There were reports of a pervert walking around with a syringe full of AIDS infected blood so cover your rear with steel plates when you walk around in Mumbai. While in Maharashtra, walk around with an umbrella. You never know when migratory birds will fly over your head and target you with their bird flu virus filled droppings. If you see a chicken run for your dear life.

Please do not frighten people. The ordinary precautions one takes anywhere like not trusting/ eating with complete strangers, watching how much one pays etc. are to be observed in India too. I am yet to meet another person who had the Rs. 500/= vs. Rs. 100/= trick pulled on him. How many do other PD readers know? If you look unsure, thoughtful or confused you qualify as a likely target anywhere by being too tempting for the foxes. Foxes are found worldwide so that precaution is for all times.

As regards tearing papers out of passports, this is the first time I ever heard that. I do not know if other PD readers have had such an experience. If it happens to anyone he / she must raise an alarm then and there, catch the fella with the torn pages and then pursue the case to the highest level to have the offending officer kicked out.

Come on you are talking about your home country. A few unscrupulous rascals should not make visiting India a frightening prospect for you. - Rajesh Chaubey - Apr. 6, 2006

We love our motherland to such an extent that we cannot quantify it. Being a responsible Indian, it is our duty to be alert and let qui vive fellow citizens from the vices of society. It is true that most of us are wary of the points listed in this article, but on reminding these incidences, we endure ever-ready and watchful. If we dodge by assuming "what the outer world will say" or "Dunia kya kahegi" or "Log kya kehenge," then we fool ourselves and help no one. We need to highlight religiously other social vices like child abuses to make people watchful and the offenders fearful and debasing.

After recent nuclear deal, the US President, in several press conferences, emphasizes the phrase "India is special, because India has free PRESS." He never says India is clean, but is open and openness matters. We know every society has curses, but a society that fights against odds with élan is more respectful in a contemporary world.

If a person has not met the fate that doesn't mean incidences are not happening. We are fortunate if we are free from troubles. But not everyone is equally blessed. Thus, for our betterment, we should comprehend from others suffering, spotlight it and let others aware to repel the repercussions. - Tarakeswar Dubey - Apr. 7, 2006

I appreciate Mr. Dubey's effort in warning people. I for one had to face the 500 and 100 trick at Bombay airport. I would suggest taking a pre booked taxi at Bombay airport rather than taxis from outside the airport. had i read this article before i would have been more careful. And yes I'll be more cautious with my passport. - Shashank Prasad - Apr. 7, 2006

I agree with Mr. Rajesh Chaubey. Being an Indian citizen, I love my country but at the same time I will be careful. I never knew that things happen at the airport also. I will be careful with that. Reading articles like this helps to be more careful in a particular situation. - Manju - Apr.7, 2006

I think this is an excellent work to put together some important information. Instead of praising the author, people are commenting in the negative. What I have figured out is that no one likes to hear anything about our own demerits. We must praise the country but this is a forum where we Indians, especially Biharis, surf and put our thoughts. We must accept what is wrong with India and unless we raise our voices, all that will happen is those people who are doing wrong will do more wrong.

The way people are objecting, it seems we should protect all the criminals and give them a tag of best person of the year or life time achievement award. I am sure if all these things happen to these people, they would have been very angry and have cursed India a thousand times. Since nothing happened to them, they say, "hey, see how many countries are coming to India, so my country is good." No. The reason these countries are coming to India is because they want just cheaper labour and that's what we have in India. Once they will develop another country, they will walk away from India. Did you forget none of these countries were friendly to India? Do you think they are coming because you are good? They come because they want a slave.

I am aware of most of the stuff the author mentioned, and I try to be vigilant whenever I visit. I have mentioned in my posts that once I am in India, problems start. Once I am back in the US, I feel secure and relieved. My feeling about the article was that it was not disrespectful to India, but indicates clearly the kind of corruption tolerated by the people and propagated by the politicos. No country is good or bad on its own, but it is made good or bad by its people. I am sure you are dreaming that the world is praising. In reality, they found a place to buy inexpensive stuff: labour, articles, and blind gratitude. I live in the USA in a very remote area. I can go out at anytime without locking my house and car and have no problem. I can only dream of the same in India and Bihar. - S. M. Khurshid Anwar, New York, USA - Apr. 8, 2006

I guess the text regarding the first incident (Aramco's Arifuddin) is snippet from a mail which was circulated some time back. I happened to receive this in my mail box from some distribution list and read it with interest. I, in my personal opinion and without being biased towards our custom officers, was still not convinced that this was done by India custom officer. It was mentioned that they had six passports and traveled from KSA to India before they realized that some pages were torn off. There was no convincing reason given that Indian custom officer did it, but it was all based on the assumption. Though the mail claimed that there is a whole nexus involve in this, I have never heard any other such incident.

