A video of a group of Indian tourists performing Garba at an airport tarmac in Vietnam has gone viral on social media, sparking a debate on what constitutes appropriate public conduct, appropriate travel behaviour, and appropriate cultural expression abroad. The clip depicts passengers dancing in a circle near a parked VietJet Air plane, while many other travellers and airport workers look on.
Viral Video Draws Global Attention
At the time the passengers engaged in this activity, they were likely boarding, or had just disembarked from the plane, which was parked at the terminal. The joyous atmosphere and performance of the Garba was occurring in an area of the tarmac that is open to the general public; however, airport tarmacs are considered to be an area of restrictive access and high regulation; thus, this video quickly garnered a great deal of attention on the internet and controversy.
Social Media Users had Mixed Reactions
The viral video generated very different opinions among social media users. While there were many social media users that positively identified with the Indian tourists and congratulated them for demonstrating their culture abroad, or at least in the vicinity of a VietJet Air airplane; there were also many social media users that strongly objected to the location and/or timing of this performance. Critics believe that dancing at an airport, especially on an aircraft operational area, is an inappropriate place to participate in a recreational activity such as dancing in public.
Many social media users have indicated that the behaviour in the video portrays negatively on Indian tourists abroad. Comments range from the act being “harmless fun,” to being “embarrassing” and “inappropriate.” There was disagreement over how foreigners should behave when visiting places they do not belong to and many of the people who spoke about the disagreement were in different areas of the world at the time.
The debate over the video of the group singing and dancing on the tarmac of an airport grew to a much larger debate regarding civic responsibility, tourism etiquette, and cultural accountability.
All kinds of people have weighed in on how the group behaved at that airport; there are many opinions about what will happen to the people involved once the truth comes out.
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Concerns Over Airport Safety and Protocol
Many had great concerns regarding the safety of everybody involved and what constitutes appropriate conduct in controlled access areas. In addition to the safety concerns there were also concerns regarding possible unauthorized activity on the airport tarmac and how it could affect the operation of an airplane or create a security issue for all those working at the airport.
Reports indicate that airport ground personnel had to intervene in the occurrences of dancing and request that the group cease dancing. The country of Vietnam has not yet made an official statement on the subject; however, this event has opened conversations about how travelers will act in a controlled area that is considered to be a public space that is regulated by law.
Vir Das Reacts With Humour
Vir Das, a comedian, took to social media with his own light-hearted take on the viral incident, commenting, “If we announce that there is going to be Garba in Mars, we can be the world’s first country to send humans to Mars.” His tongue-in-cheek remark was soon spread widely and helped add fuel to the fire that had been created by the public debate that had arisen from this viral moment.
Vir Das’s comments reflect that this incident had grown beyond the mere fact that it was a viral moment but has also been a wider commentary on tourist behavioural patterns in Indian and how we present and showcase ourselves in a cultural context and in different parts of the world.
Other Examples of Similar Issues
The incident that occurred at the Vietnam airport is not isolated and is actually part of an ongoing series of incidents where Indian tourists have been criticised for performing public dances outside of India. There are many other instances of Garba performances by Indian tourists that have gone viral from countries such as Austria and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai; these types of incidents tend to create what seems to be a parallel conversation around ‘public behaviour’ and ‘cultural sensitivity.’
The recurrence of this controversy illustrates how much more people are watching visitor behaviour in a social media-based world – videos can be transmitted worldwide in seconds.
An Increasingly Explosive Debate About Dance Performance
Although some have come to the defence of these tourists because they view the performance as an example of spontaneous celebration and cultural expression, other people believe it is equally important to respect public space and community expectations. This incident has once more raised the issue of how we can maintain our own cultural pride while travelling internationally in a responsible manner.
