कोरोना का ईलाज Treatment of Corona

इस पोस्ट को लिखने के पीछे मेरा केवल एक धेय है मैं कोविड पॉजिटिव से नेगेटिव होने तक के अपने अनुभव को लोगों के साथ साझा कर सकूं जिससे दूसरों की मदद हो सके. लेकिन मैं एक बात स्पष्ठ कर देना चाहता हूँ की मैं कोई डॉक्टर नहीं हूँ, और न ही इस पोस्ट के माध्यम से मैं किसी को कोरोना के ईलाज के सम्बन्ध में कोई सलाह दे रहा हूँ. हर किसी का शरीर अलग होता है तथा एक ही बीमारी अलग अलग लोगों के साथ अलग अलग तरह से व्यवहार करती है. इसलिए कृपया इस पोस्ट को केवल मेरा अनुभव ही समझे और उससे ज्यादा कुछ भी नहीं. हाँ एक व्यक्तिगत सलाह जरूर देंगे की यदि आपको जरा भी आशंका है की आप कोरोना पॉजिटिव हो सकते हैं तो बिना देरी के अपना टेस्ट करवाएं एवं डॉक्टर से उचित सलाह ले कर ही कोई भी काम करें.

मेरे लिए कोरोना पॉजिटिव होना एक आम इंसान के कोरोना पॉजिटिव होने से बहुत ज्यादा खतरनाक था क्योकि मैं अपने लीवर ट्रांसप्लांट के बाद से immunosuppressive दवाएं लेता हूँ जो मेरे शरीर के रोग से लड़ने की क्षमता को कमजोर रखता है. जहाँ कोरोना के ईलाज के लिए सभी डॉक्टर केवल रोग प्रतिरोधक क्षमता को मजबूत रखना ही इस महामारी का ईलाज बताते हैं वहीँ मजबूरन मैं अपनी रोक प्रतिरोधक क्षमता को कमजोर करने की दावा लेता था. और इस दवा के लेने की वजह से मुझे ये मालूम था की मेरे लिए कोरोना से लड़ना किसी दुसरे आम इन्सान की तुलना में थोडा कठिन होने वाला था. कोरोना जांच की रिपोर्ट आने के पहले ही मुझे इस बात का अंदाज़ हो चूका था की मैं कोरोना पॉजिटिव था क्योकि मेरे सूंघने की शक्ति बिल्कुल क्षीण हो चुकी थी.

जैसे ही मुझे ये अहसाह हुआ था मैं कोरोना पॉजिटिव हो सकता हूँ मैंने सर्वप्रथम अपने आपको बाकी के परिवार के सदस्यों से पूरी तरह से अलग कर लिया था. जब रिपोर्ट आ गयी उसके बाद सबसे पहले मैंने अपने लीवर के डॉक्टर को ILBS हॉस्पिटल में सूचना दी. उन्होंने बोला की immunosuppressive दवाएं बंद कर दो क्योकि कोरोना के ईलाज में रोग प्रतिरोधक क्षमता मजबूत होनी चाहिए और मेरी दवाएं उसको कमजोर रखने के लिए हैं. ये मेरे लिए बहुत विचित्र स्थिति थी क्योकि यदि immunosuppressive दवाएं बंद होती हैं तो मेरे ट्रांसप्लांट हुए लीवर के लिए घातक है और यदि वो दवाएं लेते रहे तो कोरोना के ईलाज के लिए घातक.

उन्होंने मुझे कोरोना के ईलाज से सम्बंधित कुछ दवाएं भी दी. मेरे डॉक्टर का कहना था की कोरोना के लिए कोई विशेष दवा नहीं बनी है, व्यक्ति का खुद का शरीर ही कोरोना से लड़ता है. साथ में जो दवाएं दी जाती हैं वो केवल शरीर की आधारभूत जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए दी जाती हैं जैसे मल्टीविटामिन, जिंक और विटामिन C. मुझे मात्र यही 3 दवाएं दी गयी थी, इसके अलावा कुछ भी नहीं. इसके साथ में मुझे दूध-हल्दी, दिन में कम से कम 4 बार भाप लेना, प्राणायाम, सांस लेने से सम्बंधित दूसरे व्यायाम और स्पाईरोमीटर से दिन में 3-4 बार व्यायाम करने के लिए बोला गया. साथ में अपना पल्स रेट और ऑक्सीजन लेवल भी देखते रहने को बोला गया.

मेरे डॉक्टर ने बोला की घर पर आराम करना है, संतुलित भोजन करना है और यदि सांस लेने में तकलीफ होती है तो तुरंत किसी पास के कोविड हॉस्पिटल में एडमिट हो जाना है. डॉक्टर ने ये भी बोला की यदि ऑक्सीजन लेवल 95 से नीचे होता है तो डॉक्टर से संपर्क करना चाहिए. मुझे ऑक्सीजन लेवल का अंदाज़ पहले से था क्योकि अपने लीवर के ईलाज के समय मैं काफी समय तक ऑक्सीजन सपोर्ट पर था और मुझे इस बात का अंदाज़ था की अगर ऑक्सीजन लेवल 90 तक भी पहुच जाता है तो उसमे हॉस्पिटल की तुरंत जरूरत नहीं है. इसके अलावा कुछ स्वास से सम्बंधित व्यायाम भी मुझे काफी पहले से मालूम थे जिसको करने से शरीर का ऑक्सीजन लेवल बढाने में मदद मिलती है जैसे की Proning या कुछ योग एवं प्राणायाम.

प्रोनिंग एक प्रकार की बैठने, लेटने और सांस लेने की विशेष अवस्था है जिसके द्वारा ज्यादा से ज्यादा सांस फेफड़ों में भरी जा सके ताकि शरीर का ऑक्सीजन लेवल बना रहे. प्रोनिंग और योग द्वारा ऑक्सीजन लेवल बढाने की प्रक्रिया लगभग एक सी ही है बस करने का तरीका थोडा अलग है. प्रोनिंग में भी एक विशेष अवस्था में बैठ कर या लेट कर फेफड़ों में ज्यादा से ज्यादा ऑक्सीजन भरने की बात की जाती है और योग प्राणायाम तो पूरी तरह से सांस भरने और छोड़ने पर आधारित प्रक्रिया है. लेकिन इनमे से किसी को भी करने के पहले मुझे ऐसा लगता है की किसी विशेषज्ञ की सलाह लेनी चाहिए. योग प्राणायाम से ऑक्सीजन लेवल बनाये रखने के लिए बाबा रामदेव भी कई आसनों और प्राणायाम बताते हैं जिसको इस विडियो में देख सकते हैं-

मेरे पॉजिटिव होने के कुछ दिन बाद से एक एक कर के मेरे घर के सभी सदस्य कोविड पॉजिटिव हो गए और हम सभी लोगों ने वहीँ दवाइयां ली जो मेरे डॉक्टर ने मुझे बताई थी और वही दिनचर्या का पालन किया जैसा डॉक्टर ने बोला था. मेरे बड़े भाई ने बनारस के किसी डॉक्टर के द्वारा बताई गयी दवाइयां ली थी जो मेरे दवाइयों से थोड़ी अलग थी. बनारस में डॉक्टर मल्टी विटामिन, जिंक, विटामिन C के साथ में Doxycycline, Montelukast and Fexofenadine और Ivermectin भी दे रहे थे जबकि मैंने केवल मल्टीविटामिन, जिंक और विटामिन C ही लिया था. अंततः 15 दिन बाद मैंने अपना RT PCR टेस्ट करवाया और रिपोर्ट नेगेटिव आ गई और एक एक कर के परिवार के सभी सदस्य भी नेगेटिव हो गए.

