Heaven as well. However, even with organized religion we have race wars, and even with different races we have men against women ... I don't suppose any of you heard about the latest Taliban attack, on a girls school ... where they threw acid on the faces of the students and teachers ... all female, of course.

If the Taliban learned that sort of behavior by studying the Q'ran, I'll eat my paint pants.

[digitalzen]

Well, do you have a desire to see NYC or DC? Terrorists are targeting us everywhere. I would still travel to India. If anything, the security is going to be a lot higher now (which could make traveling a headache).