Like any other city, Delhi too has its share of classified holidaymakers, who can be identified by not just who they are, but equally by where they go. Suhel Seth does a gently humorous listing of the inveterate travellers who whoosh off into international airspace every summer

Suhel Seth

The LV Traveller
He travels only because he has just purchased some very expensive Louis Vuitton luggage and, since he is worried about having it dismantled and destroyed at the hands of ‘airport baggage handler’, he will ensure that for the first three years he will either holiday with an industrial tycoon (in a private jet) or take to holiday routes which can be accessed by car. Which means his circle of influence can stretch from anywhere in Rishikesh to St Moritz depending on whether he is going there in a suv or a Gulfstream! The LV traveller in Delhi also has this quaint habit of buying a cover every time he buys a bag. He covers the bag when he checks it in and then grandly disrobes it at the conveyor belt. Telling the whole world and their mothers that he is well-heeled and well-travelled. You will normally find him ‘disrobing’ at Heathrow (after he has fought for a measly upgrade) or at La Guardia. For him, the chaos at JFK is truly daunting. This traveller has rarely taken chances, which explains his luggage covers made of velvet, bought in the by-lanes of Chandni Chowk.

The Government Freeloader
Delhi has hordes of babus, which is why the country is where it is. Suddenly all these babus flee the capital attending some silly climate conference and their itineraries are worth following. I know of the average Delhi babu who goes to Singapore via Mauritius or visits South America via Canada. There are the brave who also go grass-spotting at the Antarctica pretending to be studying latent tsunamis. But this is the real world of the Government traveller.

Suhel Seth is the CEO of Equus Advertising. He is also a social commentator and writes on current affairs for several publications. He has acted in over 145 plays, done films for Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Mahesh Bhatt and is a regular on the public speaking circuit.