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Hope you had a nice time on the Sub-continent.
My first thoughts were - "how do we know whether the watches were genuine in the latter 2 encounters?".
Obviously the young lad that dropped several £ks on the Daytona knew what he was doing!
I have just returned from a tour of India and am now convinced that the future for watches is good.
On the way out I decided to have a gawp at the Rolex shop in Terminal 3 at Heathrow. Whilst I was there, a young Indian lad of about 20 walked up and bought a TT Daytona all in a couple of minutes. He was already wearing a Sub.
A few days later whilst meditating in a temple and thinking pure thoughts etc, another young lad of about 18 sat beside me and he was wearing, of all things, a Rolex 1655 which is now quite vintage, so another pleasant surprise. That is the first time I have ever seen one of them worn out in the wild.
Finally whilst on the way back home in the aircraft, another young man of around 25 or 26 was wearing a Sub.
It was gratifying to see young guys wearing good quality watches.
Hope you had a nice time on the Sub-continent.
My first thoughts were - "how do we know whether the watches were genuine in the latter 2 encounters?".
Obviously the young lad that dropped several £ks on the Daytona knew what he was doing!
Off topic but I would be curious to know how you found India - were you ok with the heat, crowds, poverty, sanitation outside of your nice hotels etc..
Call me sad, racist or anything else but I must say that I would have no interest in visiting India due to the above with maybe the heat being the exception..
hope you had a nice trip though and glad that you're reassured about the future of wristwatches based on your encounters
The temperature averaged 23 degrees during the day, it started to get chilly down to 10 degrees around 9.00pm.Originally Posted by bry nylon
Off topic but I would be curious to know how you found India - were you ok with the heat, crowds, poverty, sanitation outside of your nice hotels etc..
Call me sad, racist or anything else but I must say that I would have no interest in visiting India due to the above with maybe the heat being the exception..
hope you had a nice trip though and glad that you're reassured about the future of wristwatches based on your encounters
It is very crowded but you soon adapt. We never had to queue for anything because we paid something like 10 times the going rate to get through queues. A sort of speedy boarding.
Every toilet that we entered was spotless but they were guiding us everywhere.
You have to learn to turn a blind eye to the poverty which is not easy. The simple rule is never to make eye contact and then they leave you alone.
If you buy a decent package, you are treated like Royalty. It's 5 star hotels and top end restaurants where ever you go. The last thing they want is for you to get the dreaded "Delhi belly".
We really enjoyed the experience and will probably go again.
Travel broadens the mind and visiting India will certainly do that for you.
Give it a try, I think you will enjoy it.
Thanks Mick - sounds like you had a great experience and enjoyed your trip...
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While poverty in asia can be quite traumatic and heart rending the first time you encounter it, a tiny sliver of hope can be gleaned from you, as a tourist, contributing to the local economy. When visiting I preferred to stick a backpack on and get out into the 'real' areas away from big cities and tourist compounds, but even if you only stay in 5* places (as I probably would now) you are still contributing to peoples employment and lives.
India has a massively growing economy and I'm glad that the youth there has an interest in horology, even if they are fakes, when that 18 year old makes his first million he's going to buy and care for a real one in all likelihood.
Glad you enjoyed the place Mick, where did you go? My cousin goes to Goa every year and have only nice things to say about it.
Re watches and economy - here is some forward looking forecast which is in agreement with your observations:
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I’m glad you enjoyed the visit. For me though your comment above is enough to put me off seeing the place. I don’t think I could turn and blind eye and not make eye contact.
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I've been to India several times and it is an overwhelming place to be, the sights, sounds and smells are unique to the country. It would be a shame to deny yourself the experience because of the poverty, as it comes with demonstration of the indomitable human spirit that's rare in our first-world lives.
For me that sub-continent can lift your spirit like nowhere else.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I did the ever touristy "Golden Triangle" which has loads of temples and castles that are breath taking. The Taj Mahal being the main attraction.
It took 22 years for 20,000 men to construct the Taj Mahal. No one lived or worked there, it spent most of its time empty housing the remains of just one person. The scale is unbelievable as it can be seen from miles away and it is often surrounded by mist which makes it all the more atmospheric. It really is something everyone should see at least once in their life.
I agree with ralphy, the greatest impression you get about India is the indomitable human spirit of the people, they cheerfully solve a magnitude of problems without any money or any tools. You see old cars, bikes and even stationary engines being maintained on a shoestring and you have to admire them for that.
As regards to the poverty, it is bad, but is slowly getting better and they want more tourist bringing in more money, so do your bit and put it on your bucket list.
Considering how much was stolen from the sub-continent it's only right to make a little bit of effort and give at least something back in the form of tourism.
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I work in the media industry in India . I have been all over .
Its an interesting place but the attitudes towards women and the impoverished are quite hard to reconcile.
For a place that hawks itself on spirituality and harmony their are an awful lot of blinkered , superficial people.
