Launched this year, The India Tube offers travelers, expats and locals a discerning guide to India. Pooling content from a range of writers and photographers, this online magazine suggests offbeat and exciting ways to experience the country.
I caught up with Annalisa Merelli, the online magazine’s editor to see what the Tube is all about and also, what India means to this Italian expat.
To start, what is The India Tube?
It’s an online magazine through which we try to make the India experience more accessible and authentic.
How does it differ from other travel publications and websites?
All our contributors share things that they find very exciting so there are no bad reviews.
We also try and go to the places that are off the beaten track and we rely on local expertise.
We have stories that would be interesting anywhere in the world and not necessarily connected to the idea of the exotic that one might have of India.
For someone new to India, what can The India Tube offer them?
The magazine is constantly updated with suggestions for things to do and there are a lot unusual stories, for example one story about the ‘Bullet Baba’.
The article is about a Baba or Hindu saint who died after crashing his Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike in a Rajasthani village. After his death, villagers swore they could hear the bike revving up at night.
So they moved the bike back to the site of the accident and started venerating it. There is now a pundit, or priest, who makes sure the bike, is worshiped.
If you’ve been to India you know that this type of thing can happen and nobody makes a fuss about it. If you want to venerate a bike [in India] then it’s fine.
What’s the idea behind the balloon?
We wanted an icon or logo for The India Tube that related to India but we also wanted to stay clear of the usual elephants and om.
[The balloon] is a cute symbol of travel and freedom and is connected to the incredible fairy tale that India still is.
What articles would you say people should start with?
There is definitely the ‘Bullet Baba’ story and a fun piece about plane-spotting in India, which is probably something that you wouldn’t ordinarily think of doing.
The plane-spotting article is exactly the kind of story missing from other travel guides. Maybe you’re an airplane geek and you want to come to India to see the planes and no one can tell you where to find them, so that’s what we do.
If you want to eat out, there’s a lot of good advice. My personal suggestion is if you are in Delhi, go to the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan canteen which has the best southern Indian food in town.
In your opinion, what are the highlights of travel in India and what should people not miss?
I would say not to miss the cities because I think they say a lot about what India will be in the future. So I’d go to Mumbai and I’d come to Delhi, which is underrated by tourists, and never stay in Pahar Ganj because that’s the reason why nobody likes this place.
But personally the place here that touched me the most was Srinagar.
Dal Lake is beautiful and it’s full of floating gardens and traditional houseboats. On the other hand Srinagar is sort of a post warzone and there are a lot of soldiers around. It’s such a stunning place but it’s mostly empty.
What do you think is the biggest misconception that people have when they come here?
I think a lot of people come here hoping to have a strong spiritual experience but I don’t think there are any self-outlets here. It’s like any other place but richer and bigger.
What do you like about India?
The cows.
And I think it’s the most alive place I’ve ever been to. There’s so much going on all the time and there’s so much intensity to everything.
Plus, I come from Italy and I think in a way there are a lot of things here that we have in Italy: The way people are attached to their family and the way people mind each other’s business. I think that would be the most difficult to get used to as a foreigner but I’m kind of used to it.
You’ve picked up Hindi, what expression do you fine the most useful?
The one most powerful word is ‘Jugaar’ which is kind of like ‘make it happen’.
It’s the art of making things possible and fixing things in some bizarre way. It just speaks to people.
I believe that’s what makes India work because people just find a way of doing things.
What advice do you have for someone traveling to India?
To give in. It’s never going to be as you want it and you just have to accept it and once you do, it’s much easier.
Annalisa’s Indian Top Five
Indian film Sholay
Book Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.
Restaurant Don Giovanni for Italian; Malabar House for Southern Indian.
Place Srinagar, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai and Udaipur.
Shop Bombay Electric for fashion; Play Clan for cheeky Indian designers; Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazaar for traditional Indian finds.
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