Tourist stereotypes: Karmic krusaders

Spiritual tattoo? Dreds? Hippie clothing? Glazed-over eyes? Caveman stench?

Why some people think that India, home to one of the most capitalistic, materialistic, class-driven, ambition-friendly, image-obsessed cultures on the planet, is some haven of spirituality where karma comes to get down is absolutely beyond me. Yet think they do- at least as well as they can while perpetually stoned- and at the slightest provocation will deliver a monologue on familiar New Age themes. Actual conversation at the guesthouse:

UNWASHED HIPPIE : Hinduism's all about love, man.
ME: I'm not so sure. Have you read the Bhagavad-Gita?
UNWASHED HIPPIE: No, but I've been meaning to. It basically says we're all one, right?
ME: Not really. It's about duty.
UNWASHED HIPPIE: This world is transient, we're just lost souls seeking liberation.
ME: What does that mean for the here and now?
STONED RAVER: Now and here, man: nowhere!

I'm all for people opening their hearts and minds to new cultures, new ideas, and new ways of life, but this is something else. Trying to relive the individualism and idealism of the revolutionary 1960's in today's world is hedonistic and irresponsible. So go ahead and have your Paulo Coelho-fueled journey of spiritual self-discovery, but at least have the decency to conform to the hygenic standards of the culture at whose expense you're naval-gazing.