India is an amazing country to travel and the local people are mostly warm and welcoming to foreigners, but it’s always advisable to follow local customs and understand the laws to make sure you fit in and stay safe during your travels. Please read my tips and suggestions below to learn more about how you should conduct yourself when travelling in India. This post should also give you some insight into what to expect during your travels…

As a traveller you will constantly come up against people who want to strike up a conversation with you. In most cases you will be asked questions about quite personal matters such as your marriage status, family, education, job and even income, which you might not feel comfortable sharing with a stranger. The fact you come from a foreign land also appears to give you some sort of celebrity status in India and at times it can become difficult to avoid the excitement that your presence generates in a particular area. I remember visiting a shop in Punjab in 2004, which my parents had visited as a young couple way back in the 1970’s, when they had travelled overland to India from London in a VW Beetle! I was astonished to see a photograph of my Mum (Caucasian British girl) still displayed in the shop window, which the shopkeeper had proudly placed more than 30 years ago, after meeting with my Mother!!

Another funny thing happened when I was recently tiger spotting in Ranthambore National Park with two blonde-haired German girls. After spending hours searching in vain, we finally saw a beautiful tigress walk out right in front of our jeep! As we took photographs and cheered in hushed tones, we were soon joined by another group of Indian tourists who had not so much interest in seeing the tigress as they did in seeing the two blonde girls! It was such a funny dynamic to behold, as the German girls photographed the tiger, while the Indian guys (with their backs to the tiger) photographed the German girls!

India is a very conservative country when it comes to clothing and it’s important to adhere to some principles, particularly when visiting public and religious places. Women are expected to dress modestly at all times, with legs and arms covered. Scanty, tight or revealing clothing will draw unwanted attention and in some cases could even put you in danger of harassment. For more info please read this article for women travellers. When visiting temples it’s common to remove footwear and wash your feet before entering and in Sikh temples (Gurudwaras) you will also be required to cover your head with a scarf or cloth. Regardless of the hot climate, shorts are probably best avoided by both men and women although you could probably get away with wearing a pair in some of the more commercial beach areas. Nudity would be unacceptable for all and topless bathing would be unacceptable for women, although guys could probably get away with wearing no top in and around the commercial beach areas such as Goa and Kerala. The vast majority of men in India wear a cotton shirt tucked into trousers and this type of apparel is most fitting if you wish to blend in with the crowd. Women typically wear long sleeved tops with loose fitting trousers known as Salwar Kameez. It’s always advisable to dress like the locals do when travelling on public transport, especially for long journeys on sleeper trains.

Food is traditionally eaten with the hands throughout India and it’s correct practice to eat with the right hand only. The left hand is mostly used for things such as changing your shoes and cleaning yourself after using the toilet! As a left-handed person it took me some time to master the art of eating with my right hand and the way I managed to accomplish this skill was by sitting on my left hand during mealtimes (give it a try sometime!). The left hand can be used for passing utensils or taking a sip from your glass, but out of respect you should never pass food to someone else with your left hand. Enjoy the process of eating with your hands in India and try to avoid cleaning your hands with tissues until you’ve finished your meal.

Extra care should be taken to respect local customs when visiting any holy sites. If in doubt then it’s always better to ask someone rather than to assume. Move slowly and imitate what the locals do to make sure you’re fitting in. Here’s a list of some common rules to follow…

• Remove shoes when entering a temple or mosque (and all leather items must be removed when entering a Jain temple).

• Dress modestly and never wear short, tight or revealing clothing.

• Menstruating women are considered by some religions as being ‘spiritually unclean’ and should therefore not enter any holy sites.

• In a Buddhist temple walk around a shrine clockwise with the shrine kept to your right hand side.

• Cover your head with a piece of cloth or scarf and remove your shoes when entering a Sikh Temple (Gurudwara).

• Avoid pointing your feet at any holy shrine or person. If sitting on the floor then either sit crossed legged or keep the soles of your feet flat on the ground.

• Do not take any photographs or videos inside any holy sites unless it is evidently permitted.

