“Why would you go there?!” “That’s where I felt most out of my comfort zone.” “Be prepared: nothing works the way it’s supposed to.” “Instead of spending a month in India, take that money and spend a week in Italy.”
When you say you’re going to India, you get strongly-felt responses. We know India is going to be challenging- so many people, such a big country, and definitely still a developing nation. Rather than taking the advice of the “don’t bother going there” crowd, we like to see things for ourselves and come to our own conclusions.
And so we found ourselves sitting on a airplane at the Bangkok airport. Indigo flight 72 to Mumbai. The flight attendant came on the loudspeaker and, I kid you not, said this:
“In accordance with Indian government requirements, we will now spray the cockpit with an insecticide. It has been declared safe for humans by the World Health Organization.”
Isn’t that what they said about DDT? She proceeded to walk the length of the cabin, as passengers covered their mouths with shirt sleeves and handkerchiefs. I wasn’t sure how the authorities would feel about me videotaping this ritual, so here’s my clandestine video.
[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw7E8ByMFyE”]
We’re not even there yet and things are getting weird. India, here we come!
I’m surprised they didn’t make you strip and walk through a delousing shower or something. There must be some bugs they don’t want in India. Maybe India has enough of their own with all the pooping and pissing in the streets. I remember stuff coming from overseas to Penneys when I worked there that we had to air out on the roof to get rid of the insecticide smell.