Atlanta-based Aparna Singh was on a business trip in the city considered India’s spiritual capital to meet the makers behind her jewelry line, Indian Goddess Boutique, according to the New York Post.
Release Date – 10:30 AM, Fri – 2 December 22
New York: A Lucknow-based Indian-American model and social media influencer has apologized after being slammed for calling Varanasi “the scariest city” in a TikTok video.
Atlanta-based Aparna Singh was on a business trip in the city considered India’s spiritual capital to meet the makers behind her jewelry line, Indian Goddess Boutique, according to the New York Post.
During her travels, she filmed a TikTok video titled “Scary City I’ve Ever Visited: Varanasi, India,” which received nearly 10,000 comments, many of whom asked her to “bring an open mind.” mentality to travel”.
The barrage of criticism forced her to share another clip in which she apologized for coming across as “disrespectful”.
At the beginning of the shot, Singh said that the Ganges is polluted and there is sewage everywhere.
“You saw people bathing in it. On the way to the hotel, you saw dead bodies burning. Look at the hotel. How scary?”
She also showed footage of her hotel, describing it as “dark” and “creepy”.
“The gates are creepy and there’s an electric fence so monkeys can’t get in, and to get in and out of the hotel you have to walk down this shady alley.”
“You see people sleeping in the middle of the street, even dogs, and yes, you guys have a really creepy place,” Singh said in the video, which uses the creepy sound effects from the movie “Amityville Horror.”
She tagged her video with words like #scarytiktoks #spookytok #creepytok #travelindia #uttarpradesh #travel #indiantiktok #scarytiktoks #scariestplacesonearth.
Nearly 10,000 people commented on the video, many of them asking her to “travel with an open mind,” according to the Post.
“Next time you do your research, don’t judge too much, and be open to new experiences,” wrote one TikTok user.
Many of them said to Singh: “The reason why Hindus bathe in the Ganges is because it is considered their sacred holy water, which… can remove their sins.”
I want to apologize because I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I’m just speaking from my experience,” Singer explained in her apology video.
“Maybe it’s the tone, the music. I’ve been traveling everywhere, I’ve been posting about Jaipur, I’ve been posting about Mumbai. None of you care about the good videos I post but as soon as I say my Bad experience, it blows up, TikTok, that’s what you do.”
According to the New York Post, Singh, who was featured in Forbes India, has seen her TikTok go viral during the pandemic and people are ordering her nose rings. She was born and raised in Georgia, USA, and her family is from Lucknow, according to the New York Post.
