How intolerant are we?
Once again it is a wedding season in India and I have every other excuse to visit India. The country where everything seems changed even if I visit after a few months. This time I am visiting India after the country has got her new Prime Minister. Her capital got a new Chief Minister. This is just about a little change I mentioned.
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After spending 30 hours in the long connecting flights, I finally reached Indira Gandhi International Airport where my family was waiting for me to arrive. I was so excited as soon as my plane landed and touched the ground of my holy motherland. I, immediately, started feeling even more desi and why not, I am surrounded by people who can speak and understand the first language I ever learnt to speak.
I quickly got off the plane and rushed to the immigration counter before collecting my luggage. At immigration counter, there were few people already waiting for their turns. I got myself in the queue and after that, a lot of people who got off from different flights followed me but not in the queue. Interestingly, "the middle aged man" who followed me was not following the zigzag pattern of the queue which the authorities at the airport have enforced by placing the little poles. This was clearly to save the space and more people can be fitted in the queue. I requested the "the middle aged man" behind me who was clearly out of the loop in the queue and has a long line-up of people who were blindly following him and do not seem to have visited India before. I was quite shocked at his reply for just asking him to follow the queue pattern properly. I was told that it is India (which I'd not have otherwise known) and everything should not be followed. I am also told that here you should not stop your car at the red traffic signal because it is India.
"The middle aged man" seemed very Indian in his appearance doesn't matter which country he flew from. I am very shocked at the picture of India being presented at the airport by a fellow Indian to me which I didn't even ask for. I just realized that the queue fell apart at some point and some security personnel came to ask people to line up properly and the same "middle aged man" was in proper queue.
We are fighting over the intolerance issue in our country right now. This is not going to solve by returning awards or arguing in the parliament. This can be solved by self consciousness by simple means. "The middle aged man" would have respected and followed every other law and order in the country where flew from but what happened when he was in India? He knew that nobody is going to enforce the law and order where he was standing at that time, he was taking it for granted. In my opinion - we, Indians, are the highest tolerant people in the world when it comes to law and order and highly intolerant when someone asks us to follow them as well.
After spending 30 hours in the long connecting flights, I finally reached Indira Gandhi International Airport where my family was waiting for me to arrive. I was so excited as soon as my plane landed and touched the ground of my holy motherland. I, immediately, started feeling even more desi and why not, I am surrounded by people who can speak and understand the first language I ever learnt to speak.
I quickly got off the plane and rushed to the immigration counter before collecting my luggage. At immigration counter, there were few people already waiting for their turns. I got myself in the queue and after that, a lot of people who got off from different flights followed me but not in the queue. Interestingly, "the middle aged man" who followed me was not following the zigzag pattern of the queue which the authorities at the airport have enforced by placing the little poles. This was clearly to save the space and more people can be fitted in the queue. I requested the "the middle aged man" behind me who was clearly out of the loop in the queue and has a long line-up of people who were blindly following him and do not seem to have visited India before. I was quite shocked at his reply for just asking him to follow the queue pattern properly. I was told that it is India (which I'd not have otherwise known) and everything should not be followed. I am also told that here you should not stop your car at the red traffic signal because it is India.
"The middle aged man" seemed very Indian in his appearance doesn't matter which country he flew from. I am very shocked at the picture of India being presented at the airport by a fellow Indian to me which I didn't even ask for. I just realized that the queue fell apart at some point and some security personnel came to ask people to line up properly and the same "middle aged man" was in proper queue.
We are fighting over the intolerance issue in our country right now. This is not going to solve by returning awards or arguing in the parliament. This can be solved by self consciousness by simple means. "The middle aged man" would have respected and followed every other law and order in the country where flew from but what happened when he was in India? He knew that nobody is going to enforce the law and order where he was standing at that time, he was taking it for granted. In my opinion - we, Indians, are the highest tolerant people in the world when it comes to law and order and highly intolerant when someone asks us to follow them as well.
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