Stop Calling Kashmir the “Switzerland of India”

Suraiya Ali Khan had never been to Venice when she booked her trip to Alleppey in 2017. But she had heard the comparison — “Alleppey is the Venice of India” — often enough that it had done its job. “Knowing I could experience something as close to Venice in India was a very attractive option,” she told The Juggernaut.

“Puducherry is India’s French Riviera.” “Mumbai is India’s New York.” Ask someone from India to describe Kashmir, Alleppey, or Mumbai without reaching for a European reference and they, funnily enough, pause. “It is hard,” Khan chuckled. “It is hard to actually describe these places.”

The logic is familiar: take a place your audience may not know and explain it through one they supposedly do. For centuries, Indian destinations have been translated through European ones. So where does this habit come from? We spoke to historians, a linguist, novelists, and travelers to find out.