Travel Talk: The world is a stage, just not the tarmac

Before I start writing about this, I want to say one thing: I am not a killjoy. I love dancing. If someone starts playing music at a wedding, chances are I’ll be on the dance floor too. But as Jaya ji would say, “ Yeh koi jagah hai? ” Two videos of Indian tourists are trending on social media. One is from an airport in Vietnam, where an entire family is doing garba together. We don’t know the reason yet, but they seem genuinely happy. The second shows a group of friends dancing to Chaiyya Chaiyya on Hanoi’s narrow Train Street. I understand the excitement. You see a train passing through a narrow street and immediately think of Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora dancing atop a moving train.

But why are we doing this? Is it for Reels? Is it for traction? Or have we reached a point where every trip needs a performance, and every memory needs an audience? The issue isn’t dancing; the issue is context.

I am not saying don’t have fun. Go ahead – dance, make Reels, take photos, and celebrate. We have enough reasons to. If nothing else, call a dholwala home and celebrate a random Tuesday, or the fact that you survived another day at work.

But why must we do it in restricted places? Why at airports, where people are rushing to catch flights? Why on a train street, of all places? Somewhere along the way, travel stopped being about experiencing a place and started becoming about being seen experiencing it. Every holiday now comes with an invisible assignment: come back with content. But for whom? A handful of followers? Whether it’s Vietnam, Switzerland, or the US, we should absolutely travel and appreciate the beauty of these places. But do we really need to blast music, gather a crowd, and turn every public space into our personal set? Other tourists have also spent money to be there. They are trying to enjoy the view and the atmosphere – not necessarily become unwilling extras in someone else’s video.

And before someone says, “We’re just expressing our culture,” let’s remember there is a time and a place for everything. The world is full of carnivals, parades, and flash mobs. Dance there. Show us your moves, and we’ll cheer for you.

The problem isn’t just about Indians dancing abroad; it’s that too many travellers, everywhere, now treat airports, heritage sites, scenic viewpoints, and even dangerous locations as content studios rather than shared spaces.

Travel is not a talent show. Not every airport is a stage, not every street is a film set, and not every holiday needs choreography.
The next time I see tourists dancing around me abroad, I’m reporting them to Farah Khan, Geeta Kapur, and Vaibhavi Merchant. Apparently, nobody taught them the first rule of performance: know your audience – and your venue