Five dollar whiskeys
Ugly Indian replaces ugly American
The instant that the fasten seat belts light went out aboard Cathay Pacific's inaugural Delhi-Bangkok flight this summer, a chorus of metallic dongs erupted like a romper roomful of Ritalin-deprived 5-year-olds turned loose on an arsenal of xylophones.
The passengers were attacking their call buttons.
In seconds, flight attendants were up and running. By the time they began dishing out the special meals, tempers were beginning to fray.
“Whiskey!” demanded an old man with a white beard when the young Chinese flight attendant tried to put a meal in front of him.
“Sir, we are not serving drinks now,” the flight attendant replied politely. (Dong! Dong-dong! Do-Dong, dongdong!)
In the next row, another man, younger but no less eloquent, reached up to press his call button, and the flustered attendant caved and uncapped the Scotch.
“Arre, such a small peg she's given you,” the old man's companion protested.
Dong!
Once the world loved to hate the Ugly American — fat, loud-mouthed and blissfully superior in his utter cultural ignorance. But since the economic crisis put the kibosh on American and European travel budgets, there's a new kid in town. India's rampaging outbound travel market has thrown a much-needed lifeline to the tourism industry in Southeast Asia, Europe and farther afield.
For those schlepping bags and serving drinks, though, the Ugly Indian can be so demanding that the lifeline sometimes looks like it has a noose at the end of it.
“It's a cultural thing,” said Pankaj Gupta, part-owner of Outbound Travels, a New Delhi-based travel agency. “In India, we have servants to do everything in everybody's houses mostly, so people are just sort of used to getting stuff delivered to them.”
Culture conflict has already resulted in several public relations debacles. In May, for instance, a group of Indian passengers caused a minor sensation in the local press when they leveled allegations of racism against Air France — saying that when their flight was delayed for 28 hours in Paris other passengers were transported to hotels, but the Indians were made to wait in the lounge. (The distinction was not made based on race, but on possession of a valid Schengen visa, the airline maintains).
In a similar incident in 2006, 12 Indian passengers accused Northwest Airlines of racism when they were offloaded and detained in Amsterdam for what flight attendants called “suspicious behavior.”
“Imagine arresting 12 guys just because they were changing seats and talking on their cellphones when the plane was taking off,” wrote Indian humorist Jug Suraiya in his Times of India column. “Everyone does that in India all the time, and no one gets arrested.”
But just as the American tourist's penchant for plaid never stopped France from chasing his dollars, the Indian tourist's insatiable thirst for Scotch hasn't made his rupees any less attractive. Tourism boards from a laundry list of countries have flooded Indian cities with delegations — or simply set up shop here. Airlines and hotels abroad have wooed Indian travel companies with bargain basement rates, and pulled out all stops to compete — throwing open their kitchens to traveling Indian chefs, topping up their in-flight entertainment libraries with Bollywood movies, and fighting tooth and nail for the right to host stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan for the Indian International Film Awards.
The reason is simple. Despite the downturn, India's travel market is still growing. According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, more than 800,000 Indians are expected to visit Singapore this year, more than 669,000 Indians are expected to visit the U.S. and more than 625,000 are expected to visit Malaysia. Moreover, PATA expects the number of Indian visitors to Singapore, Malaysia and the U.S. to continue to grow rapidly through 2011.
“Since the economic crisis began, there has been a reduction in travel, but the reduction in travel by Indians has been very low compared to any other country,” said Gupta. “Indians are still traveling a lot. Maybe some people have downgraded, by say, instead of going to the U.S. traveling closer to home, but they're still traveling abroad.”
Many of these Indian travelers, of course, are erudite, suave, charming, or simply humble and polite — it's just that nobody remembers them. For every passenger aboard Cathay's Delhi-Bangkok run with his finger on the call button, there were three or four who were fast asleep, mummified in blankets, or peacefully guffawing at the mindless in-flight movies.
Most problems result from simple misunderstandings, explained Thomas Thottathil, spokesman for Cox & Kings, one of India's largest tour companies. “We sensitize our customers, our tour guides, and we also explain to our suppliers overseas — the hotels or whatever — that Indian travelers have their own needs, their own particular habits.” Because of that effort, Thottathil said his firm has not faced anything more serious than the occasional complaint that a hotel didn't provide dinner after 9:30 p.m.
