Brown and Furious

Even though invisible weights on my eyes propel them to close, I write this, in my jet lagged state, having traveled 23 hours straight, 10,000 kms back home, in a very pensive state.

Why you may ask, this urgency?

Perhaps the need to bring closure to the anger and questions I was accosted with. Perhaps to present to the world how stereotypes and perceptions afflict so many of us.

Scenario 1: 3 days ago in a very popular hotel chain in Macau, I was buying a gift for my mother. I picked up a Chanel lipstick at one of the giant stores in the hotel, and moved along browsing other items of interest. Soon enough a sales lady came up to me on the pretext of “helping” me out with selecting the right shade of nail paint. As I browsed, she picked up the Chanel lipstick I had selected and kept on top of the nail paint counter, looked at it, and then called her colleague. Her colleague approached us and asked me with a serious face “Did you pay for this?” I was shocked! She was indirectly accusing me of shoplifting! I was inside the store with the products in plain sight (not shoved in anywhere), and yet here she thought I didn’t deserve to buy Chanel. Was it because I chose to dress a certain way or because of the colour of my skin I will never know. When I told her, I intended to pay for all the products together, she quickly corrected her stand, and said “Oh I was just checking the color”. I was rendered speechless.

Takeway: If you look like I do (Indian/Brown) and don’t dress like you stepped out of  Vogue you can’t possibly afford Chanel. If you do pick it up by mistake, you either don’t know the price of this product or are shoplifting.

Scenario 2: I was traveling Economy on Emirates, and not being well that day, wanted to enquire the price of an upgrade so I could pass the journey with some comfort considering it had to be undertaken. As I approached the check in counter and asked the guy if I could purchase an upgrade his exact words were “ You want to pay 10,000 HK Dollars to upgrade?” He said this without looking at the ticket prices. I told him, that I was unable to purchase the upgrade online and hence was compelled to ask him, so if he could just check and let me know the price. His words “ Well ofcourse you couldn’t, you are traveling Economy”. With that the matter was closed, and he didn’t volunteer any information. I did approach the ticketing office later and managed to purchase an upgrade. The amount was cheaper than what the guy had told me earlier. I did get what I wanted, but I was left feeling mortified at this agents crude, snappy judgment. Not only was it bad customer service (a separate issue on service failure/ bad word of mouth) but the social implications were more resounding than ever. Maybe I didn’t look the part of a quintessential business/first class traveler, again maybe my brown skin brought in some stereotypes about Indians, I will never know, but yes it was a humbling experience.

Takeway: If you are not carrying a Louis Vuitton Bag, you have no right to purchase an upgrade to Business class.

Scenario 3: Dubai International Airport. I approach the boarding gate from the business/first class aisle which is empty. The Emirates agent, a lady, who stands guard to check the passport and boarding pass looks at me, irritated, and snaps “ This is for Business Class”. I  hand her my First Class Boarding Pass. Her face contorts into a surprised “Oh” and she lets me through.

I think: Did that just happen?

Takeway: Same as the takeway below scenario 2.

Reality Check: Stereotypes do exist and they do stifle us.

Racism is a serious reality, one which we can not shy away from and racial profiling during travels is one of the most ubiquitous form of racism. It might not seem bad, but it does cast a patina of dirt on this world we are trying to ostensibly make a better place for everyone. The fact that this form of distinction and discrimination exists, even though it may be so tepid in comparison to some forms of racial discriminations people have faced in the last decade, proves that we still have some distance to cover.

I do admit however, that much of the race issue in India is inherently a reflection of its own society and the ills that afflict it, interacting with a sense of inferiority – a legacy of the colonial rule, and a sense of a reverence for all things white. But at this juncture, I only wish to comment on the nature of my recent experience, and not dissect the causes, for delving into that would require another PhD thesis, and the one that I am working at the moment has me quite occupied.

I conclude with the words of Martin Luther King, Jr

“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”

Here’s Hoping.