पॉजिटिव से नेगेटिव होने के इस दौर में जो महत्वपूर्ण बातें नोटिस किया जिससे मुझे बहुत मदद मिली वो थी-

  • जैसे ही शंका हुआ मैंने तुरंत अपना टेस्ट करवा लिया जिससे की मुझे ये पता चल गया की मुझे कोविड का इन्फेक्शन है जिससे मुझे मेरा ईलाज सही समय पर शुरू करने में मदद मिली. आज सभी का ये मानना है की यदि कोविड के इन्फेक्शन का पता सही समय पर चल जाये तो इससे लड़ाई आसान हो जाती है. नहीं तो अगर ये इन्फेक्शन बढ़ गया तो फिर दुनिया जानती है की इसकी कोई दवा नहीं है. इसलिए अगर जरा सा भी शंका हो की कोविड का इन्फेक्शन हो सकता है तो तुरंत टेस्ट करवाना चाहिए और डॉक्टर के निर्देशन में अपना ईलाज शुरू कर देना चाहिए.
  • अपने आपको सबसे अलग कर लेना और घर पर भी रहना बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है क्योकि कोविड शरीर के रोग प्रतिरोधक क्षमता को कमजोर कर देता है और यदि उस समय कोई घर के बाहर आता जाता है या दूसरे व्यक्तियों के संपर्क में आता है तो उसे दूसरा इन्फेक्शन भी आने का खतरा होता है और साथ ही साथ वो अपना इन्फेक्शन दूसरे को भी दे देता है क्योकि कोरोना बहुत ही जबरदस्त संक्रामक वायरस है जो एक व्यक्ति से दूसरे व्यक्ति में बहुत आसानी से फ़ैल जाता है. कई वैज्ञानिक तो यहाँ तक बोल रहे है की ये हवा से फैलने वाला वायरस है इसलिए अपने आपको आइसोलेट कर लेने में ही समझदारी है.
  • भाप लेना बहुत मदद किया – मेरे डॉक्टर ने मुझे दिन में 3-4 बार भाप लेने के लिए बोला था जिसका मुझे बहुत फायदा महसूस हुआ. शायद इसी वजह से मुझे खांसी या खरास की दिक्कत नहीं हुई. भाप लेने के लिए शुरू के 2-3 दिन मैंने घर पर ही बड़े बर्तन में पानी गर्म कर के भाप लिया लेकिन उसके बाद एक छोटी मशीन खरीद लिया जिससे काम और आसान हो गया. भाप लेने सम्बंधित भी कुछ नियम है जिसका पालन करना चाहिए.
  • स्पाईरोमीटर – स्पाईरोमीटर एक छोटा सा यन्त्र होता है जिसका इस्तेमाल फेफड़ों और सांस सम्बंधित व्यायाम करने के लिए किया जाता है. इसमें बंद चौकोर डिब्बे में 3 बाल होती हैं जिससे एक पाइप जुडी होती है. उसी पाइप से सांस अन्दर खीचने पर वो बालें ऊपर की और उठती हैं. जितनी जोर से सांस खींचा जायेगा उतनी ज्यादा बाल ऊपर उठती है. ये फेफड़ों के लिए बहुत ही बेहतरीन व्यायाम है. मेरे डॉक्टर ने मुझे ये व्यायाम दिन में 4-5 बार करने के लिए बोला था.
  • दूध हल्दी का सेवन करना हमेशा से ही अच्छा माना गया है जिसको आयुर्वेद और अंग्रेजी डॉक्टर दोनों लोग मान्यता देते हैं. दूध हल्दी से रोग प्रतिरोधक क्षमता मजबूत है जो की कोरोना से लड़ने का एकमात्र उपाय है. इसका सेवन करने की सलाह भी मुझे मेरे डॉक्टर ने दिया था. इसके साथ में हल्का, सुपाच्य और स्वास्थ्कारी भोजन (घर का बना हुआ ज्यादा तेल, घी, मसाले वाला नहीं) करने की सलाह दी गयी थी.

कुल मिलाजुला कर मेरा अनुभव ये रहा की यदि कोरोना का इन्फेक्शन सही समय पर पता चल जाये और यदि व्यक्ति डॉक्टर की सलाह माने तो इस इन्फेक्शन को ख़त्म करने में बहुत मदद मिल सकती है. इसलिए यदि जरा सी भी शंका हो तो तुरंत टेस्ट करवाना चाहिए. दूसरी बहुत महत्वपूर्ण बात ये की इस इन्फेक्शन को लेकर घबराना नहीं चाहिए. मैंने देखा है की लोग कोरोना का नाम सुनते ही बहुत ज्यादा डर जाते हैं. जहाँ तक हो सके सकारात्मक रहने का प्रयास करना चाहिए, घर पर हैं तो अपने पसंद की फिल्म देखिये, किताबें पढ़िए….कोई भी काम जो बिना किसी दूसरे से मिले जुले हो सकता है. जहाँ तक हो सके हॉस्पिटल से दूरी बनाने में ही समझदारी है.

मुझे ऐसा लगता है की यदि मेरे जैस आदमी जिसका मात्र 5 महीने पहले लीवर ट्रांसप्लांट हुआ हो, जो immunosupressive दवाएं लेता हो अगर वो इस वायरस को परास्त कर सकता है तो कोई भी व्यक्ति सही निर्णय लेकर कोरोना को परास्त कर सकता है. जैसा की मैंने शुरू में लिखा है की ये लेख मेरा व्यक्तिगत अनुभव मात्र है और इससे ज्यादा कुछ नहीं. मैं कोई डॉक्टर नहीं हूँ ना ही मुझे कोरोना या उससे सम्बंधित कोई वैज्ञानिक जानकारी है. इसलिए इस लेख को एक सच्ची कहानी से ज्यादा कुछ भी न समझे. कुछ भी परेशानी होने पर तुरंत डॉक्टर से संपर्क करें और उनके निर्देशानुसार ही अपना इलाज करें.

वाराणसी में कोरोना टेस्ट Corona test in Varanasi

कोरोना महामारी को शुरू हुए अब लगभग एक साल से ज्यदा बीत गया है और भाग्यवश मैं इस वर्ष मार्च तक इस इन्फेक्शन से बचा ही रहा लेकिन अंततः 18 मार्च को मैं भी Covid पॉजिटिव हो ही गया. जबसे कोविड आया है तबसे अमूमन लोग सफ़र करने से बच रहे हैं लेकिन मुझे लीवर ट्रांसप्लांट के बाद से रेगुलर फॉलोअप के लिए महीने में एक बार ILBS हॉस्पिटल, दिल्ली जाना ही होता है. मार्च में मेरा फॉलोअप 17 तारीख को था जिसके लिए मैं 15 तारीख को ही दिल्ली पहुच गया था. बनारस से दिल्ली का सफ़र मैंने ट्रेन से तय किया था और 15 तारीख को ही हॉस्पिटल में अपना कोविड का जांच करवा लिए थे जिसमे मेरी रिपोर्ट नेगेटिव थी तथा ये रिपोर्ट 3 दिन के लिए मान्य होती है. बिना कोविड नेगेटिव की रिपोर्ट के कोई भी ILBS में डॉक्टर से नहीं मिल सकता है.

अंततः मैं 17 तारीख को अपने डॉक्टर से मिल कर 18 तारीख को बनारस वापस आ गया. उस समय तक मुझे कोई परेशानी नहीं थी. 18 तारीख को मुझे कुछ जरूरी काम होने की वजह से दिन भर बहुत ज्यादा व्यस्तता थी और मैं बिना किसी दिक्कत परेशानी के दिन भर काम किया. अंततः शाम को खाना बनाते मैंने एक बात नोटिस किया की उस रोज मुझे सब्जी में से मसलों की कोई सुगंध नहीं आ रही थी एक बार तो मैंने सोचा की शायद मैं सब्जी में मसाला डालना ही भूल गया जिसकी वजह से सब्जी में कोई सुगंध नहीं है लेकिन फिर मैंने सोचा की अगर मैंने मसाला नहीं भी डाला है तो भी कोई तो सुगंध होनी चाहिए. मैंने कई बार सब्जी का सुगंध लेनें का कोशिश किया लेकिन मैं कुछ भी सूंघ नहीं सकता था.

उसके बाद मैंने परफ्यूम सूंघने का कोशिश किया लेकिन मेरे लिए उसमे भी कोई सुगंध नहीं था. फिर उसके बाद अपने कमरे में रूम फ्रेशनर छिड़क कर देखे लेकिन उसमे भी कोई सुगंध नहीं था. तब मैंने सोचा की शायद ट्रेन में सफर के दौरान मुझे सर्दी-जुकाम हो गया है जिसके लिए मैंने गर्म पानी में विक्स मिला कर भाप लेने का कोशिश किया लेकिन तब भी वही परिणाम – मुझे गर्म पानी में मिले विक्स तक की सुगंध नहीं आ रही थी और तब मुझे अंदाज़ हो गया था की कुछ तो गड़बड़ है. उसी दम मैं अपने परिवार के लोगों से अलग हो गया और अपने आप को एक अलग कमरे में आइसोलेट कर लिया. अगले दिन सुबह होते ही जानकारी इकठ्ठा करने पर मालूम चला की BHU और कुछ एक सरकारी अस्पतालों में कोविड की फ्री जांच हो रही है.

