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Public
Holidays
Date
2004
Occasion
January
1 New
Year's
Day*
January
26
Republic
Day**
February
2
Eid
Al
Adha*
February
18 Maha
Shivaratri*
March
6 Holi*
March
30
Sri
Rama
Navami*
April
9
Good
Friday*
April
14
Baisakhi,
Vishu/Bahag,
Mesadi,
Maghi*
May
2
Milad
un
Nabi
or
Eid
ul
Milad
(The
Prophet's
Birthday)
June
2
Buddha
Purnima
August
15 Independence
Day**
October
2 Mahatma
Gandhi's
Birthday**
October
22 Dassera
October
12 Diwali
(Deepavali)
November
14
Eid
ul
Fitr*
November
19 Guru
Nanak's
Birthday*
December
25 Christmas
Day*
Festivals
and
holidays
differ
in
different
regions.
Hindu
and
Muslim
festivals
are
scheduled
according
to
the
lunar
calendar
and
don’t
fall
on
the
same
day
every
Gregorian
year.
*Restricted
holidays
-
Given
at
the
discretion
of
the
organization/employer.
**National
Holidays
Weekend
-
Sunday
Health
&
Safety
Health
The
entire
Indian
sub
continent
has
the
same
health
hazards
so
one
line
of
defence
should
cover
you
on
all
territories.
The
major
risks
to
your
health
from
the
armies
of
mosquitoes
are
malaria,
encephalitis,
kala
azar
and
dengue .
Cover
your
arms
and
legs;
be
liberal
with
the
repellent
and
in
problem
areas
sleep
under
a
mosquito
net.
Traveller’s
diarrhoea
is
another
running
problem
and
year
after
year
traveller
after
traveller
gets
the
‘loosies’.
Ensure
it’s
nothing
nastier
by
avoiding
green
salads,
uncooked
food,
and
water
that
you
haven’t
sanitised
by
dropping
an
iodine
pill
into.
Slightly
more
serious
is
the
risk
of
contacting
AIDS,
Hepatitis
B
and
other
sexually
transmitted
diseases.
For
your
sake
and
the
sake
of
the
people
you’re
visiting
always
use
a
condom.
Have
safe
responsible
sex.
For
climbers
and
mountaineers:
look
out
for
symptoms
of
altitude
sickness/acute
mountain
sickness.
If
you
ascend
above
3500meters
too
fast
you
might
feel
nauseous,
sleepless,
and
your
head
may
ache.
In
this
case
your
body
is
telling
you
that
you’re
having
acclimatisation
problems
so
let’s
descend,
buddy.
Jokes
aside,
this
is a
very
serious
situation
to
be
in
and
the
only
thing
to
do
is
to
descend.
Also
carry
sunscreen
with
minimum
SPF
20
to
escape
sunburn.
The
quality
of
health
services
is
not
consistent.
Urban
centres,
particularly
metros,
have
good
hospitals,
well
stocked
late
night/all
night
chemists,
highly
competent
doctors
and
top
of
the
line
medical
services.
Conversely,
rural
and
semi-rural
areas
have
very
limited
facilities.
Stick
to
the
larger
cities
if
you
are
anticipating
trouble.
Medicines
are
fairly
cheap
in
India.
Though
chemist
shops
in
the
cities
are
well
stocked,
it
is
always
a
good
idea
to
take
along
prescription
drugs.
Travellers
from
yellow
fever
areas
are
required
to
have
an
inoculation
certificate.
Prior
inoculation
for
poliomyelitis
is
recommended.
Safety
India
is a
reasonably
safe
travel
destination.
Political
disruption
is
usually
localised
and
everyone’s
aware
of
there
being
potential
trouble
days
ahead.
Areas
that
may
be
avoided
are
Jammu
&
Kashmir
and
parts
of
the
Northeast,
which
in
any
case
have
restricted
tourist
activity.
Cases
of
mugging,
theft
and
worse
aren’t
completely
unheard
of
but
by
and
large
serious
crimes
against
travellers
are
few
and
far
between.
Basic
precautions:
-
Keep your money and travel documents close to your body (perhaps in a pouch slung around your neck, tucked out of sight under your shirt),
-
Keep several photocopies of your passport, insurance, travellers’ cheques etc. scattered through your luggage,
-
Do not use a waist pouch, it may as well be a transparent plastic bag: it’s that fragile and that obvious!
-
Do not put all your money in one place,
-
Be extremely alert in the dark. One of the things that protect travellers to India is the vast crowds in any place. The multitudes however, disappear into their homes at night, and you go from having a huge thick safety quilt to a flimsy sheet! Try your best to be in a familiar area when it gets dark. If you are not, at least know how you can get to that area from wherever it is that you happen to be.
-
Many women travellers wear the long tunic and loose pyjama dress of Indian women called the salwar-kameez and find that it substantially dissuades unwanted male attention.
-
If you are travelling alone, do not advertise it.
-
If you lose your passport lodge a First Information Report at the local police station and contact your embassy.
Weights
&
Measures
India
uses
the
metric
system
where
100cm=1meter;
1000meters=1km,
liquids
are
measured
in
litres
and
solids
in
kilograms.
Electricity
220volts/
50
hertz
is
the
frequency
at
which
electricity
is
available
WHEN
it
is!
Power
cuts
and
‘load
shedding’
is a
regular
feature
all
over
except
Mumbai.
