Athiti Dev(il)obhava

Athithi devo bhava…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee5Bq_eBlYM

Really?

What about the responsibility of tourists, nobody talks about that, not even the effervescent travel bloggers.

Yesterday we went Basilica Bon Jesus at Old Goa, the place was swarming with tourists.

The guidelines to tourists are placed all over the Basilica, “Do not photograph people” being the most prominent one. yet the tourists, were blatantly clicking pictures of themselves, using selfie sticks. When the security personal objected, they would steal the selfie and gloat about it.

There was one particular crowd standing right in front of the board that said do not click people and went trigger happy. So Mr.Aamir Khan do you have something to tell the tourists? About responsible behaviour? This is just some stuff to help you with the script.

Tourism no doubt plays an important role in the economy of Goa, that does not mean that tourists are “Devo” or gods, they people we welcome into our homes, it is an interaction of mutual respect, there are certain norms to be followed.

There is a concept called responsible tourism, this was defined in AITR’s 2005 resolution it goes like this == responsible tourism complies with the principles of social and economic justices and exerts full respect towards the environment and its cultures. It recognizes the centrality of the local host community and its right to act a s a protagonist in developing a sustainable and responsible tourism. Responsible tourism actuates to foster a positive interaction between the tourist industry, local community and the travellers.

Here is what probably most local host communities look to

To minimize environmental damage caused by the carelessness of the tourist and growing destruction to environment corresponding to the growing tourist influx.

To give the local population a central role in the tourist development of their own territory. That the involvement of the local community through a participatory democracy and in decision making process is essential for sustainable touristic development.

To respect the local culture by including its essence in the overall touristic experience by focusing on and creating awareness of the local culture , its traditions, the lifestyle, the gastronomy, the handicrafts etc.

Maybe next time any of you decide to travel to a terrain, you could keep an open mind, particularly when you come to Goa, yes we are different from rest of India, but we are not very different from the west coast culture.

Respect human rights particularly privacy and decorum in public places.

Help to preserve the natural environment that you have come to see, there are wildlife and habitats that need to be safe guarded.

Each place has its own cultural resources that are the document of the history of the people, please respect it, selfie in a Basilica, or loud hooting is Salarjung Museum is disrespectful.

When you buy something you do contribute to the economic and social development of the place, try to see that you can pick something that is truly local.

In your Google search do look at the cultural expectation at a place, like not wearing run down shorts into a temple or church, not clicking pictures within the prayer houses, not scratching the edifices, along the way.

These are just small gestures that reflects you culture and your upbringing to the host community. It is about your dignity…

I hope soon the Basilica will come with deposit your mobiles rule like the Thirupathi Temple.

Just what is AIB?

“Aamir khan producer of Delhi Belly finds AIB knock out objectionable”

“Farida Jalal finds AIB roast embarrassing”

The number of message bytes was almost sending me to a hypnotic trance. I had to find out what AIB was about. Then I saw hosts Karan, Arjun, Ranveer have all been hauled up for it.

The Amul Butter girl lends her support to this whatever in her own unique way. She has an animated byte that goes “yeh, roasti hum nahi thodenge” l

So I actually wasted one morning googling and finding out what this AIB was all about. When I did I felt let down, these public figures allegedly the people who are quotable, are ridiculing and deameaning, themselves well that is their trip but others. And this ridiculing others is neither funny nor decent.

There netizens who think AIB being blocked is like blocking a dish because one customer is allergic to it. They are inviting support for freedom of speech .

Apparently there is a roastmaster who roasts the guest then there are panellist God knows what they do up there. and of course the celebrity attendees. Seeing Deepika Padukone laughing at sexiest jokes, made me wonder if her last avatar of standing up for her cleavage display was for real.

Chetan bhagat has been saying that if AIB is to be censored then people should walk into a hostel, well Mr. Bhagat a hostel is a private space, we are talking of a public space here, men, women their sexual inclinations all have to respected.

Somehow we seem to think ridiculing, belittling or insulting others is the ultimate comedy. But that is verbal violence.

By the way enough has been said about it, the best way to deal with this would be to ask AIB what is that, I am clueless.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/AIB-Knockout-Objectionable-or-not/photostory/46128642.cms

Much Ado about something.

The second episode of sathyameva Jayate has been aired, so far so good.

The media and blogsworld has gone frenzy with it,

Will Aamir Khan’s show be a hit, well it has been an eyeball catcher, and hot coffee table debate. We can commend him for this, or nail him for his astute picking of topic.

There have been people who have been silently working in the very same area people have seen things happen in around and around them, it was easy to ignore a single soldier, but when Aamir wanted a sure fire hit he gets one, suddenly people realize that these issues are around!

Good for the cause,

I wonder what the fall out be, right now it media speculation and coffee table debate, the focus has remained Aamir Khan and the issue, what happens from now.

When Mr.Khan tackled female foeticide I see an unanimous response, of young netizen’s they pass the buck on to the culture, and point fingers at the dowry system. Yet the girls wait for their parents to find the right match, from their clan and preferably backyard, the boys still talk of dowry.

When we talk of the bride being bought we raise eyebrows, but dowry is buying your groom, think about it. There have instances in Bihar where educated boys were kidnapped and forcefully married.

We are so pseudo-shocked that the doctors do this, but have filed an FIR against the doctor who has done this? Have we informed the IMA yes, I do agree IMA and police have got corrupted, but many times just a legal letter scares people.

Lets assume the bill gets passed do know that there will equal number of cases of victimization of the doctors, and parents-in-law this has happened in dowry harassment cases, I can cite at least three to four such marriages, where the girls have filed false cases and got away with it.

its not the law that will make the difference it us the people. There is a whole gamut of things that work here.

Choosing to marry a person of your choice is taking the risk at your responsibility.
The person could say no.
You could have post marriage problems, this can happen even in arranged marriages but then we can conveniently point the finger at our parents, there are dollops of sympathy oozed on you and you come out smelling of roses,

The reaction of Taslima Nasreen the Bangladeshi writer was the most idiotic, people are working on all the issue’s that will be dealt. And think of Aamir Khan as your publicist.