Well, I have seen it changed in many ways very positively. Some of the aspects of traveling in India are still the same but many have changed significantly, for example, air travel has become more affordable. There weren't so many choices in air travel when I was traveling back in '70's and '80's but now there are many airlines competing for business in India. The airlines sector in India is very competitive, which has improved their service. The roads, in many areas, have improved too, which means that the bus travel is not that bad anymore though in some areas it is still bad as those roads are still not that comfortable. There are more air-conditioned coaches in Indian trains. The reservation process for trains has improved too. Earlier, one has to go to the station to get tickets and getting those tickets was not easy. There was no centralized reservation system. Now, with online reservation systems people can make reservations through the internet and they don't even have to be in those cities. Earlier, let's say, if you were going from Bombay to Indore then to buy the ticket you had to go to one of the reservation centers in those cities. Now you can buy it from anywhere.

I would say that it is kind of a mixed thing. When I first came here, India was a little unknown in many quarters. People knew of it just as a big country in Asia and that was it. They had not formed any opinion about it one way or the other. That thing is not that common any more. More people know about India now. There is a lot of discussion going on about outsourcing to India. Journalists from major US publications are visiting India and writing stories. The US media coverage of India has increased and many more people are aware of India and Indians. They have also formed opinions - some positive and some negative. The negative opinions are because of the discussion that is going on about outsourcing, in which India is seen as getting the work at the expense of American workers. The Indian community is also becoming more visible in the US. Most has a different religion and belief systems than the majority of Americans. They are also quite affluent and have one of the highest household incomes of all ethnic groups in the US. That has made more people aware of Indians and given a positive opinion about them.

Mood Indico, the magazine you publish, reaches an audience of people from the Indian subcontinent who now live in the U.S., that is to say non-resident Indians (NRI). So how do NRI's affect travel and tourism in India?

Well, the one thing, which dissuades foreigners from visiting India, is lack of knowledge or the false information. Some people might think that travel is always going to be a luxury kind of thing, but that is not always going to happen. Not all scenic places in the world are luxury resorts. If you want to see wonderful places then you may have to go to remote areas. You have to experience some sort of unfamiliar customs, food, people and, may be, some hardships. That is the charm of world travel. Travel in India is both easy and difficult. If you want to go the easy route then you may not be able to see many wonderful historical places. You will miss seeing the richness of India.

Right. How would one advertise India? You have to present it in a way that Indians see it. You have to talk about natural and historical wonders and not necessarily only the beaten down paths. I have traveled extensively in the Himalayas and the experience of hiking in those mountains is fantastic. There are places where you can see more than seventy snow-topped peaks while trekking alongside mountain rivers. That is something, which many foreigners do not envision when they think of India. Now one way to change that image is to make good documentaries or good travel movies of such places. There are many places that are not covered extensively in the western media but they give a much fuller picture of India. The real travel is how people - locals - see the things out there and that story needs to be told to foreigners going to India. There are many aspects of India that make good stories and movies but they would not necessarily increase tourism. I was watching a documentary about monkeys, I believe, somewhere in Rajasthan. Now that's a good documentary, if somebody wants to follow the monkeys and all those things. But, if the image that was left in the viewers' mind is that monkeys are everywhere in India, then that's a false image. When I go to India, I don't see monkeys everywhere. That movie was made with a particular stereotypical angle. But, if you really want to promote a place, then you have to show it in the way as seen by the majority of people, which will generate the desire in viewers hearts to go visit that place.