I have recently witnessed one blatant carelessness committed by an immigration officer from one of the middle east country. In another incident, there was a news on Gulfnews that one poor fellow, an Indian, was harassed at Abu Dhabi Airport twice for the crime he never committed. Had this happened at Mumbai airport, we would have declared whole India as corrupt and harassing all of the NRIs landing at Mumbai airport.

Why do we NRI think that whole of the Indian machinery are corrupt? This can not be true since the system is still working, it has not completely collapsed. People are still leading happy life in Bihar and India and achieving their dream. In some areas, we are bad and need to improve but in some, we are example to the world. I agree that some of us would have faced some problem but I don't agree with Mr. Anwar's statement about Bihar's situation. The situation is not so horrible, and no need to be frightened all the time. - Md. Aslehullah, Dubai, UAE - Apr. 8, 2006

Khurshidji, it is slightly more complex than that. Did India develop cheap labour recently? The recent rush is fueled by many other considerations. Please do some research and do not live in denial. Whether you like it or not, Asian countries are rising.

If coming to India creates problems for you or is inauspicious for you, go ahead stay away. I am sure India can develop without you just like US developed without you. You went to US only after others had made great sacrifices to develop that country. India is developing fast now and I hope soon it will have the amenities to make your stay comfortable when you come. - Rajesh Chaubey - Apr. 8, 2006

Dear Friends,

Please be cautious of your own language and please do not get dragged into myriads of arguments which is no good.

I feel that whatever we assume and presume is based on some hearsay or some reality it can be figment of one's imagination also but where there is smoke there is fire.

Mr. Chaubey's comments are directed towards the writer and the comment maker with an attempt to corner him but this should not be the virtue of this forum, sorry Mr. Chaubey I respect your demeanor and your articles but this one is more stark and blatant.

By cautioning people it does not mean that someone is degrading one's own country there are black sheep but that does not mean that the whole machinery is corrupt!!

We all, the readers and writers on this forum have never developed any nation; we are just basking in the limelight of development but is it our fault? We were born and are living in an age when there is economic dependency and diplomacy, may be we have not physically contributed to any movement but we are contributing by taking jobs far away from our home and our mothers and fathers, is it not a sacrifice? That when there is some trouble in the family and you are mostly needed but you never can make it up on time?

The reason for my writing the above sentences was to just circle on some points that were raised and addressed on this article.

Now coming to the point, Italy is the most notorious place well known for mugging at any given time. You are robbed outside the Milan airport in a wink, there are staged dramas where a newcomer is just dragged into and robbed off his belongings.

Thailand, where I live is noted for its hospitality and kind people but often cases of tourist being robbed and raped and then killed come up, but does not stop people from visiting and living here.

Thanks for the caution and we look forward to more such advices for protecting ourselves. - Sanjay - Apr. 10, 2006

Be logical and unbiased. No need to write in a hurry, expressing feelings and biases driven by raw emotions which are not very logical, and get cornered at leisure. I saw a gaping hole in the logic and pointed it out. My intention was never to corner anyone.

Before we pull the trigger we must make sure we are holding the gun right unless we want to commit suicide. In other words, before we press the send button let us read our articles once to remove logical inconsistencies or tangential flights of logic from the discussion at hand.

If we frighten readers with our logic, or the lack of it, we will convert PD's Readers Write to Readers Fright. - Rajesh Chaubey - Apr. 10, 2006

Dear Mr. Dubey,

When I was reading your article, I could immediately correlate it with my experiences. A couple of years back when I was staying in Bangalore, I had a similar experience as yours 500 to 100.

Once, I returned to Bangalore via train early morning from Chennai. At the station, took a rickshaw and came to my house. The fare of 50 bucks was agreed before taking the rickshaw. At my house, I gave the driver 50/- note and started picking up my baggage. He kept the note in his pocket and asked me for 40/- more. I asked him for what. Aiming to create a ruckus, he asserted curtly "You have given me 10/- only whereas you had told me to pay 50/-". Moreover, he took out a 10/- note to prove his point. After some intense argument, I had to relinquish and pay him 40/- more. There I was fleeced and shocked!

After going through several bad experiences in Bangalore (with Auto rickshaw drivers most of the time!), I fortunately got relocated to Pune. Your airport piece reminds me of how I was cautioned by my colleagues before my first official trip abroad. I still remember I was very careful while immigration check to see if the man in front of me tears off any page from my passport at the Mumbai airport. Thankfully, it didn't happen. However, I still remain vigilant at Mumbai airport.

Would like to thank you for sharing such a useful piece with us. I can see that the objective of posting this article is only to caution the readers from such untoward incidents by making them more vigilant. - Samir Ranjan, Saudi Arabia - Apr. 12, 2006

Discussion on this topic is now closed.