Sense and Sensibility

One of the most common regret responses that come in plenty to an event or occasion nowadays seems to be, “Sorry, I’m travelling.” Indeed, Indians seem to be travelling like never before. For leisure and pleasure, for business with pleasure, for studies, for a weekend break or the big tick on the bucket list, for weddings and birthdays - the list seems to be endless. And the destinations too range everywhere from a drive away to an ocean apart. No destination is too far and no place is too close to home. At 1.4 billion and counting, Indians have a passport to everywhere more than ever before.

What that means is while we are living in an era that allows and affords us access and connectivity to some of the busiest and most touristy places as well as the very off-beat tracks, be it within the country or overseas, it is also making us ambassadors, at least in an informal way, of our own community, cultures, nation and people. It is a glorious opportunity if treated sensibly and one that cuts a very sorry picture, when not.

So, one gets gazed at and wins flattering compliments by turning up even in a simple hand-spun or silk saree, an attire that never goes wrong anywhere in the world. Equally, a namaste is almost always reciprocated warmly and seen as a very ‘Indian’ thing. Some Indian names continue to draw reverence and respect worldwide across cultures and identities.

But if those and other such, are some of the items on the menu that accord us a welcome, the list that draws us flak, even if it is a somewhat muted flak, tends to be woefully longer. Loud and unapologetically late, we’re often the group that is the first to break a queue, the first to open the overhead compartments in a flight whilst the seat belt sign is still on, the most probable ones to litter and certainly the only ones who fail to read signs such as ‘Do not touch’ or ‘Silence Please’.

Sometimes our attitude reeks not just of rudeness or inconsideration but starts bordering on the absurd. I’ve been witness to guests demanding a discount from the manager on duty while checking out of forest resorts on the grounds that they didn’t sight a tiger, while some other guests did! In their minds, their demand was entirely legitimate, as the tiger should have been taught the manners to come forth and put up a show, indeed done a catwalk, since the guests had pre-booked a jungle safari. A minor fact that they’re in the wild and not in a zoo, escapes them leaving a hapless manager scurrying to call his senior for appeasement!

Several years ago, I made it to the Phillip Island in Australia, home to the largest little penguin colony in the world. It took me months of planning and long flights to get there, never mind the pocket pinch of course. One of the absolute highlights and a sight to remember is the penguins coming out of the ocean in large numbers by late evening and waddling noisily to their burrows. We were instructed to be absolutely quiet so as to not disturb them in any way. Entire viewing platforms and boardwalks were full and everyone waited silently. Patiently. Predictably though, as soon as a few of the penguins started to bob out of the ocean, an entire group shrieked and clapped in excitement making sure to scare them away. Their applause was treated with admonishment by the guards. We had to wait an extra hour for the penguins to resurface before we could catch the black and white birds returning home. Needless to say, the excited shriekers were very much our brethren.

As we add airport after airport and continue to get our passports stamped relentlessly, we now have two clear options. To be responsible ambassadors of our cause and country and up the benchmark of being responsible travellers and explorers or to be juvenile tourists who are tolerated for now because of their spending powers and a growing GDP. The choice is ours. (Also, September 27 is World Tourism Day).

Author Supriya Newar may be reached at [email protected], Instagram: @supriyanewar, Facebook: supriya.newar and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/supriya-newar