Entrepreneurs

Once having lunch in Varanasi restaurant, always full of customers and located on the Ganges river bank. I said a compliment to the waiter, who was 36 years old man. Restaurant service was very quick and of high standards. He was pleased and asked to repeat it to his boss. I was expecting to see some mature tough guy of 40–50 years old. But his boss was a guy of nearly 23–26 years old.

Also, in Varanasi, my guide, who also runs his own tourism company in Varanasi and 26 years old himself, introduced me to his friends. One of them ran his own business of selling woods to crematoriums, was 24 years old young man.

I’ve seen that many times more in other cities. It seems that Indian young men are progressive minded people. These guys are to come in next 2 decades to rule the country,so I’m sure your country is in right hands.

创业者

只要在瓦拉纳西的餐厅吃午饭，每家餐厅都挤满了顾客，而且位于恒河岸边。我向36岁的服务员说了句恭维话。餐厅服务速度很快，而且标准很高。他很高兴，并请我跟老板重复一遍。我原以为会看到一个40-50岁的成熟硬汉。但他的老板只是一个23-26岁的小伙子。

我的导游也在瓦拉纳西开了一家旅游公司，26岁的他把我介绍给了他的朋友。其中就有一位24岁的年轻人经营自己的生意，把木材卖给火葬场。

我在其他城市也时常见到。印度年轻人似乎思想方面很追求进步。这些人将在未来20年引领这个国家，所以我相信你们的国家已经掌握在正确的人手中。

Vrindavani Marinov, lives in Greater Noida

When I first traveled to India in 2011, I was mesmerized by the beauty of the holy Dham Vrindavan and I must say pretty scared of the capital Delhi. I traveled alone to my Guru’s Ashram in Vrindavan and since it was the first time, I was believing stories of other foreigners who had visited India before me - and they weren’t really nice, especially comments about the people.

I came again, this time to Pondicherry, and was very scared of the traffic. So much, that the sight of a bus was enough to frighten me. Until this time I was pretty convinced Indians suck and don’t value the luck of being born in this sacred country.

But then I met this guy and we had a trip to Mussoorie - that changed my mind about India altogether. I experienced the beauty of mother nature, the cold of a winter day without heating, the warmth of homemade Aloo Paratha with a cup of fresh Chai. And at last, I came to know that Indians are very different from what we are told at home.

2011年，当我第一次去印度旅行时，我被神圣的汉姆维伦达文的美丽所吸引，我必须说，我非常惧怕首都德里。我一个人去了我导师在维伦达文的道场，因为那是我第一次去，我开始相信在我之前其他来过印度的外国人的说法——这些说法，尤其是对印度人的评论，真的不好听。

我又来了，这次是到本地治里，我非常害怕交通堵塞。一辆公共汽车就足以吓到我。直到这个时候，我才确信印度人很糟糕，没有珍惜出生在这个神圣国家的运气。

但后来我遇到了这个人，我们去了趟穆苏里——这彻底改变了我对印度的看法。我感受到了大自然的美丽，没有暖气的冬日的寒冷，家常土豆馅饼配着鲜奶茶的温暖。最后，我明白了印度人跟我们在国内听到的很不一样。

I simply couldn’t bear leaving this paradise and return home to the cold Austria. So what I did next was difficult to understand for most. Still many don’t understand how I can be happier in this so defined third world country while I couldn’t be back home.

Honestly, I've been dreaming since childhood to live in India, but never really believed that was possible or even feasible. But at this point, I knew what had to be done.

I left everything behind to make myself and my daughter a happy life here in India. We’ve traveled many places since, like Manali, Shimla, Kasauli, Khirsu, Lansdowne, Nainital, Bhimtal, even some old monastery in the middle of Himachal, and a long tour through Rajasthan to Jodhpur, Mount Abu, Udaipur.

我简直无法忍受离开这个天堂，回到寒冷的奥地利的痛苦。所以接下来我所做的事对大多数人来说是很难理解的。许多人仍然不明白，当我呆在这样一个明摆着的第三世界国家，不能回家时，我会有多快乐。

老实说，我从小就梦想住在印度，但从来没有真正相信这是可能的，甚至是可行的。但在这当下，我知道我应该做些什么。

为了让自己和女儿在印度过上幸福的生活，我把一切都抛在了身后。从那以后，我们去了很多地方，比如马纳利、希姆拉、卡苏利、克苏、兰斯当、奈尼塔尔、比姆塔尔，甚至是喜马偕尔中部的一些老修道院，还在拉贾斯坦邦长途旅行，到过焦特布尔、阿布山、乌代布尔。

So what do I like about India, after living here for over 4 years?

I like the warmth in people’s hearts, even the ones who are trying to rip you off are doing it with such sweetness, one can hardly resist.

While I hated the traffic some years ago, I now race my car through trucks and buses as if I was born racing (and trust me, I was afraid of driving my entire life, I learned it only 2 years ago on Indian roads).

And who doesn’t love to fill their bellies with yummy momos in just 40 Rupees? (I won’t say life in India is cheap as many others may say, coz for someone living and earning here it’s darn expensive)

I love the colorful clothes traditional aunties still wear, though I despise those who are trying very hard to westernize themselves and dress their small girls in sexy mini dresses and heels.

在印度生活了4年多后，我喜欢印度的什么呢?

我喜欢人们心中的温暖，即使是那些想欺骗你的人，行事也很甜，让人难以抗拒。

虽然几年前我讨厌这里的交通，但现在我开着我的车在卡车和公共汽车之间疾驰，就好像我生来就是赛车运动员一样(相信我，我这辈子都害怕开车，我是在两年前才在印度的公路上学会开车的)。

谁不喜欢花上40卢比就能吃到美味的momos呢?(我不会说印度的生活成本像很多人说的那么便宜，因为对在这里生活挣钱的人来说，生活费还是太贵了)

我喜欢老阿姨们身上五颜六色的衣服，不过我鄙视那些努力西化自己，让自己的小女儿穿上性感迷你裙和高跟鞋的人。

I love Diwali and Holi, though I can’t stand the ear blowing bass shaking the society at every festival.

I love the values taught to my daughter in school, though I can’t still make up my mind with this strict school system we have here.

I love the weather (I live in a desert you can say, so really, I mean the weather in hill stations

What I have learned from living here is that there are too many misconceptions about India and Indians told abroad.

India is a land of diversity, a place where a muslim and a hindu live next door in a society and have no issues whatsoever. A place where children are taught to respect all religions and celebrate their main holidays. Yes, my daughter loves Eid and Christmas, though we are Hindus.

我喜欢排灯节和胡里节，虽然我对每个节日都有震耳欲聋的男低音也不能忍。

我爱我女儿在学校里学到的价值观，虽然我仍然无法认同这里严格的学校制度。

我喜欢这里的天气(你可以说我住在沙漠里，所以说真的，我指的是山上的天气)

我在这里学到的是，我们在国外听到过太多关于印度和印度人的错误说法。

印度是一个多元化的国家，msl和印度教徒在同一个社会z处，没有任何问题。在这里，孩子们被教导要尊重所有的宗教并庆祝他们的主要节日。没错，尽管我们是印度教徒，但我女儿喜欢开斋节和圣诞节。