Tongue-In-Cheek

The politics of baby talk

Pages of travel magazines, present company included, and reams of business news pages have dried their printing ink with stories on how the Indian tourism is exploding and how it is witnessing a record-breaking number of foreign arrivals.

Alas, all this has gone unseen by a certain member of the UPA government, and among the most senior member at that. When our dear old kind-hearted Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh off-ered Natwar Singh (former minister for external affairs) the ministry of tourism and culture, the latter Singh told the former Singh that it wasn't "big enough" for him.

As a young parent, I'm intrigued with this kind of behavior. For some incomprehensible reason, it reminds me of a four-year old who often goes through a similar sulking-defensive routine. When a child loses a dear toy, one tries to console him with a candy. But he, rather comically, attempts to imitate the former minister of external affairs and stubbornly refuses it because it is not a Cadbury's chocolate bar.

Admittedly, politics is not child's play. But refusing tourism because it is not an important enough portfolio is, in my opinion, rather a foolish decision made in haste.

This act of give and take, shuffles and shifts might have resulted in yet another new candidate entering the transport bhavan from south block. But thanks to Natwar Singh's refusal, one will continue to see the dynamic lady and her team in action, working out plans for a promising future of Indian tourism.

However, on a more serious note, tourism is considered to be big business the world over and its potential as far as the economic growth of the country is concerned is crucial. But the recent behaviour at the centre throws open the floor for debate about how serious the government is about tourism. For one, does the PM think that tourism as a portfolio can be juggled around without much regret, and for another, do the ministers perceive it as an unimportant portfolio?

Tourism is regarded as one of the largest employment generators and it is said that one out of nine jobs would be generated from the tourism industry in the coming years. The forex earnings through tourism are also on the rise and the open skies policy has only provided further fuel. The Department of Tourism, GOI won the PATA Gold Award for the year 2004 in the marketing category for its 'Incredible India' campaign and so did the 'Incredible India Spirituality' campaign in the travel advertisement - print media category.

With all these achievements in the background, it comes as a surprise when government leaders behave with such puerility. Perhaps, what this dynamic sector like tourism needs is a fresh thinking leader with positive attitude. Our country is a tourism mecca; why make a mockery out of it?

Reema Sisodia