India is on the rise as a global tourism powerhouse. A McKinsey report says that outbound Indian tourism is already a ‘vital source market for global tourism’ and is expected to double by 2030. Recognising this, many countries have eased visa restrictions and introduced direct flights and tailored services to accommodate Indian travellers. According to the Wikipedia page on Tourism in India, the number of countries allowing visa-free travel for Indian passport holders has surged from just 23 in 2020 to 60 today.
Indians have begun to take great pride in their increasing global presence. Inbound tourism, though, is a different story. India, as a tourist destination which has much to offer in terms of heritage, culture, places of religious significance and spectacular natural beauty, was pricing itself out of business due to high costs and taxes exacerbated by poor accessibility and issues of safety and hygiene. This is why many Indians prefer to holiday at destinations that are welcoming and cost-effective, while foreign tourist arrivals are hardly growing.
But a deeply disturbing undercurrent threatens to overshadow even outbound tourism —the lack of civic sense and basic hygiene among travellers, which leads to global embarrassments like this one.
India’s Embarrassment on the World Stage
On 5 March 2025, Air India Flight AI126, flying from Chicago to New Delhi with 300 passengers, was forced to return after five hours in the air. The reason? Eight out of 12 lavatories had become ‘unserviceable’ due to passengers flushing polythene bags, rags and cloth into the plumbing system. The incident made headlines worldwide, exposing a shameful and recurring issue.
Despite the humiliation, neither Air India nor the Indian government appear to acknowledge the gravity of the situation. There has been no public investigation, no policy response and no sign of pertinent questions from the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), although it had issued show-cause notices for unruly passenger behaviour in the past. Even the Indian tourism board, which should be concerned about how such incidents tarnish India’s global image, has remained silent.
Sabotage or Collective Civic Failure?
Speculation ran wild on social media, with some speculating that the incident was an act of sabotage. Aviation expert Joe Schwieterman told ‘NBC 5 Investigates’ that one person alone couldn't have blocked eight toilets in such a short time. If it wasn’t sabotage, then it points to a deeply ingrained problem—either with Air India’s aircraft quality or, more worryingly, with passengers’ habits.
Air India released photographs of waste materials found in the lavatories and admitted that similar incidents had occurred before. Its press release stated, “While not found on AI126, our teams have previously found objects such as blankets, innerwear, and diapers flushed down the toilets on other flights.” It also issued an appeal to passengers to use toilets correctly and appears to have moved on.
A Wider Pattern of Misbehaviour
In the past three years, Indian passengers have been involved in numerous incidents of in-flight misconduct, ranging from physically abusing crew members to urinating on fellow passengers. One particularly disturbing case involved a male passenger spitting, defecating and urinating on the floor mid-air on Air India flight AIC 888 from Mumbai to Delhi.
The problem extends beyond aviation. Indian Railways has long struggled with passengers destroying seats, windows and bio-toilets by flushing non-disposable items. The Vande Bharat Express, India’s flagship high-speed train, has been repeatedly vandalised. If this is how a section of Indian travellers behaves at home, it’s no surprise that they carry the same habits abroad, damaging India’s reputation in the process.
Civic Sense Influences Global Perception
India's growing economic stature is only one aspect of how the world perceives us. Our behaviour, hygiene and civic sense matter just as much. These in-flight incidents send a damaging message to the world that a section of Indians lack basic hygiene and public etiquette.
For a nation that takes immense pride in its rising global influence, this should be a wake-up call. Instead of treating such incidents as isolated embarrassments, we need to recognise them as part of a broader cultural failure and cannot be brushed aside.
Instead of a blame game or speculation, we need to accept responsibility for this and find ways to bring about behavioural change. Indeed, government efforts like Swachh Bharat to improve sanitation and garbage disposal and reduce open defecation, have fetched had mixed results. Similar efforts at river pollution and garbage collection have also done poorly. Public cleanliness is not just about government intervention alone —it requires a shift in collective attitude.
Corporate India, with its massive advertising budgets and social influence, has the power to drive meaningful change. The advertising industry has historically played a key role in shifting societal attitudes, sometimes without attaching the effort to a brand. Very few will recall this. Friday, 12 March 1993, was like no other. It was the day Mumbai was ripped apart by 12 serial bomb blasts targeting commercial centres such as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Air India building, a petrol pump (which fortunately missed it by a whisker) and Searock Hotel. Over 257 people died and 1,400 or more were injured.
As the battered city reeled with shock, Trikaya Grey, then known as India’s most creative advertising agency, worked over the weekend to come up with a campaign titled ‘Salam Bombay’ to lift people’s spirits, give them courage and celebrate their resilience. One hoarding was about how the BSE, shattered after trading hours on Friday, had reopened for trading on Monday—a signal to the terrorists across the border that we would not be cowed down. The campaign was funded by Narottam Sekhsaria, founder of Gujarat Ambuja Cements, and came about after a single call between him and the late advertising legend Ravi Gupta and a lot of burning of midnight oil. Mr Sekhsaria wanted to remain anonymous, so there was no corporate logo on the campaign.
There are other recent examples as well. Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad campaign played a big role in getting men to share household chores leading to a perceptible decline in the percentage of Indian men who believed these are a woman’s job. Titan has braved the heat on social media with bold campaigns addressing colour, gender, religion and re-marriage. Globally, companies have chipped in with highly emotive campaigns on mental health, road safety, organ donation, drunken driving and date rape.
