Getty Images/Zubin Shroff
Couch surfing, the worldwide concept of offering travelers a bed or couch for free, has caught on in a huge way in India. Have a look on the Couch Surfing website and you'll find tens of thousands of people ready to welcome guests all over the country. What's interesting to note though, is that the majority of them are single males aged around 30 or under.
This recent article in the Times of India asserts that, "For many Indian men, couch surfing -- a platform that allows travellers to offer free accommodation -- is an excuse for asking women out on a date".
The female author of this article about couch surfing in India confirms that it's easy to find a host in India, but it is a bit tricky to find a good one. And, she says that speaking from experience, some have ulterior motives.
To be fair, she also enthuses that she got to meet and stay with a fabulous variety of people from all social classes in India while couch surfing. They included a flight attendant, an elephant rider, and a son of a wealthy family.
When it comes to couch surfing, the issue in India is that females generally don't live alone independently or travel alone. Society is conservative and it's often frowned upon. Hence, there can be misconceptions about foreign women who are willing to stay in the homes of strangers, particularly men, India. Single women who offer accommodations to strangers are also often perceived the wrong way.
Although this doesn't mean that you shouldn't couch surf if you're a woman, extra precautions should be taken. This includes checking the references on everyone's profiles and reading them carefully. It's also safer to choose hosts that are still living with their parents, or families, and exchange a couple of e-mails with them in advance.
What are your thoughts about couch surfing in India? Are Indians really ready for the concept? Any experiences to share?
Do check out the discussion on this post on Facebook and Google+ as well.
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I agree to the extent that as females we constantly get these strange requests from men that are definitely not in the spirit of CS. But, if you are careful and if you choose to ignore obvious crap, it is a wonderful site to connect with like minded travellers and to see how the locals live by sharing few days with you.
It has sometimes been advertised as the cheap or free way to travel, which has led many people to join in. A few years earlier it had only travellers and it was and it still is a beautiful community
I have been on it for 6+ years and have hosted people from across the world as single woman in Bangalore and have been hosted in and outside India and I cherish each of those experience and friends.
Thanks so much for your feedback, Anu. Glad to hear that on the whole, you’ve had success with it.
The risk factor in surfing or hosting in India is the same as compared anywhere in the world. I had heard how german or Italian or Brazilian dudes being too ‘affectionate’ to female surfers that made them uncomfortable. Also, single woman hosts are being pushed for partying and more by the guests in other nations. Both surfers and hosts have to check references and friends, also look for how many times host/surfer had been ‘vouched’ whether they want to surf in India or in any nation..
I have been hosting travelers at my home in Washington dc, and as well in my home in Kerala. I have had numeorus surfing experience in the US, India, Europe, South America and Middle east.
In my personal experience, ndian hosts are found to be better hosts compared to other hosts in other nations. Indian men hosts may offer breakfast lunch, may invite guests to local festivals or sightseeing places even if guest is a guy. These benefits are provided by hosts in other nations only to females surfers. They wont give much welcoming to guys. But Indian hosts does it very well even if guest is man or woman. Also,Indian hosts are very sincere to their guests and may be the importance westerners give to ‘Space’ may be a factor that may not go well in India. But still I had met wonderful hosts and surfers in many parts of India, and still CS is a great place to meet like minded people and stay in India.
There might be some bad experiences, but we can say that the whole India is not ready for CouchSurfing.!
I am a German and have couchsurfed in India together with another female German. My personal experiences were just great. I have met a swiss girl couchsurfing India with some less pleasant experiences. But she herself said, that it was partly her own fault.
So… couchsurfing in India is (still) a bit different from other nations. As is it’s traffic, its food and custums. Westeners (specially female ones) that go couchsurfing in India should LEARN about India, its culture and its society BEFORE they start travelling.
If Indian men approach western female tourists in an offensiv way, it is mostly also the fault of the tourists themselfs. Too often THEY send out signals, that MUST be mistaken by Indians.
So… Couchsurfing itself is a great way to grow understanding and tolerance among the different cultures of this world. But: Do it the RIGHT way. Use your brain before you act.
This articles just misses the good point!
Well, good and bad is everywhere. And it is true to some extent that “asking out women on Couchsurfing” can be seen somewhat, but the important thing is to ask, “really?”
So far, as of my feelings, Indians are the perfect host as the saying goes, ‘Guest is God’. And you say ‘are Indians ready for the concept?” LOL.
It’s always good to be wary of guests/hosts all the time, no matter where you go or where you are and there are lots of ways you can make yourself sure.
Oh, it’s fine if they actually do treat the guests like God, not like a potential sex partner (which is unfortunately the experience of many couch surfers)!
yes…….
Even though I don’t have any experience, as an Indian, I think Indian male should grow up and be more matured to accept open minded western female. so better to be careful with single couch surfing males. So, It’s better to stay with a family if you want. Of course there are good people too, you may find a very good guy…so do a bit of research before you go with a single male.
India is dangerous place for western women ,people think all western women are hollywood style sexy stereotypes with loose character.But some parts of india like the ladakh region in the himalayas and north eastern areas of india near burma are much better.
This is still bit of Alien concept for most of the Indian People.
Indian’s are great host’s , but before moving in please do some research. Look’s are deceptive.
Have a backround check , meet him once after then decide.
Couch Surfing in India has become platform for men in India to hit on female tourist.
I suppose the problem is pretty much the same. Its the age old , there are good people and there are bad people. if you cant do your research about the person you are going to be staying with , then its just silly.
I have heard of people with great experiences and ones with not so great experiences. Its always good to get to know your host before you decide to live with them!
I(a girl) have used the cs in india for over 20 days when i was travelling there, I found that the female host there are so great, which made me like india so much, but at the same time, most male hosts are too dangerous for single girls, and I have several uncomfortable expereience, but there are still some nice guys, so if you want to use cs in india, just be cautious and chose female host as possible as you can.
Concepts like couch surfing are stuffs for open minded people and society, so it doesn’t map with “India” where people know only one relationship between a man and a woman. There is so much division in India based on religion, caste, creed, ethnicity etc. that these concepts are not taken sportingly by people. Also beware of Indian males who are hungry for money, lust etc. You can very well make out by looking into the greedy eyes of such men. Also another tip is see how the guy behaves with poor people and with animals. This is very important to judge the character of a man. True manhood is achieved by winning a woman’s soul and not her body. Also concepts like ployamory, living together etc. are coming up in India but still the narrow and conservative outlook of Indians prohibit such concepts being a success. But if you guys check out history polyamory existed in the ages of Lord Krishna and found in the pages of the Mahabharata. So we had a strong base ruined through ages by male chauvinism and greed.