A popular joke amongst Israelis traveling in India goes like this:
An Indian asks an Israeli backpacker, "So how many Israelis are there?" The backpacker answers "Around 7 million." The Indian then asks, "And how many in Israel?"
Around 50,000 Israelis visit India each year - mostly backpackers, a large proportion of whom are on a gap year between the end of their army service and the beginning of the rest of their lives. They comprise only a minuscule proportion of the total number of foreign visitors to India each year, but Israelis are the only ones who have a tendency to travel in packs, and to cluster in certain places. In Delhi they stay at the Hare Rama, one of the grottiest guesthouses in Pahar Ganj, a seedy area near the train station. In Goa there is Tel Aviv Beach, and during the summer Israelis stay in spots around Himachal Pradesh (HP), most notably in a little village called Bhagsu Nag, near Dharamsala.
The presence of Hebrew-speaking backpackers is so overwhelming in these places that they have come to resemble little Israeli colonies in India. Some speak of an Israeli invasion, and one Israeli woman wrote her doctoral dissertation on the phenomenon. The locals who run the restaurants and guesthouses often speak a bizarre version of idiomatic Hebrew that is notable for its hilarious syntax. Hebrew signs for various services - from internet cafes to rickshaws - are posted everywhere, and the restaurants serve falafel in pita, hummus, shakshouka and jachnun. Mostly, everyone gets along well - but there are always some louts who have to spoil it for everyone else, and there have been several reports in the Israeli press of young people behaving badly in India. Sometimes they cause offense without meaning to, because they are ignorant of local customs - like a couple that was fined for kissing in public - but I often saw people who were just inexcusably rude. (Yes, yes - there were plenty of rude tourists from other countries too). The popular weekly satire show Eretz Nehederet (A Wonderful Country) did a hilarious skit about the Ugly Israeli in India that you can view here.
So "shanti" has been integrated into the Hebrew vernacular, we have popular Indian eateries in Tel Aviv, plus thousands of India veterans wandering around the country, satire skits, doctoral dissertations and now...the documentary film.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Hummus Curry.
The film was shot last year in Bhagsu Nag, where I spent a couple of months in 2000. Back then there were a lot of Israelis, but their presence was nothing compared to what it has become, as seen in the film.
The clip below shows Shoresh, a local businessman who runs a guesthouse and falafel stand (Falafel Mazal), posting signs for his super blowout dinner to celebrate the Jewish New Year. Will he win the popularity contest with the local Chabad
Shoresh at Falafel Mazal (english subtitles)
