If you want to understand how to become better allies to people with disabilities, then join us at Embracing All Abilities: Including People with Disabilities at Work.
The Indian tourist family is popular abroad. I feel proud and a little sad at the same time. The demand for luxury travel is high among Indians. However, why is the Indian Tourism Industry unable to tap this potential?
Being a nuclear Indian family with two young children, we travel often. Much before the school vacation begins, we start looking at destination options. Blame it on the lack of familial support. Engaging my hyperactive kids is challenging during the holidays.
Imperatively, we must keep them away from addictive gadgets, so travelling comes to our rescue. As we reside in South India as a family of 4, it is usually more economical to travel abroad than to further parts of North or West India.
It’s sad but true.
My kids have seen more destinations abroad than in India. Travelling helps nurture family bonding. Exploring different places create new experiences for the children. It widens their perspective and encourages creative thinking.
Of late on our sojourns I’ve observed that there are many more like us. The Indian tourist family is popular abroad. Be it Maldives, Bali, Malaysia, New Zealand, or Singapore – every third tourist group is Indian. The number of Indian tourists watching the fireworks display at the Marina Bay Bridge this New Year’s Eve was phenomenal!
I feel proud and a little sad at the same time. The demand for luxury travel is high among Indians.
However, why is the Indian Tourism Industry unable to tap this potential? Indians are spending so much abroad – why are there not easily accessible and better facilities to retain this money within India?
Ours is a beautiful country. We’ve got mountains, deserts, the mighty Himalayas, long white beaches, and bountiful wildlife. However, our Tourism sector has not been able to really cash in on the vast reserves. Entertainment and tourism must join hands.
Look at the success models of countries like Dubai and Singapore. Marvellous feats in Architecture and Design. Take an elevator ride 157 stories high and catch the view! We pay in dollars to do just that? It’s breathtaking and fun.
Take the two-minute ride on the Bali swing and a trip on Hot-air balloons in Turkey. Scores of Instagram Reels create more demand for these ridiculously overpriced activities.
Clean streets and child-friendly public spaces. The ability to walk down the pathway without being run over. I mean vehicular traffic that follows the rules!
Accessible dustbins every few meters so the children can easily munch and not litter. Dozens of things to do in 4 days!! An action-packed vacation. Isn’t that what the kids love? Ditto for the parents.
Yet, this time when I visited the Night Safari I felt that the animals were few. The packaging and marketing were great, but the product was not. Gardens by the Bay is spectacular – but there are entry tickets at each Dome. How cleverly we must shell out more for so little.
Here, in India, we have fabulous wildlife sanctuaries but not very popularly marketed. We’ve got Bollywood. It is time that we have our own answer to the Universal Studios Theme Park. I would love to ride on the Krish rollercoaster and shake hands with Chhota Bheem and Jadu.
There is so much that is possible. We have indigenous greats like Ambani and Adani who can drive this movement. I urge our tourism industry to raise its definition of hygiene, service, and entertainment! It is time for us Indians and the World to declare- “Chalo, India Dekko.”
Image source: Shylandrahoode, via getty images, free on canvapro
Hi! I'm Meeta Chablanii- an animator, illustrator a freelance fashion designer and a full time mom to two little brats. My journey of bringing them up forms the backdrop of most of my posts. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
Please enter your email address