Didi’s palanquin tourism to woo foreign tourists (satire)

#palanquin Didi knew that tourism attracts money and, even though there are any number of tourist attractions around her that tourists would love to visit, they just do not come. And – that bothered her. So, she summoned Abhi Shake, Mo Cool, Patro Chatto, Omit Misra, Dee Wreck and a few others to discuss this all-important subject.
‘Abhi Shake – I want an action plan on promoting tourism in our state,’ she said. ‘We must think out of the box.’
‘There are spots in the hills, on the beaches, in the forests,’ Abhi said. ‘They are popular but are not attracting foreign tourists, only locals.’
‘I know,’ Didi said. ‘That is what I want to change. Give me ideas.’
‘Actually, our roads are so bad that foreigners hesitate to embark on journeys,’ Omit Misra mumbled. ‘They are used to comfort.’
‘Let us give it to them,’ Didi said. ‘Let us build necessary infrastructure.’
‘But – that takes time,’ Omit commented.
‘Don’t tell me,’ Didi was not happy with his reply. ‘You suffer from a defeatist mentality. Nothing is impossible.’ Her lieutenants looked at each other, confused.

‘Let us bring back the palanquin,’ she said. ‘It was so useful in those good old days when there were no roads. Only, let us make them more comfortable. Let them be air-conditioned with inbuilt TV. Let there be windows for the foreigners to watch the surrounding scenery.’
‘Not a bad idea,’ Moo Cool opened his mouth. ‘We can make it a double whammy.’
‘How?’ Abhi Shake asked.
‘We can make the palanquins locally,’ Moo Cool smiled. ‘That will be a part of our industry friendly activities. Making palanquins do not need hundreds of acres and we can set up factories in the land banks we hold.’
‘Exactly,’ Didi grinned, which was seldom. ‘I knew Moo Cool would come up with a good idea.’
Abhi Shake was a bit unhappy to see Didi praise Moo Cool sky-high.
‘And, of course, we can generate plenty of employment,’ he said. ‘We will have to recruit the palanquin bearers. They must be not only be sturdy but also experienced in long distance running and marathons.’
‘Yes,’ Didi said. ‘Someone can set up training institutes to teach them English and a few foreign languages like Japanese so that they can interact with the tourists.’
‘I’ll have to check out which industrialist will invest in this venture,’ Omit Misra said.
‘Why don’t you talk to Gourav Danguli about this?’ Didi suggested. ‘He can have a session on palanquins and how they have developed.’
‘Yes – that’s an idea,’ Omit Said.
Dee Wreck polished his glasses and grinned.
‘Didi, you are a genius,’ he was elated. ‘I’ll post a write-up on Facebook about this revolutionary concept. Your palanquin tourism will take the world by storm.’ (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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