Many hospitality brands respond with strict protocols when a guest hides hotel luggage in their bag. But true luxury is not determined by how a brand protects its assets, but by how it protects the dignity of its guests. An excellent example of this philosophy was seen at an Oberoi property in Mumbai when visionary hotelier BRS ‘Bicky’ Oberoi was chatting with a colleague near the reception as a foreign guest was checking out. As she opened her purse to pay the bill, small half-used shampoo and lotion bottles fell on the hotel counter. The guests stopped. The embarrassment of being caught was clearly visible on his face. But instead of ignoring them or leaving them in an uncomfortable situation, Biki instructed her staff to gift the guests well-packaged baskets of premium skincare products. This famous incident holds a timeless lesson for the industry: When a customer takes something from your property, viewing it as an expression of affection rather than theft can turn a potential confrontation into lifelong brand loyalty. This narrative is detailed in corporate service handbooks and business case studies, particularly in the training curriculum of the Oberoi Center of Learning and Development. It is taught as the foundation of the Oberoi Empower program. Even prestigious institutions like Harvard Business School have published case studies on how the brand strikes a balance between extreme operational efficiency and this level of sensitivity. I myself covered this very emotional incident while working for the Indian Express in 1990. This extremely sympathetic story came to my mind on Monday morning when I read the shocking statistic in the same newspaper that one in every 1000 AC coach passengers in the Indian Railways carries at least one item of his bedroll with him. Be it bedsheet, blanket, pillow, pillowcover or face towel. A Right to Information report heart-breakingly reveals that railway passengers have carried a total of 1.27 crore items with them in the last four years. Passengers collecting travel souvenirs should understand that Indian Railways is not an Oberoi hotel and a stolen bedsheet from a train is not a complimentary bottle of shampoo. Those carrying these items should stop and think about what actually happens after they are successfully evacuated. Indian Railways imposes a penalty on the contractor when the train reaches the final station and the luggage count does not match. Since the quantity of missing luggage is large, the contractor passes the burden of this fine on the lowest level, i.e. on the coach attendant. These attendants earn only Rs 700 per day. Even if they work for the full 30 days of the month without taking a single leave, without visiting their families, their total earning is only Rs 21 thousand. Still, every month Rs 2 to 3 thousand are deducted from their salary. They suffered this deep financial blow just because someone who could afford an AC train ticket chose to steal a piece of clothing. Just imagine about that hardworking father, his family and his invisible tears, who would return home with three thousand rupees less in salary every month. He gave the service as asked but still he got punished because of some unknown person. The bottom line is that next time during a trip, if we see someone carrying such ‘souvenirs’, then explain to him that the price of a bedsheet is never so much that a poor person’s livelihood should be taken away for it.
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N. Raghuraman’s Column:Luxury is always linked to dignity
