It’s sad that Indian travellers have such a poor reputation abroad, given how well we tend to behave
Travellers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Representation pic/Sameer Markande
I recently returned from a short holiday to a neighbouring Asian country, where I was dismayed with the overwhelming feeling that Indian travellers aren’t exactly welcome at most places. This wasn’t just about casual racism either, more a pointed observation that the world outside would be a nicer place if some of us weren’t visiting. It occurred time and again, when I was profiled, then given a pass after I responded with politeness. It felt as if the Asians outside just hadn’t met too many of us who knew how to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you.’ This saddened me, obviously, because I have always believed that Indian tourists are among the world’s best-behaved people.
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Look at how we are at airports and on aeroplanes, for example. Sure, a majority of us will hog the overhead luggage compartments, stare lecherously at Caucasian women, rush to boarding gates without waiting to be called, or share our food with each other while the seatbelt signs are on, but surely this doesn’t count as bad behaviour? It is simply our culture, what we refer to as ‘sanskar’ and ‘sanskriti’. We are raised to treat rules and regulations as minor inconveniences to be ignored, so why is this a problem? The fault lies in everyone who isn’t Indian, for not educating themselves on these cultural nuances about what defines us. It’s not ‘bad behaviour’, just ‘Indian behaviour.’ They are the ones who should learn to deal with it.
When I arrived at my destination, there were a few fellow Indians at the hotel I checked into, one of whom was obviously on his honeymoon. This didn’t stop him from ignoring his new bride in favour of a bikini-clad woman at the pool, who eventually left for what she assumed was a safer part of the hotel. The wait staff were outraged, but I erred on the side of my fellow brown man. I believe his uncouth behaviour was an aberration because I can’t think of a country safer for women than India. Ask any Indian woman you know if she ever feels threatened, or like a piece of meat in this country, and the responses may surprise you. The man staring at that other woman was probably just doing it out of the goodness of his heart, with the best possible intentions. Perhaps he simply wanted to get to know her better and give her a sense of how women are worshipped as goddesses back home. Who am I to judge when his new wife simply stared into her glass of lemonade in silence? If she had no problem with her husband, who were the rest of us to complain?
I spoke with catering and hospitality staff about this too, and some of them told me about the air of entitlement surrounding visitors from India. This was a surprise because I had no idea we possessed this sense of privilege. When I asked for an explanation, one of the hotel’s employees said that it was only Indians who ordered waiters around at the self-service breakfast counters. Tourists from most other nations were happy to get their own food.
When I thought about this later, I realised that what the hotel staff thought was entitlement was simply an example of our fabulous caste system at work. When you raise people to believe they are superior to millions of others because of an imaginary set of categories, it is only natural that they will live the rest of their lives asking others to serve them without question. If that is wrong, it would mean the caste system is inhumane, and we all know that simply isn’t true. It is arguably the world’s best system so, naturally, I blamed the hotel staff for this lack of understanding.
Stepping out of the hotel, I ran into Indian tourists exercising that other wonderful habit of bargaining. While some of them asked for discounts on printed ticket prices, others quoted 5 per cent of what vendors were demanding. There was healthy mutual respect in the air, even though I may have misread what the vendors were really saying.
I think this is something the government ought to address before things get out of hand. Maybe the honourable Prime Minister should consider a few more taxpayer-funded fact-finding missions to boost our image abroad. After all, just because 95 per cent of us don’t know how to behave in countries that respect good behaviour, doesn’t mean we should all be tarred by the same brush.
When he isn’t ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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