A Monday morning in Venad Express is always crowded. I was lucky to have a reservation in the AC Chair car compartment. Outside my compartment I can see people standing, not an uncommon sight. My journey started at 5AM in the morning from Trivandrum to Aluva. I was on my way to the Nedumbassery Airport to catch my flight to Pune, the city where I work.
Next to me, was seated a family of 4. From their accent and mannerisms, I could figure out this is one of the NRI (non resident Indian) families on a holiday from US. The grandfather, who looks to be residing in Kerala from his dressing and mannerisms is on a trip with his Son and his family. The son seems to be somewhere between the 2 cultures. His son, the youngest of the group though seemed very excited. Probably his first train journey. Lucky that he is not with the majority that does not have a reservation or a seat. It may not have been that exciting.
The tea vendor comes calling "Chai Chai". The younger ones face gleams even more. Another first for him I guess. They buy tea. Through out the course of the 3 hour journey, they drink 4 more cups of tea. Tea drinking, I must confess is highly contagious phenomenon. I also had my 2 cups
The family alights at Kottayam. The empty cups of tea they had were left at their seats. Wonder if they would have done it in America. I am sure they would have picked it up and disposed it properly. What happens when they come back to their homeland? I thought for a moment whether I must give them a lecture on social etiquettes. I decided not to.
I took my 2 cups and went outside and disposed it, feeling pretty proud and to a certain extend self righteous
On board came a foreigner ( a real one not an NRI). From her accent she could be French or even from Russia. The curious contagious phenomenon of tea drinking spread to her too. She too bought a cup of coffee from the vendor that came by. She drank her tea, and to my admiration she not only picked her cup, but the 4 cups that was left by the earlier family and disposed it off
It was a moment which not only bought my short lived self righteousness crashing down to mother earth but also made me realize that we are way way behind as a society.
