Alphons Kannanthanam | Rijo Joseph
Wherever I go, I am completely
amazed by my country. Last week, I had gone to Raigad Fort in
Maharashtra. You cross these mountain ranges, take an old rickety
ropeway up, and come to this place where you see a huge and magnificent
fort. The other day, I was in Govardhan in Mathura, and saw these
incredible structures. I am putting in a lot of money there. Wherever I
go, I try to see how I can improve that place. I am discovering new
things every day.
We have everything in India—the backwaters of Kerala; the magnificent capital of the Vijayanagara empire in Hampi; the forts and palaces of Rajasthan, the most luxurious railway in the world, Palace on Wheels. We have 8,000 kilometres of sea coast. Seventy-three per cent of the Himalayas is in India. You can go rafting, paragliding, mountaineering, backpacking. If you want a laid-back holiday, you can go to Kerala. If you want to see wildlife, we have many sanctuaries with everything from the Asiatic lion to the one-horned rhino. And here is so much vibrant music, dance and various festivals.
Four of our airports—Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad—are listed in the world's top ten airports. Our five-star hotels are many times better than any of the five-star hotels in the US or elsewhere. Last month, I was staying in the presidential suite of the best hotel in Chicago. There was no water in my room, and when I called the reception to replenish it, they told me to come and pick it up from the counter. Can you imagine? Even a non-star hotel in India would be supplying water in the room. If you go to an Indian five-star hotel, you’ll have dozens of items for breakfast. In America, you will get toast and omelette.
My objective is simple: Last year, we had 16.2 million tourists coming to India. The income from tourism was $27 billion. I want to double these figures in three years, and in five, I want the income to be $100 billion. We are promoting cruise tourism in a big way, and building cruise jetties in Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Chennai. Last year, we had only 1,74,000 Indians going on a cruise. We want to increase this number dramatically. I also want to promote night tourism. One of our big problems is that there is no night entertainment here. So people see whatever they want to see during the day and at night, they are in their rooms either drinking or sleeping. Worldwide, big money is made at night, with shopping, dining and other forms of entertainment.
My favourite place in India currently is Khajuraho and its the
temples, which were built between the 9th and 11th centuries. They are
the most magnificent I have seen, a few hundred metres tall and
completely carved in sandstone. No cement or steel was used, with the
structure holding itself. Nowhere in the world have I seen such
complicated architecture that is still intact. If you go to other
countries and ask them to show you a heritage [building], they will take
you to some broken pillars and tell you this was where it was.
My new slogan is not ‘come and see India’. It is not even ‘come and experience India’. It is ‘come and be transformed by India’. I am selling Indian civilisation, the crux of which is that you and I are one. Even going beyond, the whole universe is one. So, happiness is indivisible. You can’t be alone. You have to make the world happier for yourself to be happy. It makes you work harder, makes you a better politician, a better human being. This is why I say that when you come to India, you will never be the same again.
Kannanthanam is Union minister of state for tourism.
As told to Anjuly Mathai.
We have everything in India—the backwaters of Kerala; the magnificent capital of the Vijayanagara empire in Hampi; the forts and palaces of Rajasthan, the most luxurious railway in the world, Palace on Wheels. We have 8,000 kilometres of sea coast. Seventy-three per cent of the Himalayas is in India. You can go rafting, paragliding, mountaineering, backpacking. If you want a laid-back holiday, you can go to Kerala. If you want to see wildlife, we have many sanctuaries with everything from the Asiatic lion to the one-horned rhino. And here is so much vibrant music, dance and various festivals.
Four of our airports—Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad—are listed in the world's top ten airports. Our five-star hotels are many times better than any of the five-star hotels in the US or elsewhere. Last month, I was staying in the presidential suite of the best hotel in Chicago. There was no water in my room, and when I called the reception to replenish it, they told me to come and pick it up from the counter. Can you imagine? Even a non-star hotel in India would be supplying water in the room. If you go to an Indian five-star hotel, you’ll have dozens of items for breakfast. In America, you will get toast and omelette.
My objective is simple: Last year, we had 16.2 million tourists coming to India. The income from tourism was $27 billion. I want to double these figures in three years, and in five, I want the income to be $100 billion. We are promoting cruise tourism in a big way, and building cruise jetties in Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Chennai. Last year, we had only 1,74,000 Indians going on a cruise. We want to increase this number dramatically. I also want to promote night tourism. One of our big problems is that there is no night entertainment here. So people see whatever they want to see during the day and at night, they are in their rooms either drinking or sleeping. Worldwide, big money is made at night, with shopping, dining and other forms of entertainment.
My favourite place in India currently is Khajuraho and its the
temples, which were built between the 9th and 11th centuries. They are
the most magnificent I have seen, a few hundred metres tall and
completely carved in sandstone. No cement or steel was used, with the
structure holding itself. Nowhere in the world have I seen such
complicated architecture that is still intact. If you go to other
countries and ask them to show you a heritage [building], they will take
you to some broken pillars and tell you this was where it was.My new slogan is not ‘come and see India’. It is not even ‘come and experience India’. It is ‘come and be transformed by India’. I am selling Indian civilisation, the crux of which is that you and I are one. Even going beyond, the whole universe is one. So, happiness is indivisible. You can’t be alone. You have to make the world happier for yourself to be happy. It makes you work harder, makes you a better politician, a better human being. This is why I say that when you come to India, you will never be the same again.
Kannanthanam is Union minister of state for tourism.
As told to Anjuly Mathai.
https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2018/07/21/my-sparkling-country.html
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