I’ve never met people so obsessed by money and material gain. However many do equate wealth with making them more important and worthy than poor people.
The opportunities available to the poor are tragically narrow.
Lol. That reminded me of this - Mickey Flanagan’s Delhi belly story. Hillarious!
https://youtu.be/Svf-0bTkjgk
I stayed in a 5 star hotel in Punjab with access to a club lounge. The rich business folk who also frequented the club lounge were impatiently clicking fingers for quick and prompt service. I really found this embarrassing.
I treated the bar staff with courtesy, as you would with anyone you meet. The staff as a result were even more fantastic and during happy hour, drinks were never less than half full and staff would go out of their way to bring starters and nibbles from the restaurant to sample. Happy hour was always more than an hour!
In the morning I would be half way through the door before a cappuccino was almost ready and waiting with biscuits and a newspaper. Whilst the business folk were dealt with much 'private' eye rolling from the staff.
I have been to India a dozen or so times and despite being British/Indian, I still find going India a cultural shock.
I remember leaving McDonalds and a little girl possibly 6 years old asking for money. My cousin said not to give any money as many others will follow but I felt I should and I did. But another time sitting in traffic I gave money to a mother with an infant child, then she promptly called the others and a queue developed!
Regarding also Mr D mentioning attitudes to women I have not experienced with exception of seeing a mother wearing sari and flip flops with a young child who was tarmacing (SP?) the road! No health and safety equipment or barriers etc. This was unbelievable and shocking.
Mick, I have to agree with you. The Taj Mahal is one of the most extraordinary sights I have ever seen. It matches any of the incredible Renaissance cathedrals and buildings in Europe. People from all over the world were involved in making, including a few craftsmen from England apparently. The semi-precious stones inlaid into the marble are also from many parts of the world.
I love India; mixed with the appalling poverty and corruption is remarkable beauty, wisdom and kindness.
I go to India every year, have a house there and spend a few weeks there in August. I echo the sentiments posted already, the poor are really poor and the rich are very rich.
When I first visited India with my uncle I remember looking out of the plane window as we approached Mumbai and asking my uncle what all the blue was? The shanti town, then clearly being able to see people asleep on the footpaths. I hated it then, everywhere I went I could see hardship and poverty and used to give money to anybody that asked.
Now, as I visit every year I suppose I’ve developed a hard nose as I can simply look past it but to even get here took time, my wife was always berating me for engaging and giving money.
We did the golden triangle a few years ago, I’d already seen the forts and the Taj but the wife hadn’t. We booked a hotel on the main rod to the Taj and could see it from the hotel rooftop and then did the sunrise tour of it. As said, everybody should really go and see it, over the years more and more of it is out of bounds so over time maybe you’ll only be allowed to see if from a distance? When I first visited it I was allowed to visit the actual resting places but this time they were closed off.
I wonder if such behaviour is the fault of our own ancestors.
This is equally useful advice for anyone thinking of visiting Barnsley.
The most smartest and capable people I met in India were all women.
The men on the other hand I find to be spoiled and cowardly bullies for the most part .
There is definitely a policy employed by most men in India that anyone they perceive as lowlier than themselves they treat badly and anyone they perceive as superior they kiss their ass big time. Either attitude is deeply repugnant.
I have Indian friends who are men who are stand up guys but on the whole any time I've needed decent advice or help its been the women I've gone to first . My long time girlfriend is Indian and she has told me stories that make my toes curl about the attitude she has to deal with in her day to day business operations.
Impossible to argue against,,
n2
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Sorry about going off topic slightly and thread hijacking a bit but:
My wife and I are both Indian. I was brought up in the UK, she is from India. We are both from the south of India and attitudes to women tend to be better there, though there is still a patriarchal culture there in most parts, in my wife's part it's matriarchal. The odd thing is I am definitely a beta male in the relationship, and just want a quiet life, my missus on the other hand has a dreadful temper, and is grumpy and moody and pulls the strings, because I want the forementioned quiet life.
As time has gone by, I have found that role reversal, in the UK, has produced some very entitled and pushy women. We're told that they are being assertive/feisty, when in fact nine times out of ten, they're just rude. It doesn't excuse the misogyny/ violence against women, in many parts of India, but it seems to be going the other way here, and in most other western countries. I have also found some of the most prejudiced views come from women, which in the past I've only experienced from men. Women are more subtle in this, questioning them about it provokes a wall of silence from them, and their clique and being ostracized. Also disagreeing with some women or even writing like this, or saying such things on a forum, you are instantly accused of misogyny or unconscious misogyny.
I will not derail the thread further - sorry OP!
To keep on track I visited an AD who stocked Rolex in Punjab a few years ago and it was the first time I had seen a steel Daytona. The manager said it was all about Rolex and the other brands did not get a look in. The displays were full, almost stuffed. Plus healthy discounts.
This was in sharp contrast to last year where there was a half a dozen or so watches. And zero chance of discounts.
Where's Barnsley ?
Indeed, I actually had to google it.
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