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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.)

SECTOR 36 – Could Have Been Stronger

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

SECTOR 36

Aditya Nimbalkar makes his directorial debut with a very challenging subject. Sector 36 is sandwiched somewhere between a psychological thriller and a police thriller. The challenge is further sharpened by the fact that the film is an adaptation of the brutal Nithari killings in Noida in 2005 when 36 small children from a neighbouring slum were lured to the house of a businessman and he, along with his sociopath servant, would not only slaughter the kids to death but would also cook them on a specially made oven and eat their flesh. The tragic outcome of the final verdict in the case was that both the rich businessman and his servant were acquitted of all the crimes for lack of proper evidence! Or was it because the kids came from the slums from families who lived below the poverty line and had no clue how to get the killers sentenced for life or to death? No one knows and now, no one ever will.

The local police inspector Ram Charan Pandey (Deepak Dobriyal) takes charge of the investigation, not really interested in trying to catch the killer/s because, like his colleagues in the force –is disinterested and interested only in commanding his juniors to remind them who is boss. The film does not acquire the definition of a police thriller till we are half-way through the killings of slum kids who go missing and never come back. But he pulls up his socks when, during a Ram Leela jatra in the locality where he is perhaps portraying Ravana, he witnesses his little daughter being carried away by a masked man. Pandey gives hot chase but the killer runs free. Later, the kid is rescued and brought to her mother.

Prem (Vikrant Massey) is a servant at the home of Balbir Bassi (Akash Khurana), a rich businessman with shady deals and powerful enough to wrap DCP Rastogi (Darshan Jariwalla) round his fat little finger. Prem is a psychopath who is full of so much confidence that he quite plainly narrates his entire series of killings of small children, chopping their bodies, allowing the blood to flow and then, reports that he cooked and consumed them as his abusive uncle had taught him the taste of human flesh enough for him to get addicted.

The psychological tensions come across in scenes of the killings followed by suggestions that Prem is cooking and consuming them, gruesome enough for the lay viewer to take this for a horror film with so much blood, so many pictures of missing children stuck on the walls of the slum, the policeman cringing while crushing a cockroach with his shoe but doing it nevertheless and finally, building up everything to lead to a sad and unexpected anti-climax.

Sector 36 disproves the theory that the whole is more than the sum of its parts because in this film, with an ending that does not justify the build-up is quite disappointing. Vikrant Massey’s nonchalant approach to his killings, his kidnapping of the slum kids with chocolates, defines him as the most cold-blooded and pathological serial killer one has seen in recent times. But the tragic back story of the sexual abuse by an uncle weakens his villainy. The young sex worker who is killed and buried in some garden is another bright spot in all that blood and gore.

Deepak Dobriyal, underutilised, is understated and evolving from beginning to end till he goes missing. Akash Khurana and Darshan Jariwalla are as good as they always are. The editing is sharp, jet-paced and the cinematography captures the narrow bylanes of Delhi, the Ram Leela performance-to-be and the spacious interiors of Bassi’s palatial home standing in contrast to the place where Prem does his killings offers a good contrast but also adds to the confusion about the location where the heinous crimes are actually committed. The music is quite effective but it was not really needed.

Sector 36 is a sharp, well-etched, character-driven story where the police thriller and the psychological thriller come together to make for an unhappy marriage.

(The writer is a veteran journalist based in Kolkata. Views personal.)

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