Racism and Racists

I have now been travelling for around seven months and I have discovered that I am becoming a bit of a racist, but in my defence I would say that it is a racism born from being used, abused and mistreated by those who I put my trust in and should have been on my side when all others were indifferent.

When I book online to check out a hotel, I was chosing the hostels and hotels with not the best price, but a low price combined with the best ratings to ensure that my stay would be as smooth as possible and that perhaps I could avoid being ripped by the local hawks and touts that can be found in most airports and major train stations, especially near places considered of high importance on the tourist trail.

When I arrived in Delhi my hotel had arranged for me an airport pickup and charged me 440 rupees, the standard being 250 but it was early in the morning so they felt they could increase the price accordingly.

During the ride into town the taxi driver said that if I wanted to go to Acra then I had best use their personal taxi service as the trains were very busy, hot, expensive and booked full for weeks in advance. I thanked his for his advice and took it under offer.

When I arrived at the hotel the owner said the same thing and so I originally cancelled the trip til in the end the tour desk clerk convinced me that it would be worth it and again that the train was not possible as it would be very hard to book for me and be a very long, expensive and uncomfortable journey even if I could book a seat.

With three people all telling me the same advise I decided to trust them and so did not go for a wander to find the local train statoin myself, but agreed to go with them that day. The car's air conditioning was not working properly, it broke down twice and the traffic on the way back extended a 3 hour journey into a 5 hour journey.

That was yesterday.

Today I had no plans and as I finished my blogging early, due to being woken very early by the pigeons mating outside my room, I decided to go for a walk and randomly found the train station after a bit of walk just at the very end of the road that it was off of. At the station was a nice big blue sign saying that international tourists should go upstairs to the booking office and avoid talking to touts or locals saying that the tourist place is closed.

When I went upstairs I easily found the place and within ten minutes I got to talk to a clerk who confirmed that there were several trains that left for Acra each day, that a luxury train including a meal and air conditioning was only 400 rupees each way and that I could book as many tickets as I wanted for whichever day I wanted, including today, quickly and easily then and there, and if I booked in advance and didn't mind slumming it a bit I could get a ticket for a normal train even cheaper.

My hotel charged me 4200 rupees for a return journey that was long, boring, hot, without working air conditioning and without a meal. Five minutes up the road I coud easily get a ticket for 800 that would not be delayed by traffic and offered all the luxuries and comforts that the stuck in traffic private car ride would not.

When I went back and confronted the tour desk and hotel owner they were both very blazais about it all, suggesting that it was my fault, denying that they put any pressure on me to book with then, denying that they blatantly lied about how difficult or expensive the train was and refused to give even a partial refund for their treachery.

And remember all this was from a hostel voted #1 in Delhi in 2007 and was still receiving favourable reports when compared to other places in Delhi.

People who claim that racism is bad and wrong are often suffering from the bleeding hearts syndrome and are people who have never been on the rough end of trying to deal with the locals fairly and honestly. I believed that the hotel I was staying in would offer good advice and failing that would at least offer some apology and partial refund if I was unsatisfactory with their tours or advice given, but what I got was a rude brush off from a staff who unanimously gave me the go-tell-someone-who-gives-a-fuck atittude.

Asuming that the people who gave the hostel good reviews had even one brain cell between them it is highly likely that they gave it a good rating after visiting other places and feeling that this place was good, yet under my analysis it is not good just possibly better than the other local hostels and hotels.

Thus it feel that it is unwise to trust most indians, that I do not want to get close to most indians, that I do not want to visit India again and that if I never saw an Indian again it would not be a bad thing. If that makes me a racist then so be it, but I say that they started it and when confronted with their own lies and unscrupulous behavoir were neither apologietic, understanding nor made any effort to remedy the situation so that I would leave on happier terms.

All men may be made equally, but by their behavior, beliefs and attitutude to those around then some show themselves to be lesser men than others.

If as a race of people you live off lying and cheating others then do not expect to be granted the same sympathy or compassion that those from other races benefit from, and especially not from the very people from whom you treated unfairly in the past simply by because you feel you want it. Instead be ready to receive nothing short of contempt, distrust and dislike.

Unless and until you as a race can first learn to treat others fairly I feel you have no ethical or moral right whatsover to complain when you receive less than an equal treatment away from home soil.

I began my travels with my eyes and heart open to all and a dislike for no race, only individuals. However time and again I have been cheated and lied to and when I find out that far from being unexpected this behavoir is considered normal I can only feel that those responsible are sadly not a disgrace to their race but instead a reflection of them as a whole.