They are tourists not ‘foreigners’

Bibi Baskin

I would like to start a campaign to ban 'foreigner' from India's tourism vocabulary. I live here, I'm called a foreigner and I don't like it. But never mind me. Let's take the case of the 'foreign' tourist. Holidaying is meant to create a feel-good factor. Rest and relaxation, scenic locations, delicious cuisine, interesting local culture. All high on the feel-good front. And then you spoil it by calling us something approaching strangers and aliens.

Foreigner, according to its technical definition, means 'one who is from a foreign country or place, one who is from outside a particular group or community; an outsider.' Now that's nasty. Because inside all of us there is a longing to belong. We value belonging to a family, to a community, to a town, to a country and when we go on holiday we temporarily forego that sense of belonging.We know we won't fit in. And you compensate for that with your wonderful warm Indian welcome, with invitations to your homes, even your smiles confirm for us that we are being welcomed in from this outside position. But then you ruin it with one word by reminding us that we are indeed outsiders.

Why do we like to return to the same hotel, even to the same room in that hotel? Is it only because of the practicalities - the excellent service, the ambience - or is there a psychological factor too, that we love the familiarity, the homeliness, the very opposite of foreignness? In the West, political correctness has already banished the word. It's considered insensitive and rude. Today foreigners in the west are non-nationals. A clumsy phrase at best. Why don't we in the tourist business simply say 'tourist'? And if it's important to identify nationality then call us Westerners, or Chinese or African.

In this age of globalisation, it's time to clean up our language. So why don't you ban it today in your work place? You'll make us foreigners feel very good.

(Bibi Baskin is a former journalist and TV presenter from Ireland who now runs a heritage hotel, Raheem Residency at Alleppey Beach, Kerala. She can be contacted at contact@raheemresidency.com)