सर्वप्रथम मैंने मेरे घर के पास भेलूपुर में स्थित विवेकानंद सरकारी अस्पताल में संपर्क किया तो उस दिन वहां टेस्ट नहीं हो रहा था क्योकि उस दिन उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार की तरफ से स्वास्थ मेले का आयोजन किया गया था और वही पर सारे कर्मचारी व्यस्त थे. मुझे वहां से कबीरचौरा हॉस्पिटल जाने की सलाह दी गयी. फिर मैं कबीरचौरा हॉस्पिटल गया लेकिन वहां की भयावह स्थिति देखकर मुझे वहां टेस्ट करवाने की हिम्मत नहीं हुई. सर्वप्रथम तो कोई ये भी बताने वाला नहीं था की वहां टेस्ट हो कहाँ रहा है. बहुत खोजने पर हॉस्पिटल के निकासी द्वार पर एक पीपल के पेंड के नीचे दो लोग बैठे दिखे जो covid का टेस्ट कर रहे थे. न ही उनमे से किसी ने PPE किट पहना था और नहीं किसी प्रकार के covid प्रोटोकॉल का पालन किया जा रहा था.

ये सब देखकर मैं वहां से बिना टेस्ट करवाए ही लौट आया. मैंने सोचा की किसी प्राइवेट लैब में ही टेस्ट करवा लूँगा. सबसे पहले मैं Pathkind लैब में गया जहाँ मुझे बोला गया सैंपल लेने के 24 घंटे बाद रिपोर्ट आएगी. फिर मैं Lalpath गया जहाँ और विचित्र स्थिति थी. वहां मुझसे बोला गया की आप 900 रूपये जमा कर के जाइए और कल शाम को हमारा आदमी आपके घर जायेगा सैंपल लेने और फिर उसके 24 घंटे बाद रिपोर्ट आएगी . मैंने बोला की मैं खुद अपनी जांच करवाना चाहता हूँ और उनके लैब में उपलब्ध हूँ तो फिर मेरा सैंपल तुरंत क्यों नहीं लिया जा सकता. तो वो लोग बोले की कोविड का सैंपल घर से ही लिया जायेगा और वो भी कल, कोई दूसरा रास्ता नहीं. मुझे लगा की यदि 2 दिन इंतज़ार ही करना है तो फिर मैं फ्री वाली जांच ही क्यों न करवा लूं .

इसके बाद मैंने बीएचयू में काम करने वाले अपने एक रिश्तेदार को मदद के लिए फ़ोन किया. उसने बोला की मैं शाम 4बजे के बाद आकर कभी भी बीएचयू में टेस्ट करवा सकता हूँ. तभी मेरे पड़ोस में रहने वाले अलोक भईया (जो की स्वास्थ विभाग के कर्मचारी हैं) उनका फोन आया और वो बोले की स्वास्थ मेला में भी कोविड का जांच हो रहा है और मुझे वहां जाना चाहिए. मैं तुरंत स्वास्थ मेला में गया जहाँ कोविड टेस्ट कराने की भी सुविधा थी और वहां मेरा रैपिड एंटीजन और RTPCR दोनों टेस्ट हो गया. रैपिड एंटीजन टेस्ट को एक किट पर करते हैं तथा उसकी रिपोर्ट तुरंत आ जाती है. मेरा रैपिड टेस्ट की रिपोर्ट निगेटिव आई जो की एक बहुत बड़ा सुकून देने वाली खबर थी. लेकिन उसी समय अलोक भईया बोले की रैपिड टेस्ट पर पूरी तरह विश्वास नहीं कर सकते, कई बार इसकी रिपोर्ट निगेटिव आती है लेकिन RTPCR में पॉजिटिव रिपोर्ट आ जाती है.

स्वास्थ मेला में टेस्ट करा कर वहां से थोड़ी दूर चलते ही मेरे रिश्तेदार का फ़ोन आ गया और वो बोला की बीएचयू आ जाइए. फिर वहां से सीधे मैं बीएचयू चला गया और वहां भी RTPCR का सैंपल दे आया. मेरे पहुचने से पहले ही टोनी मेरा रजिस्ट्रेशन करा कर रखा था जिसकी वजह से मुझे लाइन में नहीं लगना पड़ा. मेरे वहां पहुचते ही तुरंत मेरा टेस्ट हो गया और मुझे बताया गया की कल सुबह तक मैं अपनी रिपोर्ट ऑनलाइन चेक कर सकता हूँ. बीएचयू में चीजें ज्यादा बेहतर समझ में आई क्योकि उनके काम करने के तरीके से ही लग रहा था की कम से कम उनलोगों को ये पता था की वो क्या कर रहे हैं नहीं तो कबीरचौरा हॉस्पिटल या स्वास्थ मेला में तो ऐसा लग रहा था की किसी को सड़क से उठा कर बैठा दिया गया है जिसको खुद नहीं मालूम की उसको करना क्या है.

बीएचयू में टेस्ट करने वाले लोग उचित तरीके से PPE किट पहने हुए थे, फेस मास्क लगाये हुए थे, वहां एक दूसरे के बीच दूरी बनवाई जा रही थी और दूसरे नियम कानून का भी पालन करवाया जा रहा था. कुल मिलाजुला कर स्वास्थ मेला, कबीरचौरा हॉस्पिटल, Pathkind लैब और Lalpath लैब से बेहतर अनुभव बीएचयू का रहा. मुझे बीएचयू से ही एक वेबसाइट का लिंक दिया गया था (http://labreports.upcovid19tracks.in/) जहाँ जा कर मैं अपना रिपोर्ट चेक कर सकता था. मुझसे हॉस्पिटल में बोला गया की मैं 24 घंटे बाद वेबसाइट पर अपनी रिपोर्ट देख सकता हूँ. उस वेबसाइट को खोलने पर एक ऑप्शन था जिसमे वही मोबाईल नंबर डालना था जिसको टेस्ट करवाते समय रजिस्टर करवाया गया था क्योकि उसी मोबाइल नंबर पर एक OTP आता है जिसको वेबसाइट पर डालना पड़ता है जिसके बाद रिपोर्ट देख सकते हैं.

कुल मिलाजुला आसान प्रक्रिया थी और हमको लगता है की कोई भी आसानी से ये टेस्ट फ्री में बीएचयू में करवा सकता है. मेरी रिपोर्ट पॉजिटिव थी, मतलब मैं कोरोना संक्रमित था जिसका मतलब की अब मुझे कम से कम अगले 14 दिनों तक घर में रहना था तथा अगली बार का टेस्ट भी दो सप्ताह बाद ही करवाना था. मेरी रिपोर्ट पॉजिटिव आने के अगले दिन ही मुझे स्वास्थ विभाग से फ़ोन आया, उन्होंने मेरे परिवार के सदस्यों के बारे में पुछा और बोले की मुझे अपने पूरे परिवार का टेस्ट करवाना चाहिए. उस दिन शनिवार था इसलिए उन लोगों ने बोला की सोमवार को स्वास्थ विभाग से कुछ लोग मेरे घर जायेंगे और घर पर ही सबका टेस्ट किया जायेगा लेकिन मैं इतना इंतज़ार नहीं करना चाहता था. मेरे अपने परिवार के सदस्यों को भी रविवार को ही बीएचयू भेज कर सबका टेस्ट करवा दिया जिसकी रिपोर्ट भी शाम तक आ गयी.

