Dos & Donts in India Priya Sahgal and Rama Lakshmi

Think of India and what comes to mind? Elephants? Maharajas? The Taj Mahal? Heat and dust? Indira Gandhi? Bollywood? Stomach ache? Beaches and temples? … India has it all. Even to travel one hundred miles can be like crossing an international boundary. The language will be different. The food is new and surprising. The roads blacktopped or sprinkled with potholes. Whatever you say about India, somebody will prove you wrong because the ancient country is where contradictions began, for every Do there is a Don’t.

How should you be dressed when your bed-tea arrives at the crack of dawn? And when the taxi driver demands you pay 12 times the fare on the meter, do you lose your cool? Not if you’ve read this advice of this guide to calmly ask for the “fare conversion chart”. The mystery that is India is unlocked in this lavishly illustrated, comprehensive guide to doing the right thing in this country.

To ensure that you, the foreign resident, fleeting visitor or armchair traveller, enjoy your stay in Indian, this is a light hearted but practical guide to the Dos & Don’ts of this country.
- Don’t be offended by personal questions such as “how old are you”? or Why aren’t you married? They’d asked out of interest and are not considered rude. Do be assured that you can ask these questions too.
- Don’t be startled if Happy and Pinky and Bubbles and Snoopy are actually huge, burly, turbaned Sikhs. Indian love their nicknames.
- Don’t step out of your house in a group of three. The work will not get done.

Want to know what happens if you don’t let the eunuchs bless your child? Then DO buy this book!