Air France: No Bread, No Butter, No Cheese, now go back and sit down!!

It is the wee hours of Christmas morning 2009. I'm on my way home from the airport after a short visit to Paris. I'm angry and extremely upset for the umpteenth time I was at the receiving end of discrimination because of the colour of my skin, this time on my return flight on Air France to Bangalore (On 24th Dec 2009, AF 192 from Paris to Bangalore)!

It started off small, the first meal service was underway and as an afterthought the air hostess approached the passenger next to me asking if he had been served. On hearing that he had not they rushed a meal and I enquired if they would also serve me my mine. I distinctly remember that a special meal request had been specified during my booking and I assumed it would be available. A purser came back 10 min later saying the food was over and he would check. In a short while I was served the Hindu Vegetarian meal. Now a Hindu Vegetarian meal is not vegetarian as we would know and the main course contained a meat / fish product. I enquired with one of the air hostess and she sheepishly said she would check. After more waiting and still no response I got the attention of one of the other staff member and she too said she would check. She returned 20 min later to serve coffee and tea and when I enquired about my earlier query she snapped saying the food was over. Surprised and shocked by her response I headed from my seat to speak with the Chief Purser and was intercepted by another senior looking member. I hardly got the first two words of my request out and he started shouting that the meal service was over. He goes on to shout that I was neither his friend nor someone that he needs to entertain in a conversation. I was appalled but the skipped breakfast pushed me to enquire if they could serve bread and then I heard the weirdest answer - "we're out of bread, we're out of butter, we’re out of cheese, and we have no cracker for that matter we don't even have a biscuit. No go back and sit down". Passengers who were near this incident were shocked at the tone, volume and barrage. I was embarrassed, insulted and felt absolutely helpless – in a flight with more than 90 Indians of the 150 flying passengers!! Meekly I headed back to my seat hoping mad with fury but was sure an on board incident would do no good for anyone - me especially. The guy sitting next to me was shocked by the reaction I got. He waited till one more of the staff approached and this time he enquired if an extra bread roll could be served. The smiling purser confirmed it and was heading out to get it when the guy next to me said he was asking for it to be served to me. To which the purser responds,” He’s been served what he deserves and we don't have more bread on board".

It was then that it stuck me that the offer to serve bread was acceptable as long as it was not for me. So what was different, the passenger next to me was white and I was - BROWN!

The next 5:30 hours were not easy, I was furious, I was embarrassed but the scene created by the air line crew. So I thought if I was over reacting on the brown angle, maybe they thought I was rude. Why else would an airline crew refuse to serve an extra bread roll when obviously they had a lot of it in stock? But I was not rude, I also checked with the guy next to me if he thought anything I said could have been considered rude or inappropriate. I have been flying for many years now and know that meal mess ups are the most common of errors, especially when you ask for a vegetarian meal, so there was nothing to get rude or upset about as a passenger. Though every time there has been a problem the crew at least apologizes and makes arrangements for some bread, cheese and butter – but here knowing that was my request the crew member cleared specified that none of those were available. While the second meal service had the bread trays again – so obviously there was bread and they did not want to serve it! Maybe they were irritated that they were in a flight with coworkers and customers on Christmas eve, instead of being with family? But they chose to do the job, why take it out on a fare paying passenger. After going through many scenarios in my head I was convinced it was unfortunately racial.

The next thought process was about how I can remedy the insult:

- do I land and lodge a complain with the police
- do I get some of people at the airport to help create a ruckus or an impromptu mob
- do I flip the finger while deplaning
- do I talk to the captain of the aircraft on the ground
- do I write to the chairman of Air France or our Aviation Minister
- do I take this up with some of the media and get some attention, surely I an not the only one who has been treated this way by Air France, it did not look like a first time

But all of these would have gotten me a stock apology at best and maybe arrested if I had gotten a mob going. It surely would have gotten me front page on the news and something that people would have spoken about for a day. But then it stuck me none of these plans would have handled the core of my issue - my Brown skin.

The fundamental issue is people with racial bias operating in markets which they believe don’t need their otherwise polite and social outlook. The issue is of people of brown skin being discriminated only because of the colour of the skin.

For many people, Australia and its Indian bashing seems very far away, Hagen Dazs in Delhi did not refuse us entry so the issue is also that it is not a problem till it happens to us. And happen it must repeatedly for a point to be driven home: these people chose to serve the Indian market, they signed up to operate in the brown part of the world and yet they bring their bias when they come here soliciting our business – be it colleges around the world, countries seeking tourists from here, fast food joints that like to cater to the billion people population and airlines operating full flights from almost all to and fro Indian destination.

Now an idealist in me would say we need to ensure that the likes of Air France does not operate to or from India, why I can also go on to say that I must sue them in local and international courts for everything from discrimination to mental agony. But again it does not ensure that a person of brown skin gets a fair treatment, even on his way back home. Air France will continue to operate and there will be passengers who find it convenient for their travel needs. On speaking with friends and family who have travelled with them in the past – I heard more incidents so it was not just me or it was not going to stop anytime soon.

To say that every brown man around the world will be treated the same way as the others is also very high hopes. Is it too much to expect a service provider serving in my region to people of my ethnicity and colour to treat us as what we are – equals. Is it too much to expect the door man at 5 star hotels to give us a same warm greeting as the one that our international visitors get? Heck I have had warmer receptions in stores and hotels around than what we get subjected to right here at HOME! So it decided like charity, this too must begin at here at home – we need to start treating ourselves the same way we treat people around the world, with warmth and respect.

So here is what I thought was needed:

- a forum of people who have been treated differently because of the colour of their skin – either in a five star hotel in India or by employees of international / local establishments or by just a regular person in a subway train somewhere in the world
- a forum of people for who a stock apology was not the solution, but a fundamental rebooting of people’s outlook to the brown person
- a forum for people to come in and voice their anguish and anger not to create a mob or frenzy but to create awareness that will ensure that people and companies around the world get a better understanding and improved sensitivity while interacting with a persons of different colour
- a forum that creates increased awareness and also provides a voicing board for those who feel they need to vent their anger and ensure it results in proactive action not two lines in the media not 15 minutes of fame
- a forum that will work towards a day that such a forum does not need to exist – we start to fight for equality at home but go on to establish our self respect across the world.

This forum should be open to people of all colours, we don’t believe in discrimination so we don’t live it in our action but this forum is for people to just have an opportunity to say – I am proud to be brown so please treat me the same way you treat the others.

In a time when the whole world looks in our direction in economic awe, in a time when leaders of our nation are held in high esteem in international meets, in a time when the world looks to us to lead as a regional and global power – we are still dished out treatments that reflect the sentiments of an era gone by and have little to no way to address it – it is time to change that!

So feel free to share your experience, feel free to invite your friends who you know have a story to share, if you feel there is a story that you can take corrective actions on – feel free to help. This will soon move to an open platform, need some more help from my tech friends to set up a site that people can contribute to freely.

PS: The author is a resident of India who travels extensively. This post is copyright free and can be reproduced in parts or whole as long as it does not misrepresent the views expressed here. Feel free to start other online forums with the same intent and link it back here if you wish.