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By:

Naresh Kamath

5 November 2024 at 5:30:38 am

Indian Tourists Need a Reputation Reset

India has long taken pride in the philosophy of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ - the belief that guests deserve warmth, respect and dignity. It is an idea deeply woven into the country’s cultural imagination, often been projected as a defining Indian value. As millions of Indians travel overseas every year, the conduct of a small but highly visible section of Indian tourists is increasingly shaping how India itself is perceived abroad. The issue is not about a single incident or a handful of viral...

Indian Tourists Need a Reputation Reset

India has long taken pride in the philosophy of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ - the belief that guests deserve warmth, respect and dignity. It is an idea deeply woven into the country’s cultural imagination, often been projected as a defining Indian value. As millions of Indians travel overseas every year, the conduct of a small but highly visible section of Indian tourists is increasingly shaping how India itself is perceived abroad. The issue is not about a single incident or a handful of viral videos but a pattern that is drawing notice from hotels, tourism operators and local authorities across the world. The debate gained fresh momentum after reports emerged of a Swiss hotel issuing a notice specifically addressed to Indian guests. The advisory reportedly requested guests not to pack food from breakfast buffets for later consumption and reminded them to maintain silence in corridors and balconies. Hotels routinely issue guidelines. But when a particular nationality becomes the subject of a specific advisory, it inevitably raises larger questions about perception. “It is a sorry state of affairs. Indians, especially in groups, are displaying atrocious behaviour. This was anyway bound to happen,” says Subhash Motwani, founder of Namaste Tourism. Embarrassing Incidents Whether the notice was justified is another separate matter. The question is why such perceptions are emerging in the first place. Recent months have seen several incidents involving Indian tourists gain traction on social media. One widely circulated video showed travellers performing garba on an airport tarmac in Vietnam. Garba is among India’s most vibrant cultural traditions and a source of immense pride for millions. Yet airports are highly regulated spaces where safety protocols and discipline take precedence over celebration. The incident became symbolic of a larger problem. The rise of social media has encouraged some travellers to treat foreign destinations as stages for content creation. Public dancing, loud celebrations, disruptive behaviour and attention-seeking stunts may generate views and engagement online, but they can also leave lasting impressions on locals and fellow tourists. India is hardly the first country to confront such a challenge. During the 1950s and 1960s, American tourists acquired a reputation for arrogance abroad, giving rise to the phrase “Ugly American.” Britain spent decades dealing with the international embarrassment caused by football hooliganism. China faced similar concerns as outbound tourism surged during the early years of the twenty-first century. A nation’s image is shaped not just by its economic achievements and diplomatic influence but also by the behaviour of its citizens overseas. India today finds itself in a similar situation. Indian tourists are now among the most visible traveller groups across Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. This is, in many ways, a remarkable success story. However, with visibility comes responsibility. Hospitality professionals across destinations frequently point to recurring concerns. Excessive noise, queue-jumping, disregard for local regulations, overcrowding hotel rooms and attempts to bypass established rules through jugaad are among the complaints often cited. Collectively, repeated experiences can create lasting perceptions. The most revealing aspect of the debate is that Indian travellers often display exemplary discipline in countries known for strict law enforcement. In destinations such as Singapore, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, compliance with rules is generally high. Complaints tend to emerge more frequently in places perceived as relaxed or lenient. That suggests the challenge is not one of awareness. Most travellers understand the rules perfectly well. The problem is often a mindset that rules can be negotiated when consequences appear unlikely. Changing that mindset is far more important than introducing additional regulations or issuing fresh advisories. Every interaction at an airport, hotel, restaurant, tourist attraction or public transport system contributes to how a country is viewed. These everyday encounters often shape perceptions more powerfully than government campaigns or tourism advertisements. As India stakes its claim to a larger role in the world, its citizens must recognise that national prestige is shaped not only by economic achievements and diplomatic successes, but also by everyday behaviour abroad. The overwhelming majority of Indian tourists travel responsibly and leave behind positive impressions. Their conduct rarely becomes news because courtesy seldom goes viral. Yet a handful of highly visible incidents can overshadow thousands of positive experiences. The challenge is to encourage responsible travel and a greater awareness that behaviour abroad carries consequences beyond the individual. The conduct of Indian citizens overseas should reflect the confidence and values of a nation seeking not merely recognition but enduring respect. (The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)

Plastic’s Journey: From Street to Sea

What begins as a carelessly discarded plastic bottle can travel thousands of kilometres across the oceans.

As described in my article last week, Meir and Advay decided to trace the journey of a plastic bottle and a polythene bag that someone had carelessly thrown away. Curious to see where such discarded items eventually end up, the boys began keeping a close eye on them.


Soon, something unexpected happened. While a group of boys nearby were playing football, one of them accidentally kicked the plastic bottle. It flew through the air and landed in an open gutter, carrying sewage and dirty water. At almost the same moment, a gust of wind lifted the polythene bag off the ground. After fluttering briefly in the air, it too dropped into the same gutter.


The gutter was full of debris—bits of plastic, household waste and other rubbish—but the water was still flowing steadily. Determined to continue their observation, Meir and Advay began walking alongside it, carefully tracking their “targets”.


After some distance, the gutter opened into a river, emptying its polluted contents into the flowing water. Once the bottle and the bag were carried away by the current, the boys could no longer follow them physically. The river would almost certainly carry the waste much farther downstream.


But their curiosity only grew stronger.


Instead of giving up, Meir and Advay decided to utilise modern technology to determine where such plastic waste ultimately ends up. They came up with the idea of geotagging. Over the next few days, they managed to arrange small tracking devices that could be fitted inside plastic bottles.


Once everything was ready, they collected a few discarded bottles from nearby waste and fitted tiny microchips inside them. The chips had a long tracking range and could send signals to a handheld electronic tracking device.


They then dropped the tagged bottles into the same gutter and began tracking their movement.


The signals showed that the bottles first travelled through the gutter into a larger drain carrying sewage from thousands of households. This drain then emptied into a river. After flowing several kilometres, the river joined a creek, which carried the bottles even farther away.


Meir and Advay watched the signals on their tracker with growing excitement, eager to see how far the journey would go.


Soon, to their amazement, the tracker showed that the bottles had entered a vast expanse of water—the Arabian Sea. The boys assumed that this might be the end of the journey.


But it was not.


Months later, the tracking signals were still being received. To their shock, the boys discovered that the bottles had travelled thousands of kilometres across oceans. Eventually, the signals showed that they had reached the Pacific Ocean and settled in a massive floating mass of rubbish—often described as an “island of plastic waste".


Dear readers, this story may sound exaggerated or far removed from reality. But it is not. This is exactly how the plastic waste we casually discard in open spaces often ends up in our seas and oceans.


During storms, heavy rains or flooding, plastic litter lying on streets, in drains or in open areas is washed away. Rainwater carries this waste into gutters, drains and streams. From there, it enters rivers, which act like arteries connecting the land to the sea.


Not every piece of plastic that enters a river reaches the ocean. Many objects sink to the riverbed or get trapped among rocks, vegetation or other debris along the banks. Some remain stuck within the river system for years.


Yet a large amount continues travelling downstream. The closer plastic waste is to a river—and the closer that river is to the sea—the greater the chance that it will eventually reach the ocean.


Once plastic enters the ocean, its journey can continue for thousands of kilometres, carried by powerful currents across vast stretches of water.


The trail will continue… So please wait until next weekend to find out more.


Have a nice weekend.


(The writer is an environmentalist. Views personal.)


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