अंततः 12 बाद जब मुझे स्वास्थ में आराम महसूस होने लगा तब मैंने सोचा की दोबारा से एक बार और टेस्ट करवा लें लेकिन इस बार टेस्ट करवाने के अनुभव पहली बार से बिलकुल अगल था. मैंने पहला टेस्ट 19 मार्च को करवाया था और उस दिन केवल 12 लोगों की पॉजिटिव रिपोर्ट आई थी लेकिन अगले दस दिनों ही इन्फेक्शन इतना तेजी से फैला की प्रति दिन 1000 से ज्यादा लोगों की पॉजिटिव रिपोर्ट आने लगी. मैं अपना टेस्ट करवाने के लिए शाम 6 बजे बीएचयू पंहुचा तो मुझे बोला गया की आप शाम 8 बजे आइये, अभी रजिस्ट्रेशन काउंटर बंद है. फिर मैं शाम 8.30 पर गया तब मुझे बोला गया की रात दस बजे आइये उसी समय रजिस्ट्रेशन भी होगा और टेस्ट भी हो जायेगा.

अंततः रात 10 बजे पहुचने पर भी वहां न ही रजिस्ट्रेशन हो रहा था और न ही टेस्ट. मेरी ही तरह काफी लोग वहां लाइन में खड़े थे. मुझे सबसे बड़ा आश्चर्य ये देख कर हुआ की कई लोग उन रोगियों को भी स्ट्रेचर पर लेकर आये थे जो की पहले से ही बीएचयू में किसी रोग की वजह से भर्ती थे. मुझे ये नहीं समझ में आ रहा था की जो रोगी पहले से ही हॉस्पिटल में भर्ती है उसको टेस्टिंग सेण्टर तक लाने की क्या जरूरत? उनका टेस्ट तो उनके बेड पर ही किया जा सकता था और एक बीमार आदमी को स्ट्रेचर पर लेकर कोविड टेस्टिंग सेण्टर ले कर आना उस पेशेंट के लिए भी खतरा हो सकता है. क्या पता वो निगेटिव हो लेकिन वहां टेस्टिंग सेंटर पर किसी पॉजिटिव व्यक्ति के सम्पर्क में आने से पॉजिटिव हो जाये.

खैर, अंततः रात 10.45 पर रजिस्ट्रेशन शुरू हुआ और सैंपल देते देते रात का 11.30 बज गया. अगले दो दिनों तक ऑनलाइन रिपोर्ट भी नहीं आई तब मैं खुद बीएचयू गया और वहां पता चला की चूँकि इधर बीच बहुत ज्यादा लोग संक्रमित हो रहे हैं और बहुत ज्यादा लोग टेस्ट करवाने आ रहे हैं इसलिए रिपोर्ट आने में 3 दिन तक लग जा रहा है. अंततः तीसरे दिन मेरी रिपोर्ट आई और मेरी रिपोर्ट दोबारा से पॉजिटिव ही था. मुझे नहीं मालूम ये सच है या नहीं लेकिन मुझसे कई लोगों ने बोला की यदि आप की रिपोर्ट एक बार पॉजिटिव आ गयी तो अगले 14 दिनों तक जानबूझ कर नेगेटिव रिपोर्ट नहीं दी जाती ताकि पेशेंट घर में ही रहे. खैर, मुझे इस बात पर विश्वास नहीं था. मुझे ऐसा लगता है की यदि कोई पॉजिटिव है तभी उसकी रिपोर्ट पॉजिटिव आएगी.

मैंने पंद्रहवे दिन फिर से अपना टेस्ट करवाया और इस बार स्थिति और गड़बड़ थी. अबतक औसतन रोज 2000 बनारस में पॉजिटिव हो जा रहे थे और बीएचयू पर बहुत ज्यादा लोड था. पहले की तुलना में कई गुना लोग टेस्ट करवाने के लिए पहुच रहे थे. पहले जहाँ औसतन एक-डेढ़ घंटे में टेस्ट हो जाता था इस बार तकरीबन 3 घंटे लगा और रिपोर्ट भी 3 दिन बाद आई. कुल मिलाजुला कर जितना अच्छा अनुभव शुरुआत में बीएचयू में था वो उतना ही बुरा हो गया. मैंने उसी दिन एक सरकारी अस्पताल में भी अपना सैंपल दिया था जिसकी रिपोर्ट कभी नहीं आई, पता करने पर हमेशा बोला गया की लोड बहुत ज्यादा है इस वजह से रिपोर्ट नहीं आ रही है.

रिपोर्ट लेट होने का कितना घातक परिणाम हो सकता है इस बात का अंदाज़ भी लगा पाना मुश्किल है. यदि कोई टेस्ट करवाता है और उसकी रिपोर्ट 2-3 दिन बाद आती है तो उस बीच में वो कई लोगों को इन्फेक्शन फैला सकता है या बीमारी का पता न चल पाने की स्थिति में हालत और ख़राब हो सकती है. कुल मिलाजुला कर आज की परिस्थिति को देखते हुए किसी प्राइवेट लैब में ही टेस्ट करवा लेना बेहतर है, कम से कम वो रिपोर्ट तो सही समय से देंगे. बस अंतर इतना है की सरकारी अस्पतालों में ये जांच फ्री है और प्राइवेट लैब में 900 रूपये का खर्च है. लेकिन मुझे ऐसा लगता है की यदि पैसा है तो वर्तमान स्थिति को देखते हुए प्राइवेट लैब में ही जांच करवा लेनी चाहिए ताकि सही समय से ईलाज तो शुरू हो सके.

कोरोना पॉजिटिव से निगेटिव होने तक के मेरे अनुभव से मैं अब ये जरूर कह सकता हूँ की यदि बनारस में कहीं टेस्ट कोविड का टेस्ट करवाना है या तो बीएचयू में करवाना चाहिए या फिर किसी अच्छे प्राइवेट लैब में. यदि कोई स्वास्थ सम्बंधित कोई ख़ास दिक्कत नहीं आ रही है तो बीएचयू में जा सकते हैं लेकिन यदि जरा भी दिक्कत परेशानी हो तो बिना समय व्यर्थ किये किसी प्राइवेट लैब में जांच करवा कर तुरंत डॉक्टर के निर्देशन में अपना ईलाज शुरू कर देना चाहिए. लेकिन मुझे ये भी मालूम है की हर किसी के बस की बात नहीं है की वो 900 रूपये लगवा कर टेस्ट करवा पायेगा इसलिए अंतिम उम्मीद तो सरकारी व्यवस्थाओं से ही बनती है और मुझे उम्मीद है की आने वाले समय में सरकारी व्यवस्था और दुरुस्त होगी जिससे ज्यादा से ज्यादा आम लोग अपना टेस्ट करवा सकें और इस वैश्विक महामारी से लड़ने में आगे आ सकें.

Traveller’s Choice Award 2020 for Groovy Tours

I have been using Tripadvisor to promote my tour business since 2014 which gives me most of my business. Based on the ratings and reviews given by the customers Tripadvisor choses certain companies every year and gives them an yearly award. All the way starting from 2014 I started receiving Certificate of Excellence award, then they gave me Hall of Fame award in the year 2018 (Hall of Fame is given to the service providers who get Certificate of Excellence continuously five years in a row) and now this year I have been given Traveller’s Choice Award for the year 2020. It is always a great feeling to see that your guests appreciate your services and it becomes more special when it happens again and again every year 🙂 Thanks for all your support, Jai Hind!

Boat ride in Varanasi

Ganga Cruise Alaknanda

Tourism is life line of Varanasi and biggest attraction for tourists has always been Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the river Ganga. I can’t even think of any tourist of pilgrim coming to Varanasi without having desire to at least visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple and have at least one boat ride on the river. As per the data of UP Tourism board nearly 7 million tourists had visited Varanasi in the 2017 and the number is growing every year. But because of bad infrastructure Varanasi was not able to impress tourists and pilgrims as much as it should have done. The city was a complete mess until 2014. Luckily Varanasi elected Mr. Narendra Modi as the member of parliament from Varanasi and he is also the current Prime Minister of India now.

Ganga Cruise Alaknanda

During his tenure of past 4 years this city has changed a lot. They worked a lot for cleanliness under Swatch Bharat Mission which had huge positive impact on the city. Mr. Modi always talks about tourism hence he personally took interest in developing tourism facilities in Varanasi. And the most recent change is Ganga Cruise. We had small boats (hand rowing and engine run both) which can handle 4-6 people. Hand rowing boats are fine but the there was a huge increase in number of engine boats which had basically ruined the whole experience. It is very loud and since it is run on a diesel engine it creates huge pollution. People want to have peace when they go on a boat but these boats were very bad.

