& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

SHIFTING IMAGES
Recently, i was on a flight where most of my cotravelers were South Asians — the majority being Bangladeshis headed for the job market. The check-in process was an ordeal of pushing, shoving, queue jumping, and hysterical arguments about overweight bag-
gage. Once the flight was airborne, the ordeal turned into a nightmare of loud conversations across aisles, and, most revolting of all, toilets flooded with water and littered with paper towels!
Some of you may consider my travel description the ranting of an elitist snob! Please bear with me and hear me out. Honestly, I am an ordinary mortal with varied travel experiences ranging from trams and buses to budget airlines! The behavioural pattern I described above is predominantly common in South Asia, and, in varying degrees, cuts across all social and economic levels.
The frustrations encountered during the journey actually set me thinking: why do most people from our part of the world lack basic civic sense? Is it the social milieu that creates a feeling of insecurity resulting in chaos and indiscipline? I guess we are all products of our environment and our actions and reactions are dictated by our personal experiences. And, when people are unsure about the fairness of a system they resort to breaking the rules and cutting corners.
While unfairness and unequal treatment may serve as an explanation or even an apology for unruly behaviour, it cannot be used as an excuse. In the public arena, certain behavioural norms must be followed. These norms have nothing to do with class or strata. They are universally accepted codes of conduct that people in most countries abide by, and have been designed to make life easier as well as to ensure that everyone is treated transparently and fairly. A simple example: we queue up and wait our turn not because the authorities exhort us to do so, but because of the unwritten rule that whoever arrives first must be served first. When we jump the line we create confusion by disrupting the modus operandi.
Let me reinforce my arguments by elaborating on the issues that caused aggravation during my travel. 1) When an airline stipulates that we are allowed 20 or 30 Kgs of checked baggage, it is a standard rule based on cost and profit calculations. There is also a safety factor involved, since each aircraft can carry an optimum amount of load. If we turn up with 50 Kgs, we should be prepared to pay for the excess baggage just as we are required to pay a fine when we violate the speed limit. There is no room for argument here. If we are unwilling or unable to pay the extra charges, we should resist the temptation of buying/carrying our entire household on a single trip!
2) The airplane is essentially an enclosed space where everyone tends to be a bit edgy. Since we humans are not natural fliers, there is bound to be a degree of nervousness and apprehension. Loud conversations, especially during a night flight, can create unnecessary annoyance and agitation for our fellow travellers. Maybe airlines could consider imposing a penalty for in-flight verbal exchanges above a certain decibel level!
3) Why is food always a contentious issue for us South Asians? If we didn't pre-order halal or vegetarian food, let's just deal with it by eating whatever is available or not eat at all. No point in insisting that our meal choice be served. Unfortunately, there is no "take out service" available at thirty nine thousand feet above sea level!
4) As for using (or abusing) the toilets --1 am really curious as to why so many bottles of water are needed for performing a simple, routine bodily function. Let's not bring religion into this argument, because it's preposterous to believe that the desert-dwelling Arabs found gallons and gallons of water to cleanse themselves in the early days of Islam. By the way, the bathroom door does have a lock and it usually works!
5) The crew are not required to store our heavy hand luggage in the overhead lockers. They may do so as an act of courtesy, but we can, at least, ask them nicely. And, it really is rude to snap one’s fingers at the cabin staff and shout "coffee!" A civil request and a smile can work wonders!
Oh! One last thing. "Please" and "thank you" are not just esoteric words hidden in the pages of the dictionary. They are for real. We need to use them, and as often as we can!
The writer is a renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent and a former employee of the World Bank.