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In a New India that prides on diligence, it isn't unusual when a few entitled individuals go out of the way to poke holes and demean the faceless men and women enforcing the processes that make the country secure. One such act outright entitlement was called out and smashed in words by Ratun Lahiri, accomplished global investor, IITian, and Senior Advisor at Unicorn India Ventures, in a recent hugely popular social media post on LinkedIn.In reference to a case involving food blogger Vir Sanghvi, who seemed to have a public meltdown at Indian customs officials, Lahiri systematically dismantled Sanghvi's claims and underlined that such acts of 'entitlement and privilege' have no room in New India.Sanghvi had used his social media account and access to national news portals to claim “harassment” by Customs officials against him and his wife upon their return to Delhi Airport on October 19.In a detailed post, Lahiri took on Sanghvi's observations, claiming the unruly behaviour by customs officials and noted that Indian airport control is, in fact, 'amongst the best in the world'.In her sharp takedown of Sanghvi's post, Lahiri, a renowned fund manager said that she was 'shocked by the egregious imbalance of power' in the manner in which 'Sanghvi, leveraged and even misappropriated every avenue open to him as a journalist to trash faceless voiceless customs officers simply doing their job who may have erred (or not) but have no means to respond'.As someone who divides her calendar equally between the US, India, and London, Lahiri frequents Indian airports and narrated that she had never encountered a 'rude' customs officer.“The accuser’s privilege ensured an online lynch mob was quickly assembled, guilt was assumed and reputations of hapless customs officers ruined who may have never left Indian shores but diligently guard India’s entry borders everyday... I believe in Indian exceptionalism. This is indeed India’s century. Equally, I am convinced the new India we are building together has No Room for Entitlement," Lahiri wrote.Lahiri’s words instantly gained traction on social media as several users shared her post that shed the essence of entitlement that still runs deep in a privileged few in India."Sense entitlement only leads to irrational thoughts and routine processes become irritating to those who think themselves as privileged," said CA Govindrao Naik, one of the users.It all started with a series of social media posts and a number of editorial articles by Sanghvi in several publications, including Hindustan Times and NDTV, wherein he laboriously detailed his purportedly harrowing experience at Delhi Airport.The essence of the ordeal itself was not unusual, as called out by Lahiri and other social media users, with many individuals noting how it is incumbent on customs officers to conduct random checks— irrespective of status or surname.Sanghvi seemed to take offence at the benign fact that while he was exiting the green channel, he was stopped and “rudely” told to put his bags on the X Ray machine— an act that many noted was a commonplace occurrence for travellers picked at random during airport exits after foreign travels.Sanghvi claimed he chose not to reveal his journalist identity to the customs officials (which seemed irrelevant in any case to mention) and instead asked one of the customs officials if he had any questions. "He did not. Then, two other plainclothes guys materialised and rudely demanded to see our passports. This served no purpose because the first guy had already seen them. So, I guess the idea was to make the passenger feel nervous as he was surrounded by officials examining his documents with an air of suspicion," Sanghvi wrote in the editorial piece published on the NDTV website.Quite contrary to his portal after portal and social media posting in the aftermath of the incident, the food blogger claimed that the act of the customs officials made no 'real difference' to him.In a nation where systems are often belittled, Lahiri’s post stood out not merely for its sharpness but also for its reminder: that respect for due process is a cornerstone in a maturing India.Also Read | Tata Trusts Boardroom Shake-Up: Mehli Mistry Ousted After Trustees Vote Against Reappointment