Ganga Cruise Alaknanda

I have had so many guests who were disappointed with the boats. If fact they were willing to pay extra to have a bigger, safer and comfortable boat but it was not possible at all because we did not have any other option. But finally we have Ganga cruise as well which will leave positive impact on tourism in Varanasi and will definitely attract more tourists. The government has started this new cruise named Alaknanda and I have been told that it is a double-decker cruise ship which will be able to carry more than 100 passengers at any given time. The liner is equipped with 60 luxurious sofas to make your voyage incredibly comfortable and have eco-friendly bio-toilets. It also has an extensively equipped kitchen which will serve both veg and non-veg dishes to please your taste buds.

Ganga Cruise Alaknanda

The lower deck of the cruise is fully air-conditioned and has a small stage which boosts all the needed multimedia functionality. To keep you connected to the modern world it also offers free on-board WiFi. The upper deck is a restaurant and will let you enjoy the view while hogging on your favorite food! The cruise is even equipped with numerous safety features and an on-board lifeguard for emergencies. When Cabinet Minister Mr. Nitin Gadhkari proposed the idea of Motorways, many People mocked him….but look at it….it is indeed happening…..it is the future.

 

 

Plastic Kills

Baba

Baba

We have always been hearing about how plastic is a serious threat for our planet but not many people seem serious about the issue. Especially in India where there is plastic just everywhere, even the blessings at temples are packed in plastic. Government does all the propaganda by making laws that plastic should be prohibited but nothing is implemented. Just like anyone else living in this country I am also affected by plastic but something happened a few days ago which just blew my mind. Actually I met with someone new in my life a few weeks ago and we became really good friends. A few weeks ago I was sitting at Assi crossing and suddenly a bullock came to me.

Baba with Rahul

Baba with Rahul

He was very cute, just came to me like we had known each other for long time and put his face over my lap. I started stroking him and he seemed very relaxed by me doing it. Suddenly a few of my other friends also came and the bullock behaved very friendly with them as well. We offered him some food but he didn’t seem to be very excited about eating it. Anyways, we named him the same evening and his name was Baba. Baba was with us for almost an hour and then we went back home. We saw Baba the next day at the same place where we met yesterday.

Now we noticed something strange in Baba’s body. His stomach looked kind of bigger than his size. We tried to touch it and it seemed very tight. We decided to ask someone who does dairy business if Baba’s stomach looked strange to him as well. Luckily there is a dairy businessman right at Assi crossing. We called him and asked about what he thought about Baba’s stomach. Based on his experience he said that Baba has eaten a lot of plastic and that’s why his growth has stopped, he doesn’t feel like eating, he is not happy and something is not done soon then he might die as well.

We had also noticed some problems that Baba seemed hungry but he could not eat. His seemed bigger in age than his physical growth. All of my friends were very sad to hear it and we decided to contact some doctor. A friend of mine who owns a cow contacted the doctor and doctor said if the plastic is in Baba’s body for long time then the only possible way to take it out is an operation. Baba’s was not in good shape at all, we noticed that he was becoming more and more skinny everyday. We were still discussing what to do with Baba and suddenly we saw his dead body by the corner of the street where we used to meet.

It was very sad to see him dead and I don’t really think that we will forget him ever. But by looking at what happened with Baba, we can easily imagine what is the condition of our animals in India, the country where each and every form of life is worshiped. Talking about Varanasi, this city had a tradition of setting up big containers at every corner of the alleys which would be filled with water and food by the locals of Varanasi so that street animals could stay happy and healthy but now the situation has become really worse that our street animals are dying by eating garbage which is mixed with plastic.

I have no hope from the government and I think the only way to solve this problem would be some initiative from the people themselves. But it also seems very complicated because whatever we get is always packed in plastic and it has to go somewhere. Usually people put their garbage on the street from where it should be collected by municipality. We also don’t have any system of separating the garbage and everything is mixed. I think the best thing would be use as less plastic as possible. I don’t know when things will change but I will try my best to change myself for sure. RIP Baba.

Baba Dead

Baba Dead

Police in Varanasi

Corruption is a very big issue in India nowadays and everyone is talking about it. Even we saw the result in Delhi state assembly elections how Aam Aadmi Party changed the government only on the issue of corruption. I was also very  excited after seeing the result of Delhi elections but sometimes such things happen which make me feel like there is just no way to kill corruption in this country. It was a friend’s wedding last week in Varanasi and I went to attend it. After the wedding was finished, all of my friends returned back home but one of them parked his motorbike right in front of his home on the main street which is very usual thing for a city like Varanasi where there is no parking space available anywhere.

It was 2.30 AM and I got a call on my mobile from the same friend saying that his bike was missing. He had called me seeking help to find that bike. We went together on the street asking people if someone saw our bike and a person told us that he had seen two policemen taking our bike. We went to the nearest police station and the police officer present there said that the bike was found unattended hence it is sent to big police station which was about a kilometer away from my place. Now we went to the big police station and found everyone asleep other than one person who was standing by the entrance.

We asked him about our bike and he confirmed that our bike was there but we needed to talk with the officer. We went to the officer and found him sleeping on his chair. We were trying to wake him up but he was in super sound sleep. Finally he woke up after our several attempts. We explained him our situation and he said that we would have to go to the court the next day, pay a fine of Rs. 10,000 and only then we will get our bike. We knew it very well that he was telling a lie. We requested him so much to give us our bike back and he finally agreed on doing so after talking with the policemen who had brought our bike from the street. He asked us to go on the street looking for those policemen.

We had no idea where to find him. We requested him to kindly confirm their location by talking with them on phone but the officer just didn’t want to help us. He always felt more interested in his sleep. Anyways, we decided to go back to the same location and luckily found those police guys. We explained them our situation and they were easy. They asked us to go back to the police station and have the officer talk with them. Now we went back to the police station and again found the officer sleeping. It was a serious pain to wake him up but the mission was successful, we were able to wake him up. Now he opened a register, looked at a few pages and found he page where he had written the bike number.

Now he asked for the bike registration paper which we did not have. The papers were with the friend who owned the bike. We tried calling him but he did not respond. We went to his home, woke him up and brought him to the police station with all the papers and asked us to wait. It was crazy to see that right in front of our eyes, he closed the register and again felt asleep asking us to wait. We just did not know what to do now. Now I laughed in anger and we started talking with each other like this is our great India, this is the system…things like that. The awake policemen who was listening to us told us that- now you are laughing too much but imagine what would have happened if a thief had stolen your bike.

I just did not know what to tell him but I told him that we are laughing only because our bike is secured with the police. Anyways, after waiting for 15-20 minutes we asked the awaken police to wake up the sleeping policeman, hahaha. Finally the officer woke up, again looked at the documents and now asked for Rs. 500. We all started looking at each other and asked him why he needed Rs. 500. As we asked this question to him, he got upset, closed the register and again went asleep by asking us to go to the court the next day. We knew it very well that if we go to the court then we will have to bribe to maybe 10 people because everything is super corrupt at the courts also.

It was already 4 AM and we had no hope other than bribing him. We finally gave him Rs. 500 and got our bike back. But when I think about the behavior of that police guy, it makes me feel like our police is formed to torture us and nothing else. The policeman had no interest in helping us, he was always trying to make the situation more complicated. He was very rude, corrupt, fat, lazy, sleepy and a bigger thief than regular thieves. And I have never ever met any policeman who was better than him. I have also not ever met any person who said that he ever found a helping policeman. I think it is definitely a need of the time to dismiss entire police system and bring new fresh people with a different training.

I have also heard that our police is trained in the same way as it was trained during the British Raj time. The police was trained to fight against locals those days and they are trained the same way even today also. Our political system never had any free time to make police system better because they are also involved in looting the country. I am sure that this problem could be solved by bringing new police act and using more technology but I don’t see any hope especially for my state of Uttar Pradesh where governments come in power by doing caste and religion based politics. I have always believed that Indian police is somehow responsible for each and every problem we have in this country and if things do not change soon then I can grantee that the dream of India of becoming super power we stay only a dream forever.

Untouchability/ Impurity

The idea of unaccountability has always been part of Hindu culture but it also changed the way everything changed over time. If we look at real idea of unaccountability then it is completely karma based and anyone can become untouchable or impure by doing certain karma at anytime in their lives but at present certain communities are considered 24 hours untouchable. The best examples in my city are the people who work at cremation sites.There is so huge discrimination against them that the community doesn’t seem to have any hope. Even they don’t consider themselves as someone who can even dream of changing their lives.

