Thai Airlines off load a Rude Traveller

Today, Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Delhi, which was already on the run way for take off, taxied back to position to off-load a rowdy passenger.

This upstart of Delhi’s belly, allegedly, asked some cabin crew, who was struggling to reason with his wife, that their infant child was too big for the basinet, to “shut up”. It turned out, as per the Thai people ‘shut up” is not only impolite, but also an act of hostility.

Since the flight was still taxiing, the “shut-up” impropriety was reported by crew to the captain and by the captain to the ATC, and the latter determined that the flight could return to off-load the passenger.

A couple of co-passengers intervened, but the TG staff was adamant, despite an apology, albeit a delayed one, the family was off-loaded. When I argued to not off-load, the chief flight purser with hands folded kneeled by my seat, and explained the peril of flying off with a hostile passenger on board. Interestingly, he went on to explain, such problems were experienced more on the Delhi and Calcutta flights and not so much on the Hyderabad and Bangalore bound flights.

In India, both the organized and un-organized private sector un-excepted, people are becoming increasingly more aggressive. Democracy, civil rights movements, and public school education, all together are seemingly failing to inculcate a sense of sobriety, somberness and decency in the people. While cinema halls are increasingly getting replaced by multiplexes, yet the conduct of the audience is becoming increasingly pedestrian than elite.

North of the Vindhyas particularly, there is too much of un-necessary aggression, something that this part of the country can certainly do without. In shopping malls, cinema halls, eating places, fetes et all, even the hoi-polloi struts around with a very un-called for swagger, something that really threatens women, works to the discomfiture of the old and challenged, triggers parental anxiety, and necessitates worthless men to act as worthy chaperons.

We also tend to confuse, aggressiveness with assertiveness. We believe, if we are not aggressive, intimidating or pompous, we cannot be assertive and would not be taken seriously.

This mentality clearly does not augur well for a civilized society. In fact it has an ominous butterfly effect. I have often seen my lady colleagues become un-necessarily angry in traffic and parking lots or at crowded entry points, as they believe, womanly dignity will not take them anywhere in a society that understands only aggression. While I know, that notion is not completely correct, yet it is not wrong either. If you wait for your turn with dignity, your turn continues to elude you. If, you nudge, poke, scorn and elbow, you at least get your turn.

There is plethora of empirical evidence that heightened aggression leads to conflict. And that aggression is not at all genetic but acquired. While lot of people seems to retract just before the conflict becomes irreconcilable, nevertheless the whole process is very consuming.

The Thais are very polite people. Sometimes, we may confuse their politeness with submissiveness, and their mannerisms with obsequiousness, but that would be a blunder.

I have lots of Bihari friends. They are very polite and decorous. But they are not push-overs. And push coming to shove, they may even not fight shy of pulling the trigger, but would not deign to be un-decorous. I have several Punjabi friends, great people if you know them, but in anonymity they take an aggressive posture at the drop of the hat, but chicken out, when their posturing gives rise to debilitating conflict.

I am no way trying to advocate the much touted theory of genetic pre-disposition when it comes to aggression. Aggression is an acquired behavioral trait. It is a by-product of societal conditioning.

Having travelled to about 110 countries, ironically, as a society I think, I find India to be very aggressive. When on the road, we honk with a viciousness that can unsettle the most stubborn. While entering a train, we jostle to board first, inconsiderate to even ladies and children, when there is no prize for being first.

It is understood, it is an eco-system issue, and not nationality specific, perhaps, a British subjected to the environment of denial and rejection that an Indian grows up in, would exhibit similar behavior. But that is no excuse for not improving or making the much-needed change.

I have a friend who is a cop. A very good cop! And a very very good father! He has a pet theory with which he has been experimenting, and I am not only writhing in curiosity but also extremely eager to see the outcome of his real life experiment. He believes, aggression of society can be curtailed to a baseline if not out-rightly weeded out, if parents and schools can channelize that in sports in the formative years of the child. He also believes, criminal predilection can be curbed significantly, if sports are rewarded, recognized and re-emphasized both in schools and society.