Another
reason
for
visiting
in
the
colder
months
would
be
that
not
only
do
power
cuts
become
fewer
but
you’ll
also
feel
the
pain
of
them
less!
If
your
electric
razor
has
flat-pin
plug
then
carry
a
combination
plug
that
will
feed
into
a
round-pin
socket:
across
the
sub
continent
plug
point
sockets
are
round
rather
than
flat.
Customs
&
Duties
If
you
are
above
17
years
you
may
import
the
following
in
without
attracting
duty:
200
cigarettes
or
50
cigars
or
250
grams
of
tobacco,
a
litre
of
alcoholic
drink,
250
ml
perfume,
gifts
up
to a
value
of
Rupees
4000
(foreign
passport
holders),
gifts
up
to a
value
of
Rupees
6000
(Indian
passport
holders)
and
articles
of
personal
use.
But
its
best
to
check
with
the
authorities
for
the
specific
details.
It
is
illegal
to
bring
in
drugs,
gold
and
silver
bullion,
plants
and
coins
that
have
gone
out
of
use.
Post
&
Communications
Postal
services
in
India
are
quite
efficient.
Letters
overseas
must
be
marked
"Air
Mail"
or
"Par
Avion".
It
takes
a
week
to
10
days
for
letters
to
reach
the
UK
and
the
US
from
Delhi,
Mumbai,
Calcutta
and
other
major
cities.
Have
letters
for
you
(surname
first)
addressed
to
the
GPO
(General
Post
Office)
of
the
city,
‘Poste
Restante’.
The
post
offices
hold
letters
for
30
days,
and
you’ll
have
to
show
them
your
passport
for
identification.
Parcels
are
a
bit
tedious
to
send
or
receive
and
often
when
they
do
finally
arrive,
they’ve
been
tampered
with.
Courier
services
are
widely
available
in
the
cities
and
small
towns.
"Cyber
cafes"
are
an
increasingly
common
fixture
in
India’s
urban
landscape,
in
major
cities
and
even
in
smaller
towns.
At a
fixed
rate
that
varies
from
city
to
city,
locality-to-locality,
you
can
check
your
mail
and
surf
the
net.
Very
often
the
Internet
business
is
an
extension
of
what
used
to
be a
just
a "PCO".
In
loopy
lanes,
beneath
shady
peepul
trees,
in
busy
markets....all
over
India,
little
yellow
boards
spill
out
of
little
kiosks
with
the
cryptic
letters
"PCO-STD-ISD"
(.....
huh?)
15
years
ago
the
telecommunications
miracle
swept
India
and
today,
proud
bearers
of
that
legacy,
‘Public
Call
Offices’
bring
to
the
streets
the
services
of
‘Subscribers’
Trunk
Dialling’
and
‘International
Standard
Dialling’.
Most
offer
fax
services,
and
more
and
more
now,
Internet
facilities
too.
Country
code
for
India:
0091.
Codes
for
the
metros:
Delhi-011,
Mumbai-022,
Calcutta-033
and
Chennai-044.
When
calling
from
overseas
omit
the
zero
in
the
city
code.
Tipping
It
is
customary
to
tip
10%
of
the
bill
at
restaurants,
but
you
may
tip
less
if
service
charges
have
been
included
in
the
bill.
At
hotels
tip
10
bucks
to
the
bellhop,
the
same
to
the
doorman
‘durban’;
if
the
service
is
particularly
good,
substantially
more
to
the
concierge
and
housekeeping.
Black
and
yellow
cab
drivers
do
not
expect
to
be
tipped.
The
opposite
is
true
if
you
have
a
hired
a
cab
for
a
long
period.
You’ll
find
some
of
the
most
friendly
and
colourful
service
at
tiny
nondescript
roadside
stalls
called
‘dhabas’.
A
small
tip,
even
if
it
is
only
loose
change,
will
be
appreciated
tremendously.
Coolies
(porters)
at
railway
platforms
have
to
be
paid;
negotiate
the
payment
before
you
hire
one.
English
Language
Media
No
matter
where
you
are
in
India
it
is
never
going
to
be
difficult
to
find
an
English
language
newspaper.
All
the
major
dailies,
and
there
are
many
in
this
country
where
the
fourth
estate
is
startlingly
independent
and
strong,
have
multiple
editions
with
at
least
one
from
every
region
and
one
on
the
net.
There
are
two
major
weekly
newsmagazines
and
both
are
easily
available
at
kiosks
all
over.
Even
international
fashion
glossies
have
an
edition
coming
out
of
India
now
though
these
are
available
only
in
the
bigger
cities.
Cable
TV
has
reaped
a
rich
harvest.
Even
small
town
India
has
a
skyline
that
blooms
with
electronic
blossoms
of
dish
antennas
and
these
are
only
going
to
proliferate
further.
BBC
World
Service
and
CNN
beam
the
latest
news;
ESPN
and
Star
Sports
keep
you
up
to
date
with
how
your
club
is
(or
is
not)
thrashing
its
rivals
in
UEFA;
and
Star
(elsewhere
known
as
Sky)
beams
an
entire
stable
of
entertainment
channels.
The
more
widely
accessible
national
channel
too
has
some
English
programmes,
and
a
daily
English
news
segment.
FM
in
the
metros
means
Music
like
in
the
rest
of
the
world.
BBC
World
Service
and
Voice
of
America
are
on
the
MHz
bandwidth
but
the
frequency
is
variable. |
