Kiwi’s ‘surviving India’ videos go viral

NEW DELHI: Tea-k hay, Deejee-yeh — that’s how New Zealander Karl Rock breaks down Hindi phrases for tourists to help them on their travels. So popular are this Kiwi’s five minute how-to-survive-India videos that he’s gained millions of views online.

Rock learnt Hindi as a teenager when he was dating an Indian in Auckland and wanted to work out what she was saying around the house to her parents. When the 33-year old computer scientist-turned-backpacker moved to India, he found that his knowledge of Hindi kept him from falling into the regular tourist traps set by con-men. “There’s an entire mafia in tourist areas of Delhi whose job it is to rip off foreigners,” says Rock, who has been in the country for the last one and a half years. His video on the scamsters of Delhi’s CP has racked up more than a million views.

Next trip to retrace Dandi March route


Another video on the joy and surprise that vendors greet him with when they hear his Hindi has two million views.
Though the videos are mini tutorials, Rock’s humour and obvious fondness for India keep them from being didactic. And some of his sub-titles crack you up: “In the background, which sister ****** parked his car here? PS: I will not be teaching this, LOL”. That’s from his Hindifor-beginners video, in which he takes a tour of a market and buys bananas to guide tourists through basic phrases and pronunciation.

Among the scams he lists are foreigners being taken to overpriced stores selling counterfeits, autorickshaw drivers colluding to cheat tourists, and conmen dropping faeces on foreigners’ shoes and offering to clean it for Rs 2,000. “I wanted to do something so that other travellers don’t get tricked,” says Rock. He also has a book out, India Survival Guide.

Rock recently went to Pakistan and made short videos there. “Pakistan reminds me of Nizamuddin in Delhi. Hospitality is great in both countries, but I found the man on the street in Pakistan is very wary of me,” he says.

His videos have been widely shared across social media and traveller groups. Richard Bowles, an Australian who visited India recently, wishes he’d seen the clips before he made his trip. “They’re a great way to know what to expect. He gives warnings but also shows the warm, friendly side of the country,” he says.

Rock has a following among Indians, too, who find the videos on Delhi life useful. “Anyone can fall prey to conmen in an unknown city, so it’s good advice for all,” says Mayank Ranjan from Patna who follows Rock on YouTube.

Rock, who lives in Gurgaon, intends to visit all the Indian states this year. “I’m planning to retrace the route of the Dandi March and show the world the beauty of Indian villages,” he says.