When you tell people that you're from India or you are traveling to India, what kind of response do you get and do you think the reactions or preconceptions are accurate?

To be honest, when I tell people I'm from India, especially here, a lot of times people don't know where India is. They're like, "Oh, is that in the Middle East?" A lot of times, people don't even understand that India is actually in Asia. They think that we are Middle Eastern. I've had people make [ululation] sounds. They just have no idea what you're talking about. Then on the other hand, there are people who are totally into India and they know everything. They know more about India than I do. But I would say the majority in America are clueless about India and also other parts of the world. I think that people have their stereotypical reactions as well. People associate India with poverty. Now, especially, they associate India with call centers. Also, the typical kind of reactions from what they associate Indians with, which is like 7-Eleven, cab drivers, that's sort of common as well.

When you say you're traveling to India, I think people generally look at India as a very exotic place. There is the stereotype of India being very, very spiritual and exotic. People are kind of fascinated if you say you are traveling to India. I don't know what kind of visual comes up for them, but it's not necessarily an accurate visual. It's an interesting visual. I think it's the same, if I were traveling to Africa, probably people have the same kind of stuff. They're like, "Oh, my God." They act like you're right in the middle of a jungle.

If time and money were no object, what few things would you tell someone to do or see to better understand India?

I think India is such a vast and diverse country that I think if time and money were no object, then you should really experience all that the country has to offer. I think even I have not been able to completely understand and see the country because there is so much to do and see.

But definitely, if they were in the northern part of India, I would say it is good to do the typical tour, which is the historical tour of Delhi and Agra and Jaipur and Rajasthan. Those areas are full of history and culture. There is the Taj Mahal and the palaces in Rajasthan. It's part of the heritage and the architecture of India, which, I think if you are visiting, if you have time to visit the country, you shouldn't miss that. I think it's seeing that sort of ancient part of Indian culture but then comparing it and seeing the modern part of big city life in New Delhi, which is very different. It's completely a burgeoning economy and modern restaurants and hotels and all that kind of stuff. There's a lot of contrast between old and new and ancient and modern.

I think the other thing, geographically, what's beautiful is, if you go up to the Himalayas and you go to the mountains, there are places like Shimla which is a city there. There are other places that people go to in the foothills of the Himalayas, which are really gorgeous. I don't know if it's possible for people to do, but Ladakh, which is right near Kashmir is absolutely amazing. I would advise people to really get an understanding and see that whole part of India in the Himalayas, which is really great. It's very different from urban India.

Then if you were to go to the south, the southern part of India, of course, I've never been there, but Kerala is supposed to be amazing. Bombay is like New York. It's like Manhattan, basically. It's bustling and it's crazy and it's a 24/7 kind of city. It's the heart of the Bollywood industry. It's really sort of a one-of-a-kind city in India. Then I would also say to go to the east and go to Assam and go to Kolkatta and Darjeeling. If you can do all that, I think you've really got a good sense of what the country is all about. But even then you've even left out a lot of areas. At least you get some kind of understanding of the diversity and the country, both geographically, culturally, people-wise, languages, et cetera.

I think people don't really have that understanding of India. They think Indians there are all the same. I think that that's not true. I think it's important to really kind of spend time and do these things. If time were really a constraint, then you have to figure out one geographic region that you really want to concentrate on and really spend time there.

You've done comic commentary on different personality quirks of Indians, including what you label "indirectness." What do you think a foreign visitor to India should understand about the Indian character in order to best navigate India?

Indians, it's true, we do have very different cultural and personality differences. I was talking about Indians about being direct. I think generally, India is, the Indian culture is a more passive culture than America. Americans are a lot more aggressive. I think Indians tend to be more indirect. It's funny. They can be really in-your-face, but they're still indirect. They won't get to what they're trying to say. In the streets of India, people are trying to sell stuff to you and get after your life so you can buy something. It's pretty intense. Even for me, if I'm visiting India and people are following you around trying to sell you stuff, it's a pretty intense thing. I think if someone were a foreigner visiting India, they should understand that they are going to get a lot of attention. They are going to be the center of attention right through their stay in India, wherever they go. That's just what it's like. I think it is particularly because a lot of Indians have not been abroad. When a foreigner visits, they want to give them a lot of attention. They think they have money and they want to sell stuff to them and they want to be helpful to them.

