Free! Free! Free!

I wrote this particular blog almost 6 years back and came across it recently. Thought

I'd share it here for both reminiscing and reading. :}

I love travelling by trains, especially the Indian Railways. It may take some of you by surprise that how does a person enjoy train journeys in India but be it listening to the vendors yelling the names of their product at the top of their voices or sitting by the bogey door and watching meadows pass by, train journeys give me the thrills. Also travelling by trains can be quite interesting, as you come across people from so many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. If you are an ardent observer like me, then you might enjoy watching passengers and their antics in trains. So on this one particular journey when I was travelling to my hometown for the summer vacation, I came across one such person. Sitting on the window seat of a chair car bogey with a cup of hot coffee in my one hand and a mystery novel in the other, I sat oblivious to the ongoings in my surroundings.

Suddenly, I was startled from my fixation to the book when, at a particular station, a man occupied the seat beside me. He must have been in his early 40s, and he had a good built. His black suit gave me the assumption that he must belong to the corporate world. He deftly stashed his bags into the overhead compartment before sitting down with his laptop bag and a big sigh. He swiftly took out his Outlook magazine from his laptop bag and engrossed himself into the business headlines. After making a brief study of this man, I returned to my mystery novel and went back into the world of unawareness of my surroundings. Before I knew it, they were serving brunch, and the smell of the hot food made my stomach rumble. The waiter began approaching each row individually, asking what the passengers would like to eat. Once the waiter reached our row, he asked the man next to me what he would prefer to eat.

‘Veg or non-veg ?‘, asked the waiter in his strong South Indian accent.

‘No. Thank you. No food for me‘, said the man, with his head still buried in his Outlook.

‘Okay sir. Will you take dessert then?‘ the waiter inquired.

‘No, no. No dessert also.‘ the man put his magazine down and looked up.

‘Sir, the food is delicious. There is chicken pulao and vegetable pulao with Gulab jamun for dessert. Take little if you want‘, said the waiter, trying his best to convince his customer.

‘Arre I don’t want food. I have already finished eating my food‘, the man replied with annoyance.

‘Take it, sir. It is for free‘ said the waiter, bent upon giving away the food to his customer.

‘Is it free? ‘, the man raised his eyebrows in query.

‘Yes sir‘, the waiter replied as his eyes lit up in delight.

‘Okay Okay. Give me one plate chicken pulao and make sure you put two gulab jamuns‘, said the man as the waiter began to fill the tray with food.

I could not help smiling at the fact that the waiter could not persuade the man without taking the help of the ‘free food’ tag line. I have always wondered why free food still manages to attract Indian customers. I took my share of the food and returned to my book, smiling from ear to ear.

#Story #narration #blog