Tomorrow is what seems to be the final round for the oktatabyebye travel contest. If you're looking at the profiles of the people on that link, you will find the amazing levels of passion for traveling and travel among them. Especially Mridula, whose travel blog is a delightful revelation. Who'd have thunk that HR professors could live such an interesting life?
oktatabyebye is a to-be online travel community, which I reckon would be a bulletin board enhancement based on travel (?)
After you travel sufficiently for leisure in your life, you begin to form opinions about travel... travel as a hobby, industry, the media associated with it, etc. With strong opinions comes a natural disgruntledness, a desire to make things work differently, a feeling of 'they could have made it work that way'.
Travel is picking up greatly in India, but strangely, people are spending a lot more on travel than they could have. Indians by nature think of leisure travel as something complicated and dangerous. In my hometown Pune, Maharashtrians are known for their affinity to what I call the Raja-Rani-Tours-and-Travels mentality. On a tour to Ladakh, the typical Maharashtrian would rather be more worried about the food he/she will be served there than whether he/she is carrying enough woollens. Which is why a Raja-Rani-Tours-and-Travels pitch like 'We serve you assal shrikhand-puri and batata-bhaji when you are with us, no matter where you are' works magnificently. The premium for these homely service is high, but the Maharashtrian would rather be safe.
This is the sole reason why my uncles and aunts have been to Dharamsala-McLedoganj twice but do not know what a Momo or a Thukpa is. And I think that's pathetic!
Many people visiting oktatabyebye would have strong opinions about leisure travel based on their own travel experiences. You get a bunch of people like this together on a forum, and they have the strength to change people's perceptions about travel! So regardless of who wins tomorrow, travel in India and the backpack-culture is sure to move forward. If Webchutney pulls this off properly, that is.
In other news, I've been underground for some weeks getting PaGaLGuY.com in its new avatar. Take a look at our new design (http://www.pagalguy.com/). We've also tied up with two of the best international companies in the MBA business. The first is with TopMBA.com, the guys who get us Stanford, Tuck, Harvard, INSEAD, Chicago GSB at the annual World MBA Tours. The other is with Manhattan GMAT, who're at the top in the US in the GMAT training. Both tie-ups are for content exchange. There are exciting times ahead!
Friday, June 23, 2006
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13 comments:
I know, the stereotype that goes with my profession but you would be surprised to know that there is a person in our organization who has climbed peaks in Ladakh and was involved in rescue at Bara-la-chala among many other things and many other places! It is a pity that I cannot even think of trying to pursuade him to blog.
You are absolutely right about Raja and Rani Tours mentality and it is not just restricted to Maharashtra. It seems to be a nation wide phenomenon. That is why we try and trek every year, just to escape the crowd.
I am aware of pagalguy.com and if you don't mind my asking, do you work for it or is it that you starte the forum?
Apurv, reagrding writing for you guys, why don't you drop me a line at mridula at gmail? I can't find a email address for you on this page. Good to hear you guys had a good time in Mumbai.
hey did u win?
Hey Apurv...
I agree with your views on the travel community and the way it should be done. Indians on a large scale tend to abuse where ever we travel and seem to lose respect for the place. Littering about and not making an effort to be a part of the place.
Pagalguy is one revolution I am actually in awe of. Its a novel idea and one executed brilliantly. Good work.
All the best on the Oktatabyebye bit.
Congrats Apurv. Have a great time. And give us a good account of your journey. We are waiting to read your posts.
Congrats! :)
you really are living up those dreams eh! the prize is better than your weight in gold!
have fun. and send photos! :)
Congrats on winning the contest. That is really cool. And I so look forward to your posts on the travel.
By the way, I also wanted to let you know that I read some of your posts - especially your travel posts - and I think the kind of travel that you do is awesome. That is what I would like to do one day - get to explore the terra incognita. When I travel, food/comfort is the last thing on mind; I was planning to write to you on some of the places you visited - to get more details.
hey congrats u won... awesome dude... now u take this really cool route... manali- leh- zanskar n srinagr...
click loads of pics... all the best n have fun
LOL, amazing posts there.. :) How come you get to do all the interesting stuff! :)
PG sure looks rocking! Maaze karo!
Blog update is long overdue. :)
Whether it is travelling or anything else, the most important thing is to follow your passion.
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