Arto's Blog - Latest Comments on Mixed feelings in Jaipur

Sachin in response to: Mixed feelings in Jaipur

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 10:48:28 +0000

Dear Arto, I was searching something else on google.. found your blog accidently! I am a local resident of jaipur. sorry to know about your experience. It seems you got a bad company here.. Anyway, did you visit Amer fort, City Palace, Albert hall?

ajt in response to: Mixed feelings in Jaipur

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:09:30 +0000

Dear Jan, Thank you for your comment. I spent 3.5 months in India during my trip and greatly enjoyed my stay. Many wonderful people were so kind, honest and hospitable that I could only be amazed and grateful for having the chance to meet them. However, in my case Jaipur was the city where things didn’t go so nicely. It doesn’t mean that everybody in Jaipur would be corrupt and I’m sure many visitors have had and will have a great time there. Still, what I wrote was a honest account of my own experience, and I think it’s also important to write about these less pleasant moments. Please see the India category in this blog to get a more balanced view of how my overall experience was in the country. Finally, I would like to say a few words about trusting people on the street. I believe there are so many friendly people out there to meet and so much to learn from them, that I want to be open and receptive instead of being scared and turning them away. I try to avoid obvious scams (usually they are easy to detect) and step back if things seem to go wrong, but otherwise the default for me is to trust, and not trusting is an exception. Perhaps it sounds naive, but this approach has really made my life better and helped me to see how much good there is in the world. Regards, Arto

Jan Heitz-Feinken in response to: Mixed feelings in Jaipur

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:57:26 +0000

Dear Arto, I don’t know how much time you have spent in India, but I feel that your judgement towards it is narrow. You criticize Jaipur for having a wealthy (albeit corrupt) contingent while also having a population of impoverished, yet you criticize them for making tourist attractions into profitable exercises. Furthermore, this phenomena is not specifically found in Jaipur. Most everywhere you go in India, you will find the absurdly rich as well as the absurdly poor. In reference to your comment on people whom you can trust in Jaipur, I have a question for you: who can you trust on the streets in any city in this whole world? Due to the fact that you are a foreigner, untrustworthy people or shady characters will seek you out because they think you are a.) absurdly rich (like the jewelry mafia nightclubbers) and b.) highly gullible/trusting. Jaipur is a beautiful place with beautiful people. I’m sorry you didn’t have the foresight to see beyond its corruption and the opportunity to meet more of the honest and hospitable locals. Sincerely and Disappointed, Jan H-F

jessica in response to: Mixed feelings in Jaipur

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:02:50 +0000

guys jaipur is really awesome it rocks.i have a keen desire to see jaipur. i didn’t ever go there