One that needs emulation in India is probably the Schiphol Airport Urinal Fly—a brilliant campaign that nudged men to avoid making a mess on the floor by merely printing a fly at the centre of airport urinals. If Indian travellers want the respect they believe their growing economic power deserves, they must demonstrate the behaviour that earns it. No country will indefinitely tolerate passengers who disregard basic hygiene, no matter how much they contribute to tourism revenue.
India’s rise on the global stage must be accompanied by a rise in civic consciousness. Otherwise, the world will know us not for our economic achievements but as ugly Indians. While it is a collective responsibility, perhaps Air India, which is already the butt of several memes about what its in-flight announcement should say about using toilets, could start the education effort.
Comments
balakrishnanr
4 weeks ago
We will NEVER improve. Whether it is throwing garbage or selling food or making medicines. Everything has an element of jugaad and 'why should I?' attitude . This is perhaps in the Indian gene
Having worked and lived in Japan for a long time i am under self imposed house arrest since I cannot stand the culture, environment and dadagiri of Govt officials.
It’s not enough to be an economic powerhouse. Our civic sense is dismal. And it sure matters on the world stage that we can’t keep our cities clean and free of garbage, or our civic amenities in good condition, and we don’t have basic manners in public places. Let’s not take these things for granted because it is a losing game for us after all the hard work we are known for the world over.
Lack of civic sense is seen everywhere in our country. Speaking loudly on mobiles at public places, spitting here and there, blocking footpaths while chatting with friends, no honking or slow down by bikers while approaching main road, not carrying a bag while going in market, use of abusive words every now and then....... Perhaps a long list.
I would like to narrate by experience and having lost my money through booking an accommodation through IBIBO and the pathetic condition of the accommodation where one cant think of entering the toilet leave alone staying in the hotel. I cancelled the accommodation and sought reimbursement of the room tariff which the IBIBO right royally declined and pocketed the money without even feeling sorry for having failed to book s decent room for the money Rs 3500 for a double bed accommodation in a small town in T Nadu. The tendency to cheat and have Jane do attitude in tourism Industry reflects very badly our sense of having civic sense and minimum decency to provide some standards in managing the crowd, cleanliness, and decorum. Time sensitivity is created among all those who are associated with tourism industry . Even Police force also needs to be associated as any complaint to them in the matter requires a courtesy reply. It is all a joint effort and we have no choice but improve our culture and sense of decency.
A small group of people with an agenda can easily sabotage to spoil the name of airline and of the county and its people. I have never encountered a choked loo during so many domestic flights that I have undertaken. To presume that 8 of 12 loos were choked because of poor civic sense (implicated to be of Indians) is not palatable.
India will never improve in civic sense , since majority of the population belive that maitaining cleanliness is not their responsiblity and it is the duty of cleaning staff only.
You write about airplanes, but streets in India, even in middle class localities have garbage, marks of spitting, etc. Also, the bathrooms in even middle class homes are not always clean as it is the maid's job to do it and once she has left, no one in the household will do it until she returns the next day.
The diaspora Indians behave well in western countries but revert back to old habits at home.
I think this must start in schools where children are taught these simple behaviors. This should be presented as sophistication, how these actions make them look uncouth, unsophisticated, "junglee" as that will work better than exhorting civic duties.
Sensitized children will make the adults around them conscious of their lack of social manners.
Ads on TV too might help.
Make social cleanliness a matter of "class", as Indians are very class conscious and want to be regarded as upper class. Point out how such behaviors make them "low class".
This will take years to have any effect but we must start somewhere.
I fully endorse your views. The school curriculam to include behavioral aspects and concern to the society. In Japan the children are taught from the very start to maintain cleanliness and humble behavior with fellow students and neighbours. Unless as a society we change in our attitude it is quite difficult for us to achieve the western standards.
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India's growing economic stature is only one aspect of how the world perceives us. Our behaviour, hygiene and civic sense matter just as much. These in-flight incidents send a damaging message to the world that a section of Indians lack basic hygiene and public etiquette.
As the battered city reeled with shock, Trikaya Grey, then known as India’s most creative advertising agency, worked over the weekend to come up with a campaign titled ‘Salam Bombay’ to lift people’s spirits, give them courage and celebrate their resilience. One hoarding was about how the BSE, shattered after trading hours on Friday, had reopened for trading on Monday—a signal to the terrorists across the border that we would not be cowed down. The campaign was funded by Narottam Sekhsaria, founder of Gujarat Ambuja Cements, and came about after a single call between him and the late advertising legend Ravi Gupta and a lot of burning of midnight oil. Mr Sekhsaria wanted to remain anonymous, so there was no corporate logo on the campaign.
The diaspora Indians behave well in western countries but revert back to old habits at home.
I think this must start in schools where children are taught these simple behaviors. This should be presented as sophistication, how these actions make them look uncouth, unsophisticated, "junglee" as that will work better than exhorting civic duties.
Sensitized children will make the adults around them conscious of their lack of social manners.
Ads on TV too might help.
Make social cleanliness a matter of "class", as Indians are very class conscious and want to be regarded as upper class. Point out how such behaviors make them "low class".
This will take years to have any effect but we must start somewhere.