Invisible India | Navigating Indian Culture With Love

Is India safe for foreign travelers? I believe that in 95% of situations, having the right skills and language will help you get out of sketchy situations. 

But how?

With most Hindi travel guides out there, the book is going to teach "Namaste, Mera naam Jessica hai. Aap kaise hain? Aapka naam kya hai?" While these are not bad things to learn, but actually not that important if you’re just trying to survive in India.

But what are the things you need to know? How to book a taxi and how to give directions to an Uber coming to pick you up. How to get out of an uncomfortable situation, how to negotiate or count money. How to tell someone to leave you alone!

In this podcast, we talk about how to get out of situations:

-how to get around by taxi, auto, train and airplane -negotiation strategies and vocab

-how to get out of compromising/scary situations

-managing money, counting and smart ways to manage payments.

Asking questions in Hindi might be the most important thing you can learn.

In this episode, Jessica talks about the importance of asking questions and not just making declarative statements in Hindi.

In this episode, we talk about "kya - what." "Kya" is the most important word you need to know to be able to ask questions in Hindi. This video is a sample from the larger Hindi Grammar Foundations course by Jessica Kumar. Hindi Grammar Foundations is a 2.5 hour course including 30+ video lessons, downloadable homework, audio recordings and multiple perspectives from two teachers. Enroll in Hindi Grammar Foundations today.

If this is your first trip to India or eighth, this episode highlights the top 10 pro pointers you need to known to reduce the headaches, inconveniences and ripoffs that are likely to happen while visiting India.

Navigating the Indian medical system can be incredibly confusing, intimidating and even downright frustrating if you didn't grow up in South Asia. Knowing the ins and outs of how the medical field is run in India is crucial to being able to care for yourself and others in routine visits and especially emergencies.

If you are visiting India, living in India as a foreigner, or an NRI who is caring for someone, this is the episode for you.

A recent injury prompted me to record this episode while my mind was fresh with lots of doctor visits, medical tests, procedures, pharmacy experiences and even emergency room dramas. I cover it all in this episode and give practical tips of how to get through most situations.

I also summarized this information in a free PDF guide on my website www.invisibleindiapodcast.com. Save it on your phone or print it out for your next visit to India.

I've been following Indicast with Aditya Mhatre and Abhishek Kumar for 17 years. They are the hosts of India's longest running multi-person podcast. Covering major business tycoon stories, to media personalities, to the latest news, these guys are the dynamic duo of Indian podcasting. 

In Part 2, Jessica talks with them about predictions for future digital India and how they think tech has changed the ways people live.

Part 1 about their personal lives of being two of India’s first podcasters and how the show came into being.

Hear about some of their most popular episodes and high profile guests and most interested episodes that would have never otherwise gotten exposure in the mainstream media.