Atithi Devo Bhavah

Integrity - This implies that the person does not cheat the tourists and charges him a fair price for the service. This is one of the guidelines on IncredibleIndia.org. Atithi Devo Bhavah which means Guest Is God, is a new campaign promoted by the Ministry of Tourism, India. Last Saturday, I was at Mysore and this private bus guy, I suppose, had not seen the TV commercial in which a cab driver is shown cheating a foreign tourist. This guy almost cheated us before he was caught. We wanted to go to the Brindavan Gardens. We were waiting at a bus stop, when we saw this bus with the board saying that it goes to Brindavans. Before popping in, we asked the conductor whether the bus goes to Brindavans and he asked us to get in. We purchased tickets for our destination and were looking out of the windows as tourists usually do, before inquisitive Vihar asked the person sitting on his seat how long would it take to reach Brindavans. To our surprise we were told that Brindavan Gardens were exactly in the opposite direction and that the bus had started from Brindavans. We got up and demanded the money back from the conductor. The conductor asked us not to worry and he would take us to Brindavans on the return trip, which meant not only we would have to pay him more money but also that we would spend an hour more to reach our destination. The conductor even refused to stop the bus. But one shout from Swapnil and the driver stopped the bus and the conductor handed over the money. After we got down, I showered the choicest of the abuses in Marathi, which I am sure he did not understand but knew were some abuses. In return, the sob hurled abuses in Kannada with such a conviction that no one would believe that he was at fault. Tourists are meant to be cheated.