EuroTrip - Day 52

Chai Chai Chai

I miss chai. Rambhai ki adarak wali kadak chai. For the people here, coffee is everything. One cup of espresso on-the-go and they are ready for the day. For most practical purpose, it is their cigarette and not this coffee which refreshes them for the hectic day ahead.

Chai, or thé as they call it in French, here is something totally different. It's more like the way Englishman like it - very little milk and almost no sugar. If you want to imagine what I am talking about, do this. Take a cup of hot water. Put a tea bag and make black tea. Add a teaspoon milk and half a teaspoon sugar to it. Stir it well and enjoy. Now, for kitli-types like me, calling this chai is like an insult to the magic potion.

I am really missing those golden days in campus when Bangiii or Dhruv would come shouting if anyone was up for chai. The short walk to gate and then long discussions over chai at the kitli in front of the gate made it a special day everyday. Just a few days more and I am going back to this routine. Guys at GMBC, you still are doing those rounds right?

You might ask how come I recalled chai and decided to write about it. The answer to your question is that it was the lady that we met on our train journey from Strasbourg to Paris CDG who made me do this. Miraya (I am not sure about the spelling) or Mira as she is known as when in India, was on her way to catch a flight to Delhi. She came from nowhere and amazed us in the next two hours with her hindi and amazing knowledge of India.

Mira has traveled to India multiple times in last couple of years. She has traveled to -hold you breath- Mandu, Dwaraka, Puri, Gokarna (plan for this time) and places like this. Amazed right? No Goa, no Mumbai, no Delhi etc. For most of the foreigners, knowledge of India starts at Bangalore (The IT hub, city where most of their jobs are going) and ends at Goa (cheap daaru and dawai). They might also know about Mumbai. But that's it.

For the traveler kinds like Mira, it is something different though. She did her first trip back in 2003 with the help of Lonely Planet. But instead of going to some popular destination, she went to Mandu and stayed there for a couple of month to get a hang of India. In return she taught French to the owner of guest house where she stayed.

Her next trip was off the routes given in LP. Those places are too much touristy kinds, she complained. Incidently I had similar complaints for some European cities. So it was Dwarika, Puri and other such places. She found 'peace' and loved the beauty of Indian temples. Before you think, let me clarify - she is not a volunteer with any missionary. She went to these places out of her interest. To keep herself going, she took up teaching jobs and helped poor students with her english (A french lady teaching English in India!). She learnt Hindi to be able to communicate with those students.

Indian railways gave her comfort of cheap travel as well opportunities to see India from close. She learnt to travel like we Indians do. The sound of 'chai chai chai' and the 'chane jor garam' is what she missed the most from her train experience in India. We couldn't have agreed more. It is just too silent on these European trains.

And the next two hours, it was like going through a list of things that we have been missing and have been wanting to do as soon as we reach India. Idli sambar, Samosa, Chai, Mohan-thal and what not. She knew ilaichi and besan. We could not have asked for more. There was no way we could not get nostalgic. We really miss home now.

Now coming the most important part of the whole episode. Today a french lady came and told us about our culture. Will we be able to do a similar thing to some French person? I wonder if our answer can be in positive. We have not yet explored anything beyond the 'bonjour - long legs short skirt - always cigarette' culture in France. We better not dare to say this to anyone.