I still remember when I worked with CBC a few years ago on a documentary project which was about filming a young Doam (the caste of people who work at the cremation grounds) whose father was still involved in the cremation ground but the son was either studying computers or working at a multinational company and at one moment we thought that it was impossible to find someone in such condition because no family had ever sent their kids to the school. Anyways, something magic happened and we found an amazing person for our episode, in fact it was the best story of the series.

Something really in interesting happened with me last night which made me write this story and really made me think if there is any impact of education on Indian society or not? Are we still stuck with that crazy system of unaccountability/ impurity / discrimination of the basis of somebody’s caste? And the worse thing is that nobody wants to think about the real idea and just want to go with the present system. One of my friend’s father died yesterday and I went to the cremation ground with my two friends who are my age graduate living in so called educated Indian city.

Both of my friends were really concerned about getting touched by anyone at the cremation ground because it would have made them impure or untouchable. The idea of impurity associated with cremation says that whoever participates in the funeral becomes impure until they have taken a bath again. They were planning to keep a distance from all of the family members, even my friend. They warned me also to not get touched by anyone but I did not know how to make it happen. I was going to my friend father’s funeral and I knew that at least I was going to hug him or touch him to show my sorrow and support in this difficult time.

Anyways, I arrived at the cremation ground and saw my friend standing alone and looking at his father’s funeral. That feeling of seeing my friend was so strong to me that I could not stop myself by going close to him. My other friend’s, who were concerned about getting touched, also came with me. I was talking with my friend and suddenly I noticed that two other friends who had come with me were gone now. They were standing kind of 20 meters away from me. Suddenly the friend who father had died started crying and now I could not stop myself by putting my hand over his shoulder. We were standing like this for a while and then I went to my other friends and we returned back home.

But the most interesting experience for me when I started my motorbike to drive back home. It was the same motorbike I had used to reach at the cremation ground with two other friends but now they did not want to ride it. We were three on one motorbike with me being the driver and my other friends were asking each other to sit on the bike first so that they don’t touch me. Anyways, they also came on my bike and we all drove back together. The next day one of those friends came to me and said that he had to change his clothes and take a bath before entering in home only because I touched someone at the cremation ground and they got touched by me.

I thought about it a lot and was wondering if this idea of impurity is more important than showing your support to a friend who is facing a death of a family member? Anyways, I think I just did not do anything wrong, in fact I did not do anything, it was just my human feeling which made me touch that friend. I also want to respect traditions but definitely can’t compromise with my social duties.

Blogging

I started to blog about six years ago and I have always enjoyed it so much. In fact blogging changed my whole life: it improved my writing, my thinking, increased my social networking and got me a lot of attention. In the beginning I was just writing about anything, even my guests staying at my guesthouse but later I took it more seriously and I started writing about social issues, tourism, corruption, politics etc. But now I have been going through really strange situation ever since my blog has gotten good ranking on google. I never paid any money or put any extra efforts to get good ranking on google, it all happened automatically and I was always so happy and proud of my blog.

But ever since I have been getting good ranking on my blog, I have also started to get threats from different people who are upset with my writings. It was the first time last year when I had to remove one of the posts I wrote about a very famous TV show filming in Varanasi. I just wrote about my views on how they contacted me first, wanted to offer me the assignment but when I asked my salary they said that they did not have a fancy budget to pay my salary. Later I introduced one of my friends to the team and he agreed on working with them. When the crew arrived in Varanasi, I was surprised to see how big budget they had. And finally the producer asked my friend to get him some empty receipts so that he can fill some crazy amount and get money for it.

It was a very strange experience for me because I had already worked with so many TV channels from all over the world and none of them ever asked for such thing. I finally wrote about it and it became a serious problem for me because the producer sitting in Mumbai office found my post way before the show was ever on TV. The crew started calling me several times a day and threatened me by saying that they know so many people in Varanasi, they will go to the court against me etc… Finally under pressure of the crew and my friend who worked with them, I had to remove that post and it was a very upsetting moment for me. It took me more than a few weeks to recover from that incident.

Anyways, something similar again happened with me last week. I wrote a post about a guesthouse in Varanasi based in my person experience about how stupid the guesthouse staff and owner were in dealing with their guests. Actually one of my groups was staying at this guesthouse in the year 2011 and I got a call from the guesthouse owner the same day the group arrived saying that I should tell my group that I can’t provide any services to my group. I was surprised to hear it and I asked him if he was sure what he was talking about and he said that if I provide any boat, taxi or tours to my guests then they would kick the group out of their hotel. The owner also suggested me some stupid excuses like I can tell my guests that I don’t know anything about Varanasi.

Anyways, I informed my group about it and they also talked with the hotel owner, they had a little fight but later everything was fixed. But the guesthouse owner had threatened me by saying that I am new in the industry, I don’t know the rules, I should not try to be so smart and he will see me. I decided to write about it on my blog and same thing happened what had happened with that TV group. They started calling me, sending me emails and such things. Finally I got a call last week from a dude in my neighborhood who asked me to remove that post. I thought a lot about whether I should remove that post or not and decided to ask the group what they thought. I was surprised to see that the same group was going to stay at that same guesthouse in their next trip to India.

They said that it is convenient for them to stay at the same place because it is the closest guesthouse to the building where they have all of their business in Varanasi. I was kind of upset after hearing this but thought what can I do if even the group is not supporting me. So finally I removed that post also. All these removal of my posts and similar incidences all across India have raised a serious question about whether I should still write about corruption or not. Recently a writer was arrested and sent to jail because he made a comment on Facebook about some politician. Where is the freedom of expression and freedom of speech? At a moment I had thought to take help of Police but later realized that Police is definitely more corrupt than any the camera crew or the guesthouse owner.

I don’t know if I will ever write about corruption issues on my city level because I feel threatened by these local mafias. I have a family and I need to think about them as well. And in any case I never feel like having enough time to become part of bullshit politics. Peace.

Public Display of Affection in Europe and India

a young couple walking in Budapest

Public display of affection is something not seen at all in India. Actually its very strange here. The people who love each other are not supposed to show any physical intimacy in public whereas regular friends can hug each other, hold hands and sometimes kiss on cheeks. Holding hands and hugging is the most common act of physical intimacy seen in India amongst same sex person but it doesn’t mean that they are homosexuals. Its again very strange that homosexuals never want to hold hands, hug or kiss each other in public because homosexuality is very very hidden and homosexual people don’t want to express their sexuality. I have met so many Europeans and Americans who always thought that same sex people holdings hand of each other are homosexual because this is how it works in their world.

a middle aged couple in Vienna

Usually friends do such things and there is no idea making love behind it. If people see a couple kissing or hugging they want to watch it. Holding hands is kind of becoming common and is not kind of issue anymore in big Indian cities. Anyways, I have also grown up in the same culture where I never saw any act of physical intimacy in public. My city gets a lot of western people from all over the world who some time kiss and hug in public so at least people in my city have an idea about it. Every once in a while we see some crazy drunk westerner making love on the street. Making love doesn’t mean having sex but finding a westerner kissing or hugging is not something unknown to the people of Varanasi. Doesn’t matter whether they have seen it or not but they are very well aware of this culture.

an old couple in Vienna

I think that having sex or watching people having sex has always been one of the biggest attractions amongst us humans in our whole history. But the world has changed a lot within past a few decades. There are several countries and cultures where sex is discussed, is opened (doesn’t mean in public: in fact there are places where people can go in groups and have sex but is usually a group activity rather than a public activity), people have a choice and it is seen in a very different way than the it is seen in my culture and country. This idea of watching people making love or just seeing them in their undergarments is very exciting for Indians because we just don’t see such thing happening. And whenever we see someone in such condition, most of the time they are western people.

an old couple in Vienna

I am very well aware that a lot of people go to places like Goa in India just to watch western woman in bikinis. In fact, when I went to Goa first time in my life it was also to watch western girls in bikinis and find cheap alcohol. To be honest most of the woman I saw in Goa were old with ugly bodies:) Still when I see someone kissing on the street my eyes like to stop and watch it. But I usually try to avoid it because I don’t like to disturb people but my mind still talks with me about that picture while I am trying not to watch them. I think situation should be the same with most of the Indians, even the ones who try not to watch people kissing or making love. And I don’t really mind it because we just don’t see such thing happening and foreigners should also learn about these cultural issues before coming here and try to respect and be respected. But at the same time we can’t blame foreigners either because it is very important part of their culture.