Thottathil may well be onto something. A quick lesson about Indians' love of thrift, for instance, might ease international tensions in the air. What's the multicultural secret to a tranquil flight, you ask?
Five dollar whiskeys.
Comments
WEll as an American : the ugly Americans are the worst people you an meet in a trip, ignorants,bad manners,rude, awful.
I don´t know about the Indians, but in Rome...., in Chine the tourists are asked to learn and respect other countries cultures, so te Indians must do the same, there is no excuse to be unpolite.
Quote: "Once the world loved to hate the Ugly American — fat, loud-mouthed and blissfully superior in his utter cultural ignorance."
Ironically, this article with it's talk of erupting dongs will have American's rolling in the aisles with laughter. Apparently the authors, while bemoaning cultural ignorance, haven't a clue what "dong" means in informal American English. Since the Internet is global, authors using this medium need to be more aware of cultural differences among all those who might read what they write.
How is the picture on the left related to the article ?
He is a movie star and a public representative (something similar to a senator) the pic comes from another movie site. I wish you picked a better picture.
Thanks
Well said - as an Indian I fully second the article. I am appaled at the loud and rude behaviour of Indians. I have been to concerts at Carnagie hall and work in a large US office complex with many Indians and it is a pity site. Civic sense and courtesy and learning by watching others is never in their minds. They never change or adapt and are oblivoius to others around them. When there is an Indian event in a park, the whole place is littered with garbage. When there is free food at the Temple, they forget they and others around them are humans. It is a Shame. These days with the IT boom, I have personally interacted and worked with Indians who have travelled extensively and worked in many countries. But their rawness and rude and unpolished behaviour never seems to change.
While many Indians are fairly new to international flights, that is no excuse for bad behavior. Just because you have servants in your home does not mean your flight crew is to be treated the same. Given that this opinion of Indian travelers is being formed by flight crews of varying background and ethnicities, it cannot be dismissed simply with, "Oh, they are not familiar with Indians." Having witnessed able-bodied Indian men refuse to carry their own suitcase, or Indian women demanding continuous refills on soda - it is truly an embarrassing sight.
Please let me begin by saying that we should not use the word racism ourselves or hatred. People travelling abroad or conducting business or just for fun of a country are the flag bearers of the country and should at all times have to exude the culture and respect for all people even during tough times. This rich culture of ours is the greatest heritage that we have. Where the great freedom fighters fought the battle of independence with non-violence and gifted us the free air that we enjoy today, the tolerance level of us Indians is dipping way below the negative. We need to be patient and understanding and realise one thing that we have to grow stronger and in strength by unity and show to the world that we have arrived and are here to spread the sense of respect, love and equality not only by words but by actions as well.
Nobody wants to hate anyone its only a reactive action so positive action will yield positive reaction and vice-versa. So its upto us what treatment we want...and for Gods sake please stop comparing the quantity......
Dear Jason
As an Indian and an avid traveler I admit everything you say is true, unfortunately those of us who are not as demanding as the regular outbound traveler, still get meted out with far from great treatment.
As I work in sales for a travel company I find my self out of the country at least 04 times a year. I must say that the service levels that I receive are definitely lacking - I am used to getting handicapped rooms without being informed, or rooms that require minor repairs and even the smallest rooms once when I was with a group consisting of Non Indians.
I fly Lufthansa, BA and American Airlines most of the time and let me tell you that the concept of ‘Service with a Smile’ does not exist anymore. At least not on flights out of and in to India!
My husband and I went to Hungary for a vacation and though we had booked in advance (and yes by the way we traveled on our own without a group!) at the Hilton on the Hill, we got a room with no view and supercilious treatment to boot.
So I guess it’s not a one way thing - I think a lot of Indians are fed-up with the way they are treated and react accordingly. A lot of passengers of the Air France flight were well educated and well travelled - do you think they would have raised those complaints knowing fully well that they have no Schengen visa?
I think the world should relook at their view on Indians and how they are treated. My only answer to the Ugly Indian question is that international travel is still on the nascent stage in the country and it will take a few years for them to mature.
Parul Bakshi
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