Incredible India.
The way the sun reflects off the Taj Mahal. The gasp when you behold an Indian Elephant for the first time. The unforgettable sights of Holi, and the irresistible smells of street food. Not to mention craft havens, spiritual oases, and historic adventures. Incredible India has it all!
So, why did only 20 million tourists experience all this incredibleness last year?
20 million is a big number, don’t get me wrong, but France got nearly 102 MILLION international tourists. These stats aren’t particularly well researched – just a quick UN Tourism dashboard visit, but it doesn’t take a statistician to understand that more tourists go to France than to India. However, it also doesn’t take a cultural theorist to understand that it’s not as simple as France is better than India at tourism.
I’d like to begin by saying this article isn’t some symposium piece on tourism in India. It’s not overly researched, statistically heavy, or even proposing something grand. It’s really not a position paper in any sense of the word. What this article is instead is a lover of the country voicing my concerns for what I see as one of the biggest missed opportunities in Indian history.
India is an incredibly (see what I did there) diverse nation. With 28 states and 8 union territories, each rather unrecognizable from the other. One second you’re in the verdant jungles of Kerala, the next in the crisp air of Karnataka’s coffee estates, and then the bustling cities of Maharashtra. Arguably, there is something for everyone in India. In fact, what makes India so unique, in my opinion, is that it is transdisciplinary. There are few other countries in the world where the wildlife lover has the opportunity to view weavers in action. Or where the spiritually minded can savor flavors unlike any other. So why is it that when countries like South Africa offer wildlife, China offers crafts, France offers history, and Indonesia offers spirituality – does India end up last? I’d like to point you to a metaphor:
The Paint Palette:
Every tourist activity is an individual color of paint on a palette. When you’re a kid and want to make a rainbow, you excitedly mix them all up. What you’re left with is a nasty shade of brown that makes you cry
India is deeply brown, and I can say that because I have a brown friend. Where I think most people get bogged down in the fact that a brown was even created – with a bunch of finger-pointing, tongue-wagging and brow-furrowing – I would instead like to focus on ways to create that rainbow we all wanted as kids.
When I think of India, I think of home, in Tamil Nadu, I think of backwaters, in Kerala, I think of culture, in the North East, and I think of busy streets, in the everywhere. Now, aside from the joke there, therein lies the issue. When we think of India we don’t view it as a unified entity. However, I don’t think of this as a bad thing – I think it is a strength. If India has something for everyone then how can we expect that people come to the country and experience everything everywhere all at once? Who do you think they are, Michelle Yeoh? We know from the movie that the weight of everything will fracture the mind!
I believe India wants to be Thailand. Cultured, diverse, attractive to partiers and spiritualists alike. But we are not Thailand. There is no unity of India the way that there is in Thailand.
Think about it, whether in Chiang Mai or Bangkok or Krabi, the tourist’s perspective is the same. Everyone speaks Thai, everyone eats foods found in any other part of the country, and what keeps the experience novel is the scenery changing. Now look at India, you’re travelling from Jaipur to Agra to Delhi – The Golden Triangle. The same still applies, right? To a tourist, everyone speaks Hindi, you can get Tikka Masala everywhere, and the scenery just changes from Thar to Taj. For most people, this is all India is. Show up in Delhi and check into the ITC or the Leela. Be shocked by cows in the street and then drive down to Jaipur. Get a henna tattoo and a lac bangle. See the Taj, cry a little, fly home. Boom, India done. NO NEED TO RETURN. People who do return want a taste of something different. The same is true for Thailand, and this is where the unity part kicks in, where people who return to Thailand visit maybe a new island or beach or experience – swapping Chiang Mai for Rai. Largely the unity is still intact. Now, return to India. Someone bedazzled by India’s charm doesn’t need to return to the Golden Triangle. Say they arrive in Delhi and head to Ahmedabad, or Kolkata. Big scenery changes – Your guide still speaks Hindi, you might learn a word in Bengali, but Tikka Masala got a little more scarce. Now, what if you’re in Chennai? Or Kochi? Or even Bubhaneshwar? Not to mention Assam or Nagaland! The scenery has shifted entirely. The language is unrecognizable. The food is from around the world-away. Now what?
With a country as vast as India, claiming that all of India can be explored once is laughable. We need a different model. We are not Thailand, or France – we’re the United States.
Eagle Screech
Think about it! Each state in the US is like a different country! Imagine trying to pack New York City and Yellowstone in the same trip, it’s impossible. Each state feels uniquely their own but also deeply American. That is exactly what India needs. You should land in Assam be inspired by *Awesome Assam* and then be dying to visit the rest of India in successive trips. I think India’s image problem is just that we are confused about who the model is.
I’ve already mentioned that India has something for everyone, but it’s actually, truly absurd. The Sun Temples of Peru – why not the Sun Temple in Konark or Modhera? The safaris of Kenya – why not the trails of Kaziranga? The crafts of China – why not the silks of Kanchipuram? The peace of Bali – why not the retreats of Kerala? The question is why are we not taken seriously on the world stage. The United States draws in people to their National Parks because once upon a time they believed and knew they had something special. They invented their own model. Once in the US is never enough. India needs to adapt to this model. Once in India is never enough.
I think there are a lot of things wrong with the US model as well, don’t misunderstand me, but fundamentally, for a country as prideful as India – where is that Unity in Diversity we were taught us kids? Where are the symbols of India? Apart from a notable, polarizing, floral exception, the symbols of India are somewhat… missing in action? My vision for Indian tourism is about more than developed airports bringing the world in, or public transport and luxury hotels. I want to see license plates for each state adorned with symbols of those states, not just two letters reminding us where we are. I want to see an Air India that inspires national pride – but I can’t talk about Air India too long, I’ll get a cluster headache. All in all, India literally needs more symbolic victories!
But here’s the catch. It’s not as simple as just saying India needs to believe in itself more. There is legitimate work on a socio-political scale that must be done. What good is a world-class metro in Delhi if women still feel unsafe? What is the point of screaming “Clean Up the Ganga!” when action is never taken? What is the point in saying “Incredible India” when only three states get to be Incredible? India’s worst enemy, as always, is itself. The powers that be will always elevate the cookie cutter India. The ‘Delhi-Jaipur-Agra,’ India.
Our biggest monuments are testament to our Islamic history and yet communal tension is rife in India. We’re more concerned with our pathetic politics than living with hope and change for a better future, a better country. A county where Leh is a destination on people’s bucket lists and Kanha National Park is a given on every itinerary. We’re more concerned with restoring by-gone ecology in unsustainable ways in Kuno than promoting, say, Tadoba as a national treasure!
Ultimately, I believe, the responsibility is in the government’s hands. We will always get in our own way until we decide we have more to say, and social responsibility of citizens is only possible with leaders that urge a sense of pan-Indian pride. If we treat our minorities poorly – why would any stereotype of India be positive? If we treat our sites and streets like trashcans – why would any stereotype of India be clean? The time to act is now!
With travel surpassing pre-Covid numbers, we have the rarest of opportunities to redefine the Indian tourism model. I’ll talk about Indian airlines at a later time. I can only deal with one headache a day. Our country is a treasure trove of experiences that is being hidden away in a cage of bureaucratic incompetence and poor social engagement. It’s easy to get on Twitter and say “India is the best!” and slam others who disagree, it takes real strength to fight for a better country. It takes real patriotism to believe your country can live up to its truest potential.
At the end of the day, Incredible India’s reputation is in all of our hands. Let’s treat her right.
all opinions are the author’s own.
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