a newly married couple in Buda

Anyways, I got to travel to Europe (Hungary, Austria and Slovakia) , in fact anywhere out of India for first time in my life a few weeks ago. Everything was different than what I was used to hence everything was a shock, in fact very interesting shock. I don’t want to discuss about all those things in this post but I would like to discuss the idea of the importance of physical intimacy and public display of affection. I had started seeing couples kissing, holding hands, sitting on the lap, caressing, nestling… as soon as I crossed the immigration area at Delhi airport. The most interesting thing was that very good percentage of Indians were also involved in such act who usually never do such thing in public.

a young couple in Vienna

It seemed like they had planned to do it as soon as they leave India but could not wait for the flight to land:) haha. Maybe they had not planned it together with their partners but they had planned it with themselves for sure. Experience make us feel comfortable and I could easily see that Indians were not comfortable doing what they wanted to and looked completely inexperienced. hahaha. I am sure that they did not want to do sex in public but they just did not know what they were doing. They didn’t seem comfortable even in touching each other but they were trying their best. I am not making fun of those people I saw at the airport but It was really funny and interesting both for a person like me to see them. Because I just don’t see such thing happening in my society by the locals and they had changed their as soon as they crossed immigration area at the airport.

even statues were making love

When I arrived in Europe I saw people kissing and hugging just everywhere even inside a church. They were very comfortable with it and it seemed like it was just not an issue at all. I saw people kissing in the train, at the crossings, shopping malls, restaurants, zoo…just everywhere. It seems like kissing is as important as meat to Europeans. I saw all aged people, literally as young as 14 years old kissing in public. Kissing seems very important to Europeans. Once I saw a young shop keeper smooching her boyfriend in front of the customer and the customer waiting for them to finish.

couples at Szimplakart pub in Budapest

I was very well aware about this culture in Europe years before I went there but I was still surprised when I saw it first and my first few days were shocking for me in terms of seeing people making love on the street. I think I had stopped noticing or watching it after a week or so but it was something which won’t go out of my mind soon. In fact once I was discussing this issue with my host Attila and told him about how I saw Indians involved in physical intimation in public at Delhi airport or in Hungary or other European countries I visited and Attila was so surprised and he asked me why Indians don’t do such things in India also if they like to do it.

men and women dancing together at a cultural event in Kesthai, Budapest

Attila had already spent more than an year and half living in India and he was very well aware of what I was talking about. I did not know how to make him understand but his question was very genuine that why don’t we do it if we like to do it? I knew the answer but it was hard for an European mind to understand. Sex is very very hidden in India, even talking about it with parents and unknown people is something which just doesn’t happen. Everyone does sex but they don’t want to talk about it. I have met so many people, to be honest all of the people all I meet, who find such sexual acts like cunnilingus and several other sex positions very exciting but they never want to admit that they do it with their partners and always relate with something coming from the western world which is very dirty, disgusting and unnatural. haha

temple art in Khajuraho, India

I am sure that everyone does it but they just don’t admit, even when they are talking with their friends. It is again very interesting for me to see why people relate such sexual acts with western world when all of them are mentioned in Kamasutra or if they are present on the temples of Khajuraho and several others all over India. I think we were practicing all of those acts way before western people started talking about it, at least it was very open part of the society thousands of years before the first sex museum was opened in the world or anyone ever tried to document sex in this whole world. Anyways, my issue is about present India so I should about present.

A young couple in Bratislava, Slovakia

I just mean to say that sex is a very very hidden act in India which is one of the reason why we don’t see public display of affection in India. The second biggest reason behind this issue is the safety of woman in India, woman rights issues and in fact safety of couples also who dare to show physical intimacy in public. It was hard for Attila to understand why someone could be upset by watching others kissing but I understand it very well. Anyways, Attila only seemed upset and I could not satisfy him with my answers. The world knows how Shiv Sena was targeting people celebrating Valentines Day in India. If we try to learn how they were protesting against the festival then we can see that they were not actually looking for people celebrating the festival but mostly they were targeting the couples.

In fact kissing is seen as a form of greeting also in western culture. Men are kissing each other in a wedding part for greeting.

They wanted to beat the couples who were found together watching cinema, hanging around in the park or other public places. So it clearly means that they were protesting against the people and not the festival itself. And I know it very well that the all the people who were protesting against the festival either had a partner whom they went out with to celebrate festival the same day or definitely they wanted to have someone. And I personally know so many people from my own city, who were part of the Shiv Sena and were targeting people celebrating the festival, now are either married with the someone whom they loved or they have girlfriend.

a view of Rajdari waterfall from Devdari

Only after a week after I returned from Europe I went to visit a water fall 50 KMs from Varanasi called Raj Dari. This water fall is a very famous picnic spot for people living in Varanasi and nearby districts and hundreds of people visit the fall on Sundays during rainy season. I was there to find rock paintings and to watch people. The whole region of Chandauli district has several sites with ancient rock paintings and tree fossils which are said to be around 1400 million years old. While I was looking for ancient rock paintings I heard a group of people shouting which made me look at them

Couples bathing together in public is no problem in Europe

It was a group of like 15-20 men, all different aged, mostly young who were taking a bath. A young girl who was wearing Punjabi suit was also taking a bath hardly 20 meters away from them. She was with her boy friend and wearing Punjabi suit mean her whole body was covered with cloth. That group of 15 men was taunting at her. They were calling her with the name black panty. And they were doing it repeatedly in front of hundreds of other people who were there. They were taunting such things like- call us also, we are also very good…

usual scene at bathing places in Europe

The couple was doing nothing other than taking a bath, even they were not kissing or doing anything which can be considered as a sexual act. Her dress was also not different than bathing dress of woman in India. I am 100% sure that it happened with her only because she was with her boyfriend. Most probably such thing would have not happened with her if she was with her parents. It happens with woman even when they are with their families as well but it is more likely to face such situation when they are with their boyfriends. The girl was so nervous and uncomfortable with the situation that she came out of the water and walked away from there.

Even when she was walking away another group also joined and they all started taunting at her with vulgar languages. I know that such things are less likely to happen in big cities and one of the biggest reason behind why such happened is because those people were locals and there was no security at all. But the question that raised in my mind was-

  • Does a girl need security if she wants to take a bath at a water fall?
  • Are couples not allowed to be together?
  • What do such people think about the the couples who kiss or hug, do the think that the girl wants to be kissed and hugged by just anyone on the street or do they think that she is a slut?
  • What about freedom to express your feelings?
  • What about constitution of India which allows us to choose our life partner?
  • What about constitution of us human beings which allows us to live and let others live?

a couple in Bratislava, Slovakia

There are thousands of questions but its very sad that because of such practices we just don’t have any answer for them. The bitter truth is that if we try to study the mentality of such people then we find out that if they see a girl doing anything which can be considers a sexual act, even kissing or hugging, the girl is immediately thought to be a slut who is wanting such thing to be done with herself by just anyone. In small Indian cities and villages If a girl is found in relationship with anyone boy then people talk about it and now the whole neighborhood wants to try that girl out.

I don’t know what is right or wrong but it was really upsetting for me to see how that girl was being taunted and abused only because she was with her boyfriend. The radical and nationalist groups in India relate such things with something coming from the western world and we should not allow such things because it is against Indian culture. But I think we as a human have a human culture before we get into any particular country’s culture. Love, hate, emotions, feelings are natural human behavior and it just can’t be stopped. And in any case if something hurts us then we should try to control ourselves first and then think about others.

I still don’t know whether my Indian system is better than what I saw in Europe or not but one thing is very sure that woman are living in very tough condition in India. If we just look at this data it can easily tell the story about woman in India. But one thing I would like say for sure that whatever I saw in Europe looked really lovely and I saw Indians also enjoying it in Europe and missing in their own country. Jai Hind. I got a funny picture online which shows the difference I am trying to talk about-

Hospitality industry in India

I work in hospitality industry and I have been trying to learn about it ever since I started working. I had already heard about India having so many problems for tourists but never realized how serious the problem was. Every once in a while I heard about something but it was not possible for me to realize how big the problem was and how easily we could solve it and make more money and send our guests back with a positive impression about India. The biggest problem I was hearing all the time was the issue of forced shopping and I was seriously upset with it. For whatever reasons I was never ever interested in it but I was still happy with the money I was given for my services.

