Tourism, Tourists, Accidents & Government!

  

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“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
― Gustave Flaubert

“In any case, a little danger is a small price to pay for ridding a place of tourists.”
― Tahir Shah

“Oogway: There are no accidents.
Shifu: [sighs] Yes, I know. You've already said that twice.
Oogway: That was no accident either.
Shifu: Thrice.”
― Kung Fu Panda

Well, two quotes about tourism & one about accident, the first two about tourism are by writers from West (Europe) & will explain why I used them in regards of my sharing, the third one is obviously by some writer but came to me via my most favourite (one of the most, I meant) movies KFP (Kung Fu Panda, plz google) & though many didn’t understand its meaning (including the great maser Shifu) at first but this quote is gist of our attitude towards life, is what I will say. And what’s your attitude is reflected in everything you do, so your travel (tourism) is no exception to this Law of Human Behaviour! Now, you must be wondering where this fellow is going leaving his favourite Wildlife (tadoba) or real Estate or say City, then well, this is about tourism which is connected to our life & my business too & wildlife also but it’s also one of the subjects including Pune Traffic & Illegal Constructions, which I have decided not to write about thinking it’s of no use!  Well, I feel like Vikram, of ‘Vikram & Vetal” (plz google), if not by glory or greatness of Vikram but I do match with dedication & relentless of him when its sharing (writing) about some topics!

Wont test your patience much, last few weeks which are school holiday ending weeks in our beloved country where tourism is the new in thing, had been in news (obviously for wrong reasons as usual) & tragedies which has saddened the mood of entire country (for a short again) & keeping due respect to the sentiments of all the deceased in these tragedies, my sharing is to ask the question to all (read as survivors) , “Are we ever going to learn, right tourism”? And what I mean survivors is, all those who were not part of the tragedies in recent which happened during tourism because hopefully those who survived from the tragedies would have learnt their lesson & change their attitude towards life ahead. No, I am not blaming them or showing any disrespect towards the loss they have suffered, physically, financially as well mentally due to these tragedies, what I am saying is, can this be avoided? This is my object of sharing & as in our folk stories, “Pudhachyach thech, magacha shahana” (sorry difficult to translate), provided we keep our eyes & senses open that the person ahead has stumbled & corrected our course! You will ask what is about tourism & accidents, then if you have read the recent news then you must have realized the death toll recent tourism has created across the country & ways of it! As, tourists have died in stampedes of pilgrimage in crowd outside temples, tourist have died in helicopter rides to the pilgrimage spots, tourists have died due to boat mishaps, tourists have died while adventures sports like paragliding or fun sports in theme parks, tourists have died in hotel fires, tourists have died by drowning in water bodies may it be sea or river or lake, tourists have died while taking selfies at higher altitude by slipping in valley, tourist have died in road accidents, tourist have died in plane crash, last but not least, tourist have died due to collapse of bridge while taking selfies too! I can list more reasons but that’s not the purpose of our sharing, yet I have mentioned a few incidents which have made headlines where tourists who were coming out of their safety zone have been met with accidents & the trip has turned into a nightmare. My sharing is not to blame any system or the people (tourists) involved but to make us think, can we save some lives ahead by learning from these incidents!

Let’s focus on the first thing which is common in all above or such incidents & you will say what’s big deal, all have suffered some accident is the common thread & exactly that is the point of my sharing, how do you define an accident? If you think I am dumb, then an accident is something wrong happens which is beyond your control, right? Well, that something may be beyond my control but someone could have controlled it in right way & may be the accident could have avoided, is my point & for that we must define “that someone” who will be controlling the things if we want to avoid the accidents & make him responsible (or make him realize his responsibility) so that someone will be more carefully while performing his task! And it's every person’s (read as tourists) duty to ensure to place our life in the right people’s hands only & after that what happens even if it's wrong then can be called an accident! For e.g., avalanche happens or landslide happens on road & your vehicle gets buried under it, that is an accident still I will say you should have studied the patterns of landslides or avalanche at the place like Uttarakhand or Himachal Pradesh & avoided the period during which such incidences happen, is in rainy seasons or in peak winter. But even if you go in summer & a landslide happens & your vehicle gets affected, then it’s an accident! Remember, most of the time what we call an accident is the outcome of somebody’s negligence or overconfidence & the sufferer is somebody else, such as tourists in our case!

