The conversation around civic sense has been gaining momentum for quite a while, and while the phrase is used as an umbrella term for many issues that need to be addressed in society, one in particular has long stuck out: how many Indians react on seeing foreign tourists.
For a culture that proudly claims ownership of phrases like “athithi devo bhava,” or “the guest is equivalent to God,” we sure do a lot to make them feel as awkward as possible. Scenes of a throng of people jostling around a fair-skinned lady on a busy street asking for selfies have circulated for years on social media. But it would be wrong to say that such behaviour is limited to a socio-economic stratum.
Making tourists feel less than welcome
Taking to Instagram on September 19, a photographer from his account, @official_tajmahal.photography, shared a clip where he calls out a group of young men at the Taj Mahal complex, standing near a tourist and eyeballing her during a photoshoot.
{{/usCountry}}Taking to Instagram on September 19, a photographer from his account, @official_tajmahal.photography, shared a clip where he calls out a group of young men at the Taj Mahal complex, standing near a tourist and eyeballing her during a photoshoot.
{{/usCountry}}The photographer tells them off in Hindi, saying, “Don’t you have anything else to do? If you are here to see the Taj Mahal, go see it. Why are you standing here (near the lady)? Won’t she feel awkward?”
Despite repeatedly asking them why they are standing there and watching her, the men stay put and even answer back that they are minding their own business. It is when another person comes up to them and tells them to move on that they finally turn away.
“What do I say? If someone sees them staring, will they not feel awkward? And then they are arguing with me,” the photographer is heard saying in the clip. He also writes in the caption:
“Civic sense in the world’s 6th-largest economy? Following foreign tourists around the Taj Mahal, staring at them, and making them uncomfortable isn’t the kind of hospitality we should be proud of. Respect their space. Let them enjoy their experience.”
The conversation around civic sense
The clip is likely to trigger a conversation around civic sense, and quite rightly so. But the flow of conversation often loses steam and direction, as such behaviour has, to an extent, been normalised in our society.
What the conversations often lead to is demands for stricter rules and regulations, fines and legal procedures. What it often ignores is the importance of education in changing the prevalent mindset.
To elaborate upon the earlier statement that the behaviour is not limited to a socio-economic stratum, the lack of care for personal boundaries is seen among the social elites within the country as well, and becomes embarrassingly evident when Ed Sheeran visits Bollywood or Lionel Messi visits Kolkata.
The strange fixation with foreigners is thus something that needs to be addressed by all of us as a society, not just as something that should be avoided so as not to make visitors awkward, but also as an exercise of respecting personal spaces and boundaries.