Belongings:
Do not leave anything unattended.
Keep valuables close and hidden on your body.
Do not show off phones, money etc
Never give your passport as security when renting motorbike etc. Insist on giving a photocopy instead.
Keep a photocopy of your passport, Indian visa and flight ticket separately from the originals when travelling. If your passport is lost or stolen notify the police immediately and obtain a police report.
Bicycle:
A good recommendation written by Jnanagamya Dasa. Choose what suits you best.
To protect your bike you have got to use a chain. And best if you destroy the re-sale value of the bike with some sandpaper, a couple of colors and your name in big letters on the frame in several places. If you must be spiffy get a professional artist to write your name, address and the phone number of security on the bike.
You could add "this bike is stolen property if the rider doesn't look European, Russian, British, etc."
Or "This bike was stolen if the rider tries to sell it to you and can't speak Russian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, American, French, etc."
Or "This bike was cursed by a Durga Ma Tantric. Whoever steals it will die heavy painfully in one week." Written In Bengali of course. And that could make it seem very exotic and perhaps even enhance the legal resale value.
If you chain the bike up at your home use a serious heavy chain. What have you got to lose, you may not look so cool, you may look paranoid, scared but you'll still have the transportation you paid for? We're not here to look swift and chic.
Posting a reward for information leading to the recovery of any bike stolen and recovered will only encourage a different type of racket to evolve. You are all rich kids in a poor neighborhood, you need to arm yourself with thief preventers, chains, painted names, a little abuse of the fancy decals that try to convince you that you are riding a motorcycle, not a pushbike, and stop thinking everything is cool, it can't happen to me.
Room/Home:
Fire/Smoke/Gas
Property:
Be very careful when purchasing land or apartment. All are strongly encouraged to contact MCS before any purchase. If you are on a visa sponsored by ISKCON it is a must.
Buildings in Mayapur may or may not be built according to the rules of the State govt, safety regulations, quality standards etc
Fake documents are promoted and being sold.
There are certain risks in making deals with certain people. Greed for profit can lead to desperate acts.
Do not leave anything unattended.
Keep valuables close and hidden on your body.
Do not show off phones, money etc
Never give your passport as security when renting motorbike etc. Insist on giving a photocopy instead.
Keep a photocopy of your passport, Indian visa and flight ticket separately from the originals when travelling. If your passport is lost or stolen notify the police immediately and obtain a police report.
Bicycle:
A good recommendation written by Jnanagamya Dasa. Choose what suits you best.
To protect your bike you have got to use a chain. And best if you destroy the re-sale value of the bike with some sandpaper, a couple of colors and your name in big letters on the frame in several places. If you must be spiffy get a professional artist to write your name, address and the phone number of security on the bike.
You could add "this bike is stolen property if the rider doesn't look European, Russian, British, etc."
Or "This bike was stolen if the rider tries to sell it to you and can't speak Russian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, American, French, etc."
Or "This bike was cursed by a Durga Ma Tantric. Whoever steals it will die heavy painfully in one week." Written In Bengali of course. And that could make it seem very exotic and perhaps even enhance the legal resale value.
If you chain the bike up at your home use a serious heavy chain. What have you got to lose, you may not look so cool, you may look paranoid, scared but you'll still have the transportation you paid for? We're not here to look swift and chic.
Posting a reward for information leading to the recovery of any bike stolen and recovered will only encourage a different type of racket to evolve. You are all rich kids in a poor neighborhood, you need to arm yourself with thief preventers, chains, painted names, a little abuse of the fancy decals that try to convince you that you are riding a motorcycle, not a pushbike, and stop thinking everything is cool, it can't happen to me.
Room/Home:
- Remember to lock your door even when you are inside the room
- If possible use your own lock.
- If possible install a spy-hole.
- Never allow any strangers in your room. Do not trust strangers, no matter how well dressed they might look.
- Keep a security chain on your door. So, even if it is the mail man, milk man, subji man or who ever, it will never give them an opportunity to just walk into your premises unnoticed.
- Also, as a principle, unless the person is well known to you, never invite strangers or salesmen or who ever, into your door. It will give them an opportunity to look around to see what and how they can steal next time when you are not at home or are not looking.
- Never leave your key where someone can note your room number.
- Don’t leave your window open, especially if the windows are not barred, or has a balcony
- Use a door wedge on the inside of your hotel room door for extra security.
- If the door has a spy-hole or chain, use these before opening the door to unexpected visitors.
- It has happened that someone from outside cut the mosquito net open and reach in to steal things near the window. The same is for the door. If you lock only your mosquito door, keep in mind that someone can very easily cut the net and reach in and unlock the door.
- Consider having different layers of security on your home. A good lock or several on your door, but also a lock on the door to the room where valuables are kept.
- Please remember that the locks themselves or the material holding the lock OR the doors themselves are very fragile and easily penetrated in India. Make sure they are of good quality and properly fastened. Especially lock holder should be bolted through the door, not only screwed on.
- Often the windows are barred, but not the balcony or front door. Check if additional security is required at these points.
- Even if you live above ground floor it is many times easy to climb up reaching windows, or from balconies or roofs.
- Having a secure house preventing intrusion is one thing, another is that you may need to quickly escape in the event of some danger, like fire, smoke, attack etc. Barred windows may cause a risk in this case. Please consider making sure you have some escape route for your whole family.
Fire/Smoke/Gas
- Fire/Smoke: Many in India are not worried about fire. Houses are built from bricks etc. But fire and smoke is still a risk as the following example will show: One mother was leaving her laptop on her sofa to go to bed. Her children was already sleeping. Due to the position of the laptop in the sofa it overheated and burnt the mattress causing smoke to fill the whole apartment. The mother and children never woke up but died in the smoke. A smoke detector could be considered for those who want to increase their safety.
- Gas: We have the very sad example of Aindra prabhus death in Vrindavan. A leakage filled the rooms with gas and when the stove was lightened, all the rooms burst in flames. There are many examples of gas bottles exploding and the gas itself can kill without having to be lit. It kills by suffocation. Bottles should preferably be kept outside the house causing less damage if something goes wrong. There are gas warners available to install that work in a similar way as smoke detectors. Or you can always make sure there is good ventilation in the kitchen area.
Property:
Be very careful when purchasing land or apartment. All are strongly encouraged to contact MCS before any purchase. If you are on a visa sponsored by ISKCON it is a must.
Buildings in Mayapur may or may not be built according to the rules of the State govt, safety regulations, quality standards etc
Fake documents are promoted and being sold.
There are certain risks in making deals with certain people. Greed for profit can lead to desperate acts.