So, first lesson learnt, while going for a trip study the weather as well as all other factors related to your travel destination keeping in mind what bad or wrong can happen & how you are going to tackle it! At the same time take advice from professionals only, as a professional is the one who gives highest priority to doing the right things rather than just making money or cutting corners or is a fool! And the difference between a fool & a professional is, even if nine out of ten times a fool is correct yet it’s riding a luck & a professional may be nine times go wrong out of ten yet he knows he has gone wrong & has a back-up-plan for that, which a fool never has! And here is where most of our countrymen choose wrongly, as there is a difference between value for money & saving money at any price! But in tourism, the price you pay for saving money wrongly can be your own life also, at least after so many examples we must learn this basic fact about tourism. At the same time don’t ever make the mistake of taking nature for granted as it's far bigger & more complicated than our so-called technology & science. I have Googled & checked weather reports & nothing will happen, types logic won’t come to your rescue neither Google or AI can save your life when you get caught in floods or landslides, mind it. Especially, of-late tourism trends are no longer to destinations like Dubai or Singapore but more & more people want to spend time (their quality & precious time) in the company of nature but for doing that we must respect nature the way it is & enjoy by keeping right distance! Just by clicking selfies at the peak of a mountain or on the edge of a cliff or on the background of a waterfall doesn’t make you nature friendly, rather it makes you ending up your own life as in nature mistakes are not forgiven, whatever your intentions may be! So many lives have been lost because of this selfie thing yet people don’t learn anything from it & the reason is we have forgotten why we travel, it’s not to show the world where you have been but how you enjoyed the trip & came back alive to share those experiences, that matters most, right?

Another major reason for accidents during trips is, wrong cost cutting on stays & travel time, as this makes you to travel at odd hours & with cheaper commuting service providers which has taken maximum lives in the tourism mishaps! I have deliberately used the term “wrong cost cutting” as I understand budget is a constraint of most of Indian families & yet we want to see the world but a little control on our greed (“sub kuch dekhna hai itnehi budgetme,” attitude) & planning the trip in advance as well with some study can save money as well lives, is what I want to tell! I have been myself traveling around for work as well for wildlife for more than thirty years now & I have seen people travelling at odd hours just to save one night stay’s expense. And on top of it using the service of drivers 9and vehicles) of which they don’t know anything. Take a simple example of travelling Pune to Nagpur by road & starting at night 9pm, which can make you reach Nagpur in eight hours i.e. by 7am in next morning, which does save the cost of your one-night stay in the trip, but! What kind of vehicle you will be taking, is it rightly prepared for this long travel & does it have safety features & most importantly about the driver, is he experienced enough for night driving as well has taken enough rest on earlier day & has a maturity to take rest stops during the travel, all such question either nobody thinks or nobody asks, because they come with some price which you are not ready to pay & think no wrong will happen, which does happens! Same is applicable even for a Chopper ride & professional backup the company operating is having as its not just some machine which is in air its your lives also are hung in the air with that machine, think about it & then book the ride to your loved god’s temple!

At the same time, even on day travels, I have seen people not allowing to stop for tea or just small rest stops to save an hour or that which can cost you, your life & many such small things while you travel! One more aspect is about choosing stay places just for the sake of convenience neglecting the safety feature or measures at such places as all small establishments in our country never follow any safety measure related to fire or flood, thanks to our govt’s liberal approach regarding the same (sarcasm)! Such places (hotels) don’t have basic life-saving equipment in case of fires, no trained staff & don’t ever think about safety audits & that's why they can offer cheaper rent which you get hooked up with! A little money extra which you pay for better place which you should book after asking questions about such safety aspects is like paying for life insurance which most of us turn a blind eye to & then, keep repenting for ever, if you survived! One more aspect is right insurance for the trip, which I think is "icing on the cake" in the list of not doing right things in tourism by the Indian tourists! As no harm in making little provision in your budget for insurance, especially when you are travelling to other countries or some lesser-known destination & the insurance must cover person injuries treatment as well baggage loss types claim also! I, myself have been saved in a big way just because I had a travel policy for my family during their USA trip which otherwise could have been a financial disaster for me! 

And the last is our govt’s approach towards all such travel agencies, hotels, adventure sports agencies, safety measures at tourist spots & sad thing is, govt cares a hang & does nothing about it but issue some circular & form a committee when some accident happens at any tourist place! At the same time people also neglect or ignore notice boards at all such tourist spots thinking it’s for others, though the govt's job doesn’t end at just fixing notice boards like “Stay Away” or “Take Care’, is govt also must accept (to whom I am fooling)! At least start posting regular awareness advertisements about safety norms during travels in all news-papers & social-media rather than just publishing advertisements of tourism promotions as well “Lokaprpan” events of bridges, that much the govt can definitely do, right?  Agreed, it’s a big country with one fifty crore people & the govt can’t take care of every single tourist yet on the front of making right safety policies & enforcing them on tourism industry, we are the worst, lets accept it & improve, dear Mai Baap govt, is all I can say (read as request)!  To conclude, we all love traveling & it’s not just the travel-time but the wonderful memories with which we come back from the trip is the soul of tourism; do mind the words, “we come back” & not ourself become a memory & then only decide your trip-plans guys, adios with this note!

* (just one curious thought, when any private segment’s premise succumbs to some mishap, even falling of a compound wall then its never an accident for the govt & immediately police cases are filed & arrests are done but when a bridge collapse or a road gives away or a govt operated ferry boat sunk & tourists dies, the very same govt neve ever files cases against concerns & punishes the responsible authorities, that’s one more reason of increas in tourism accidents, as you get away with whatever wrong you do)

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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