Kaala

A month ago, I was at Da Nang Airport in Vietnam, travelling to Hanoi, when I witnessed similar embarrassing incident. A group of senior Indian tourists travelling together did exactly the same thing. In fact, they went a step further and used the airport's phone-charging socket to plug in a portable electric kettle and cook Maggi! Nobody confronted them, perhaps because people were uncomfortable being perceived as racist or discriminating against tourists from a country that sends one of the largest groups of visitors. But make no mistake, everyone around was visibly uncomfortable. The raised eyebrows, disapproving looks and awkward expressions made it abundantly clear that this behaviour was neither welcome nor socially acceptable. Here is what worries me: people's reluctance to speak up today does not mean they will tolerate this indefinitely. At some point, such incidents will cross the threshold of public tolerance. What is currently being dismissed as an embarrassing individual act could eventually turn into a much bigger incident, creating resentment against an entire community of tourists.