Now when I am back after my first trip out of India, my industry seem shockingly in terrible condition and I feel very sad about it. I traveled in Europe for 14 days and to be honest I was traveling ever hour of the day, except when I slept. I was just not at home at all. I went to all almost all kinds of tourist places possible in Europe and I was really surprised how easy everything was and how the government and people were so nice and welcoming for tourists. The only difference was the cost but its not an issue because life was very expensive in Europe and they definitely need to charge more.

And the good thing was that at least you get what you want after paying for it. Its just not possible at all to buy good services in India. I am not saying that its impossible to get good service but its very hard. I have no idea why such things are going on and why not government and the people of my country are serious about it. We need to understand that Tourism in India is relatively undeveloped, but a high growth sector. It contributes 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% of the total employment. A World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) report says that by 2020, tourism in India could contribute Rs. 8,50,000 crores to the GDP. In other words, every man, woman and child could become richer by Rs.7,000. India has yet to realize its full potential from tourism.

The Travel and Tourism industry holds tremendous potential for India’s economy. It can provide impetus to other industries and create millions of new jobs. But we won’t be able to make this dream come true if we don’t organize our tourism industry. The major problems tourists face in India is the lack of basic infrastructure, behavior of people working in tourism industry (tourists guides, drivers, hotel staff, restaurants etc), unorganized services, people on the street targeting tourists etc. To be honest I don’t really think that we need to make huge changes, we can organize tourism only by making little efforts.

A few things happened with me in recent times which made me write this article. At first my Europe trip which was like an enlightenment for me other than that the first attraction with a foreign tourist after returning back to India. Actually it was going to be my first work after returning back to India. I was going to work with a Dutch family. I was going to take them on the boat ride. This assignment was given to me by a travel agency, the only agency I work with in whole India. Usually I talk with my guests the evening before the working day. I called the hotel several times but no one responded.

In fact they were staying at a very nice hotel in Varanasi and I was just not expecting such behavior at all but it happened. I wanted to talk with the guest just to reconfirm the timing and other details. I went to the hotel and met with the guest. The guest seemed seriously upset when I met with him at first. He told me- Thank you so much for coming otherwise I was not hoping to see anyone. I was really surprised why he told me such thing. I started talking with him and he said that he was traveling with his wife and daughter and he had requested his travel agent to provide them either a triple bed room or two different rooms but today he was provided only one double bed room.

And when he asked the hotel where would he sleep, the hotel said that they could give him a blanket and he needed to sleep on the floor. He was so upset with it and told me that his dog sleeps on the floor and he always sleep in his bed. He called his agent in India and they said that this is Indian way. Finally he decided to booked another room and paid from his pocket. He had already paid for everything but here he had to pay for the mistake he was not responsible for. The guest was so upset that he said he was very well aware the hotel guy and the travel agency guy sleeping in the bed but they did not care at all about him. I was really sorry for him but…

Anyways, I needed to discuss about my work with him next morning so we just sat together and discussed about the next morning. He said that he did not want to go on any boat ride as he was already super exhausted by traveling for 14 hours on a train and then having all the crazy experience at the hotel. He asked me if I could arrange his boat ride for the evening. As a tourist guide working for someone else it was not under my power to change his boat ride. As per the rules of the travel agency I was working with he needed to pay again because he was the one who wanted to cancel the tour. And in any case we would have to pay the boat guy doesn’t matter whether use him or not after making a booking.

He also seemed fine with this and asked me the price but when I told him the price he was again upset. He said that it was a rip off. I could easily see that he was prepared to tell this way before I told him the price because he was seriously upset with everything. He had no idea what I was asking for but he had developed this mentality that I was going to cheat him. I had asked him for Rs. 1200 per person and this is the rate travel agency in Varanasi charge. He had paid almost three times more to his agent for the morning boat he canceled but still Rs. 1200 seemed like a rip off to him.

I could easily see how upset and angry he was and I was the one who was dealing with him alone. I was seriously scared but I knew how to make Dutch people happy:) I have worked with many Dutch people already but the most important thing is that I have worked with a very popular TV channel called VPRO from The Netherlands. All the Dutch people I ever met know about this TV channel and they all way that they like this channel a lot and follow their programs as they are very progressive channel. And when I tell them that I have already done so many assignments and research for VPRO they become very interested in me and seem so comfortable and happy with me around them.

I knew it would make him happy and comfortable if I tell him about my relations with Dutchland so I shot my arrow and it worked. He was kind of shocked at first and later so happy and comfortable. He invited me to have a beer with him. We went on the roof top restaurant of the same hotel and ordered beer. We were just talking and talking about my work with Dutch people and what he could do the next day in Varanasi and already passed more than 20 minutes but no beer. Neither I nor the guest had any idea why the service was so later as beer is a packaged drink, the hotel did not need to produce it.

I asked the waitstaff again about our order and he said, it will come soon. I asked how soon and he said ten minutes. I asked why and he did not answer me. At this moment I thought maybe they went out to buy the beer and we started talking again. After ten minutes I again asked the waitstaff about our order and he just open the refrigerator right next to our table and gave the beer to us. The refrigerator was literally right next to our table, so close that I could easily opened and taken the beer out without leaving my chair. I just did not understand why he made us wait for 30 minutes???

Impossible to imagine but this is what happened. I can’t even imagine why they did not serve our order on time. Were they worried about me? Were they personally upset with the guest? Or do they just don’t care about their guests at all? Didn’t they care about the money we were going to give them by buying their goods? In any case if they did not want to entertain us then they should have just told us about it. Even after doing it no one said sorry or anything. No one explained why they were so late even when we asked them. Why such things happen?

Such kind of thing is just an example which happened recently with me otherwise I encounter something crazy every time I am working and I know it very well that most of the tourists must be facing similar problems, or maybe bigger, when they are in India. I spent fifteen days traveling in Hungary, Austria and Slovakia and I hardly noticed such things two three times but the problems I noticed in Europe was different and was not as extreme as here. It happened only once in Budapest when someone approached me trying to sell an iphone but it was very easy to avoid him. I noticed a problem second and time in Bratislava, Slovakia where a waitstaff at a restaurant did not speak any English and was dealing with customers.

We ordered something else and got something different. Other than this I just can’t think of any problem I noticed during those fifteen days. Now I wonder why can’t we also have similar kind of services here in India? I know that Indian government is crazy and I just don’t have any hope at all but what about services offered by people? Our attitude for tourists? At one hand we are so proud of saying that as per Indian culture the guest is like God (अतिथि देवो भव्) and on the other hand I am very well aware of such incidents where foreign guests were not treated even like a human? And it happened only because they were our foreign guests.

I have a strong feeling that the people not working in tourism industry are very friendly and nice and all the tourists like them a lot but unfortunately a lot of people who are working in tourism industry are really strange. They just don’t have any sense of tourism or hospitality at all. Another unfortunate thing is that the tourists don’t really get to meet many local people and mostly they interact with their agents or other people working in tourism where they develop strange ideas about India and I am not surprised at all. I would also develop the same mentality if such thing happened with me.

I still don’t forget the way my driver in Himanchal Pradesh had cheated me for only Rs. 100. The amount was nothing for me but that experience of being cheated changed my whole idea about him and I started to hate him and was not feeling secured at all. If we just look at any online travel forum about India then the forums are full of negative stories about India. In fact there are warnings. I know that a few people might be offended with my thinking about tourism industry in India but to be honest I experienced the difference and whatever I am writing is a bitter truth.

We really need to realize that there are problems. If we don’t admit that there are problems then we just won’t be able to solve them. Internet is changing the world. Now we can easily learn a lot about the any place in the world without visiting. We can talk with people without meeting them, we can share ideas and if India is getting negative impression online then we are going to be in huge problem. People read about India before coming here. We need to change otherwise one thing is very sure that we are not right track and things are not going work this way for very long.

I know that everyone is not the same and there are so many people who have real passion for tourism and they do really nice work but it is very likely to get a bad experience in India. I hope we change such things soon.