I think overall it's a relatively safe country. People are safe. I think the best thing is to just get into the culture and just enjoy it. If you try to resist it, you're going to have a tough time. The best thing is to just surrender and go with the flow. Just sort of take the Indian flavor and culture and character. People force you to eat. They're a lot like Jewish people. Everyone wants you to eat. You can't say no. You've got to. They're very hospitable. They want you to eat whatever is put in front of you and they'll keep forcing you to do that. I think that's another thing that you get used to when you are in India. I think the best thing is, you have to make sure you don't get "Delhi belly," but you have to make sure you enjoy the food and enjoy the flavors and all that kind of stuff that the country and the people have to offer you. I think Indians have a lot of positive and negative quirks, just like any other culture.

In my comedy, I talk a lot about a lot of the positive stuff and then I also talk about the hypocrisy. Indians are not overtly sexual at all. Talking about sex is complete taboo, but yet we have a population of a billion people. I think Indians are very repressed in many ways. It is a repressed culture. It's a culture that frowns on discussions about sex and sexuality. There are a lot of appearances that we as a culture are supposed to keep up. It is also sort of more of a community and a family-driven culture as opposed to being an individualistic society. I think that's changing now and the new generations are becoming more individualistic. I think a lot of India is still caught in people fulfilling the expectations their families have of education. They have certain obligations to their parents of who they can be, what they can do, who they can be in life, who they're going to marry, and all that kind of stuff. That's all part of India. It's changing. There are people who are like me, through my act, challenging stuff like that and laughing at it, talking about breaking free of those kind of restrictions and barriers on individuality and self-expression. I think a foreigner visiting India may not necessarily experience that amount of freedom.

That being said, I think it's an extremely rich and ancient culture. It's a culture with a lot of wisdom. We have tremendously old philosophy in our holy books, in our culture, in the Hindu religion and in other religions in India. A lot of the stuff that people are now discussing here in America, talking about ways of coping with stress and ways of coping with lifestyles today and coming back to what's healthy and living well and keeping yourself mentally sane and doing yoga and all has been happening in India for ages. These are a lot of Eastern philosophies and wisdoms that are now coming back and being celebrated and exotified here. They've been around in India for ages. I think a foreigner should really be able to distinguish the good from the not so good and really take the good and learn what they can. I think that's what my advice would be to them.

We now see a burgeoning Indian influence in the West from call centers to yoga to Bollywood films and even Indian comics like yourself. What role does India's presence in pop culture play in persuading or dissuading people to travel to India and do you see yourself as a cultural ambassador when you do your show?

Yes, I do. I do see myself somewhat as a cultural ambassador. I think that pop culture does play an important role in painting a picture of a country and a culture. I think that what I try and do is paint an honest picture. I'm also relating to a lot of stuff with personal experiences. I think I do play the role of a cultural ambassador, however I do it in an unconventional way. There are many more  traditional ways that India is portrayed in , like Bollywood films and traditional dance.

If you're in Bollywood films, you get a sort of glitzy, kind of tacky, vision of the country. You're like, "Oh, my God, these people in their costumes and all dancing and shaking their booty around!" People think that's what India is like. That's not really what India is like. That's kind of like the fantasy version. However, it is also a part of India that is really celebrated but if you look at the Bollywood films today, you're seeing a lot of Western influence in the dances and the songs and the clothes people wear.

I think the Bollywood films definitely are a reflection of what's going on in society. They definitely do sort of mirror what's happening in society. I think you're finding that in India right now. People are really trying to ape the West. They are trying to become as American, as Western as possible. That's not necessarily a good thing. I think it's good to sort of take things from the West if you can, but you have to stick to the history and tradition of your country, which has really been great for you, which maybe is, in many ways, wiser than the Western way of life.

I think that India's presence in pop culture is a big one, not only through Bollywood, but now also in an increasing sense through pop culture. Standup comedy is now coming up on the map as one way that India is being seen as well. You're just seeing it now emerging as something that really is, we haven't seen Indian standup comics before. We've seen Chris Rock and we've seen Margaret Cho and a number of others ­ of course a whole line of Jewish comedians. We've seen Eddie Murphy, but we haven't seen an Indian comedian of that sort of status and caliber, that really is speaking about their experiences in this country as an immigrant or their experiences as an Indian-American or about life in India. I think you're increasingly going to see that. I find that as I'm really performing and getting known more, a lot of people come up to me and say, "My God, you've really opened our eyes to a part of India and to the way things work in India which we had never really understood before."

You do become a cultural ambassador. I think it's important to talk about things that people don't really talk about. That's what I attempt to do in my shows, to make fun and laugh at things that are true and that might be taboo to talk about or no one has really talked about. If you look at Chris Rock and some of these other comedians, that's what they've done in their communities as well. They've talked about stuff that people wouldn't have dared to talk about. It's the stuff that people wouldn't talk about normally but they all think. They wouldn't have the guts to talk about it at the water cooler at work, but they're hoping someone will.