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A popular joke amongst Israelis traveling in India goes like this:
An Indian asks an Israeli backpacker, "So how many Israelis are there?" The backpacker answers "Around 7 million." The Indian then asks, "And how many in Israel?"
Around 50,000 Israelis visit India each year - mostly backpackers, a large proportion of whom are on a gap year between the end of their army service and the beginning of the rest of their lives. They comprise only a minuscule proportion of the total number of foreign visitors to India each year, but Israelis are the only ones who have a tendency to travel in packs, and to cluster in certain places. In Delhi they stay at the Hare Rama, one of the grottiest guesthouses in Pahar Ganj, a seedy area near the train station. In Goa there is Tel Aviv Beach, and during the summer Israelis stay in spots around Himachal Pradesh (HP), most notably in a little village called Bhagsu Nag, near Dharamsala.
The presence of Hebrew-speaking backpackers is so overwhelming in these places that they have come to resemble little Israeli colonies in India. Some speak of an Israeli invasion, and one Israeli woman wrote her doctoral dissertation on the phenomenon. The locals who run the restaurants and guesthouses often speak a bizarre version of idiomatic Hebrew that is notable for its hilarious syntax. Hebrew signs for various services - from internet cafes to rickshaws - are posted everywhere, and the restaurants serve falafel in pita, hummus, shakshouka and jachnun. Mostly, everyone gets along well - but there are always some louts who have to spoil it for everyone else, and there have been several reports in the Israeli press of young people behaving badly in India. Sometimes they cause offense without meaning to, because they are ignorant of local customs - like a couple that was fined for kissing in public - but I often saw people who were just inexcusably rude. (Yes, yes - there were plenty of rude tourists from other countries too). The popular weekly satire show Eretz Nehederet (A Wonderful Country) did a hilarious skit about the Ugly Israeli in India that you can view here.
So "shanti" has been integrated into the Hebrew vernacular, we have popular Indian eateries in Tel Aviv, plus thousands of India veterans wandering around the country, satire skits, doctoral dissertations and now...the documentary film.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Hummus Curry.
The film was shot last year in Bhagsu Nag, where I spent a couple of months in 2000. Back then there were a lot of Israelis, but their presence was nothing compared to what it has become, as seen in the film.
The clip below shows Shoresh, a local businessman who runs a guesthouse and falafel stand (Falafel Mazal), posting signs for his super blowout dinner to celebrate the Jewish New Year. Will he win the popularity contest with the local Chabad missionaries emissaries? (oh yes, they are here too). There are more clips here; the woman named Shirley in this clip teaches yoga at Chandra Yoga, in Tel Aviv.
If you got to Goa in India, you might get to experience more than you anticipated. Goa is fast becoming known as the venue of choice for Israelis finishing their mandatory stint in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). IDF national service is a responsibility that young Israelis take seriously. It is also a stressful role. On completion of service, young Israeli men and women need somewhere for some serious R&R and Goa seems to fit the bill.
Goa is exotic, laid back and the scene of one or two quality party venues. Just what a young person wants to bring them back to earth. However, having an influx of recently ex-IDF service personnel also makes Goa a target, and security has to be taken seriously. This requirement has seen the Israeli Consulate in a post-Mumbai attack world, taking a tour of Goa to ensure that those partying young Israelis are kept safe and sound. It is a small, and very interconnected, world out there.
The Goa Police said Saturday that it was natural for officers from Israels Mumbai consulate to inspect the North Goa coast as it was frequented by Israeli tourists.
They will obviously want to see the security arrangement here after what happened in Mumbai, Superintendent of Police Atmaram Deshpande told reporters, referring to last years terror attack on Mumbai that left 170 people dead.
Mumbai is only 500 km away. And a lot of tourists from Israel visit Goa, he added.
Goa receives several thousands of tourists from Israel, mostly ex-soldiers who travel the Himachal Pradesh-Goa tourist circuit after a mandatory stint in the Israeli armed forces.
They come to Goa during our season, at a time when it is off season in places like Manali in Himachal Pradesh, Deshpande said.
He said the police did not know the exact number of Israeli tourists visiting the state each year.
There are two Jewish prayer houses in Anjuna and Morjim, both beach villages in north Goa, which have now been kept under discreet observation by the state police.
We are taking every precaution and have made substantial arrangements for the safety of every tourist coming to the state, the official said.
Jewish tribe in NE india
Yes,that applies to Pakistan & China.Birds of same feather flock together
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Chor e Chor e Mashtuto Vai