12 Indians were deplaned from an airline yesterday because they were 'acting suspiciously'. The Indian media was full of righteous indignation and it seems that the entire nation, race and species has been insulted. And before you start feeling the same let me tell you of my experiences about Indians I have traveled with.
But first, the important thing you have to remember in this case is that all these people were part of a group who were textile merchants who had gone to attend some trade fair. The US marshals swooped down on them when they did not heed repeated requests by the cabin crew to sit down and fasten their belts before take off. They were also passing around their mobile phones (presumably showing each other nude clips they have surreptitiously clicked of the whores they had picked up) even when the switch off phones message was announced. While I agree that these actions don’t brand them as terrorists (is the xenophobia rampaging in the west really unjustified? I don’t know, that’s the topic for another post), but YES, these actions completely justify throwing out such arseholes.
As for how we (and hooligan English soccer fans) behave in groups, I have had personal experiences of both. Traveling to Bangkok from India was an eye opening experience for me. There are 2 types of groups that travel to Thailand. The first are the corporate groups who are traveling to attend some kind of sales meet or ‘team building workshops’ (both are companies’ ways of preventing attrition by providing pussy…PAPP shall we say?). The other is what are called ‘pigeons’ or ‘kabutars’. These are guys that are sent to buy electronics or computer hardware parts in bulk to carry back to India and sell at Indian rates.
And how they behave makes me ashamed that I am an Indian. The first group talk to each other LOUDLY across rows, click snaps of each other, discuss the vital stats of the cabin crew, get drunk and generally make life for everyone else miserable. The second group change into lungis, start card games, drink themselves silly when they realize that drinks are free and then puke between their legs. Can you believe it when I tell you that the Thai Airways security announcement video says ‘Sitting on the floor is not allowed’?
Deplane them? I think these guys should be deplaned when the flight is 30000 feet in the air.
Aug 25, 2006
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6 comments:
agree. i had this same strange (????)experience while coming back from bgkk (to kolkata).
everything sounds so similar. wonder if it was the same crowd in my plane too or were we travelling on the same plane???
to add to this, there was a leakage in the bathroom water pipe and the cabin was flooded with water. its such a lovely experience. u can wash ur hands/face sitting on your seat, dont have to go the bathroom for that - these are some of the value added service that u get from Indian Airlines. that was my first and last IA flight.
that must have been CONVINIENT bubai.I agree with apu saalo ko cement bandh ke sea ke upar deplane karna chahiye.
I wont tolerate any bad publicity of IA for the following reasons
1. It happened to be my first flight ever (those jumbos which they used operate b/w Mumbai-Kolkata sector)
2. There next best competitor JET is closely moving towards market monopoly
3. The other competitor Air Deccan is nothing great to speak about
4. The kakus and mashis that take care of us so well once your inside
kaushik -
yes the kakus and mashis do take care of us. they even scold you if ask for more than 1 peg of whisky or whatever alcohol. they make you feel at home.
once i was travelling IC from cal to guwahati. the aunty who was serving lime juice tripped slightly when he came to my seat as a result of which quite a lot of it spilled on my lap. she immediately gave me a look and said 'cant you sit properly'? i just laughed out loud..it was too funny. just love their attitudes. BA crew are similar..they are just prettier thats all.
dear shuv, the greatest problem with knowledge is that, it is almost always accompanied by ego.
we have seen the same attitude towards our own country men by our own people in the british era.specially by the indian clowns who had learned to wear the suit for the first time!
i sure hope you dont fall in that category.
dont you think it is the strange mutual disrespect towards each other that is holding us back ,and is the greatest hindrance towards our progress?
dear bro, why r u so bloody against everything that is indian?
what makes you think that YOU are different?
may be if you were given a trip inside the white house people would talk about YOUR manners the same way you critize others manners.
it is only a matter of familiarity dear friend.their is no need to lose your patience on it. you r in no way a paradigm of manners.
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