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Culture has to be experienced to be understood. Reading or hearing about it is not enough. To experience and understand it, teachers have to be close to students, explaining to them as they live their lives. The role has to be taken on by individuals. This enables the learning of distinct cultures rather than something general, which may be a mixture and not necessarily unique. One individual who has taken up the role of explaining our Indian culture and tradition to visiting tourists and making it as his main aim is Era Meyappan, who through his 'Bharat Dharshan' has given a new meaning to the word Tourism.

The word 'tourism' has always been considered a business that helps the government earn foreign exchange. But Meyappan has gone a step further by educating the tourists about our culture and tradition and making them understand that India means love, affection and unity and not poverty or casteism as they are made to think. For the past 15 years, Meyappan has successfully brought many foreign tourists to India, especially south India and has made them aware of the greatness of our soil and our hospitality.

A lawyer by profession, he was, however, unable to digest the fact that honesty gets lost in some cases. He then switched over to the subject which had taken his fancy right from his chilhood -- Tourism. The main aim of Bharat Dharshan is to inform other countries about the social and economic life of our people. 

"Generally when foreigners think or visualise India, what comes to their mind are the Taj Mahal, Kanyakumari and the long beaches. They have formed an opinion that India means abject poverty, absence of hygiene, diseases etc. One should change this wrong opinion of theirs and make then understand that our country stands for love, unity and wonderful family system," he says.

He began to mull over this when he went to attend a conference in Delhi in 1999.When he heard what the foreigners had to say about India, he was deeply affected and wanted to do something to change their opinion. Thus was born Bharat Dharshan. His speciality lies in the fact that he never allows his tourists to stay in hotels or bungalows but in homes so that they can get a feel of our lifestyle. He brings tourists mostly from Sweden, Denmark and Norway and each batch comprises 16 tourists.

Before leaving for India, 'Study and Travel', a small organisation run by Yudvik in Sweden, conducts special classes on the nature of their stay in India, -- how they will be put up in homes and not in hotels, how they are expected to leave their slippers outside the house before entering it and so on. 

Meyappan receives them at the airport and treats them to a south Indian meal at his house. The tourists get to travel only by train and that too second class, which he says will help them converse with the passengers and learn more about our country. In south India, their stay is arranged in Ammachathiram, Thirukarugavur near Thanjavur and Sivagami Nagar near Kumbakonam. The people there, especially Navaneedham Ammal, Selvaraj and Sukumar, invite them home and offer them food with so much love that the visitors are overwhelmed. The highlight is that though they don't speak a common language, they manage to communicate by gestures and the hospitality touches their hearts.

He takes the tourists to temples in Rameswaram, Madurai, Palani, Trichy and Kanyakumari and explains about their ancient lore. He shows them the 400-year-old church in Sennagiri, Aleppey in Kerala and the 200-year-old St.Francis Church in Kochi. The tourists show a lot of interest in knowing about Hindu gods, our culture and ways of living. They are also given an oppurtunity to listen to lectures by eminent spiritual personalities and hold discussions with Thiruvaduthurai Aadheenam, Matha Amirthanandhamayi and Dharmapuri Aadheenam. Finally, after 21 days of travelling to various places, he gives them small souvenirs. People like Navaneedham, Selvaraj and Sukumar, who play hosts to these tourists, expect no reciprocation and refuse even if Meyappan offers them any gifts. But he manages to pass on the gifts through the visitors.

Meyappan was invited to Sweden by Bo, an invitation which he accepted. He happily reminisces about the royal treatment given to him and his family in Sweden and recalls the feelings expressed by the people there. They had told him that they are able to see only longing in their children's eyes while in the eyes of Indian children they were able to see light. This, according to them, was due to the fact that they grow up with love and parental affection, a fact often lacking as far as their children are concerned.

He received the 'President Rover Award' in scouting from former President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in 1979. His service to the tourism industry was recognised and he was presented a shield in 1995 by the then Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma.

The year 2003 saw him working as adviser to the Tamil Nadu Tourism Department and also to the Exnora Naturalists Club. He also created a website called www.bharatdharashan.com through which he imparts information about the tourism industry. Meyappan deserves wholehearted congratulation for spreading the values of Indian culture and tradition and devoting his energy to keeping the flame aglow through his profession.