The notion of forming an orderly queue in India simply doesn’t exist! If you were to join the back of a queue at the train ticket office for example, then you might just find yourself standing there all day, while other people simply push in front from the wings. This can be incredibly frustrating for the Western visitor, but rather than letting it bother you, it’s better to take a deep sigh and shrug it off as part and parcel of traveling in India. To deal with this rather annoying cultural blip, I would recommend trying one of the following things…

• If you’re physically strong then it might be advisable to muck in and hold your ground, while using a shoulder or intense glare to ward-off any hopeful queue jumpers. If you’re a female traveller then most ticketing booths have separate queues for women only.

• Refer to the old maxim – if you can’t beat them join them – and simply push your own way to the front. This by far is my favourite strategy in India, as often the fact you look like an outsider means the locals will accept your queue jumping and let you through. I’m quite tall and big compared to most locals, so perhaps this one works well for me.

• Use a tour operator or pay a local agent to collect tickets or queue on your behalf. For a small investment this could save you a great amount of time and bother. Many travel agents are now able to book e-tickets, which means they can print and give your boarding pass to you there and then, eliminating the whole queuing process altogether.

• If you’re in a major tourist spot (New Delhi Railway Station for example) then there are dedicated ticketing offices and desks for foreigners only. If such a convenience is not available in your area then always look for a stationmaster or manager and ask them if they can help you to get a ticket without joining a queue.

The most common greeting used throughout India when meeting and parting is two hands placed together in prayer position. It’s always respectful to accompany this gesture with the words Namaste or Namaskar. Muslims use the greeting As-Salaam-Alaikum, meaning May peace be with you to which the response is Wa-Alaikum-Salaam. Sikhs use the greeting Sat Sri Akal, which again is best said with hands placed together in a prayer position.

If you would like to demonstrate the ultimate level of respect and reverence to a particular individual then you can slowly reach down with two hands and touch their feet, although this gesture is usually halted by the recipient before you get so far as to make any physical contact.

The phrases Please and Thank You are somewhat superfluous in the Indian language and more often just a polite nod or smile can communicate a similar level of gratitude.

The giving and receiving of food is a great means for demonstrating respect amongst people and it’s always nice to accept a small amount with thanks when it’s offered to you. This can be difficult if (like me) you prefer to not eat anything other than packaged food on long journeys as there have been countless times when I’ve got chatting to a family sitting next to me on a train and they’ve offered some food. I usually deal with this situation by saying that I’m having some stomach troubles, which for most foreigners probably won’t even be a lie 😉 !

Having spent such a long time living and travelling in India it’s become apparent to me over the years just how difficult (virtually impossible) it is for anyone in India to give the answer of No. It seems that people can’t bring themselves to tell you something is not do-able or not possible or that they don’t know. Ask someone for directions and even if they don’t know the correct way, they’ll still send you in one direction with a reassuring flick of the head. Ask a tour operator if it’s safe to travel into the Kashmir region at present and he’ll probably reply with a slow swaying of the head, which actually means it’s probably not the best time to go, but he’s happy to take you so long as you’re willing to pay. Bearing this in mind, it’s important for the traveller in India to make their own judgements and decisions when seeking local advice about what to do and where to go.

Poverty is rife throughout India and beggars are often found on busy street corners, as well as at bus and train stations and popular tourist spots, where they often target foreigners for special attention. Visitors tend to find this very distressing, especially when malnourished children or those showing physical disfigurement approach them. It’s not uncommon for beggars to be persistent when they target foreigners and at times can even make physical contact, which can be particularly discomforting. How you deal with begging really is a personal choice. I often find keeping some small amounts of change in an easily accessible pocket is a great way to quickly offer alms, without having to access and reveal your purse or wallet. I also tend to give only to children or disabled beggars and will always opt to buy food (instead of giving money) as often the money is given to abusive family members with drink or drug related issues and in some cases to pay organised gangs who control the street corners. Another strategy is to simply refuse all beggars that approach you, but donate to a recognised charity that can really make a difference. More often than not your hand-outs to individual beggars are inadequate and do very little to help the situation.