Free Bacteria – courtesy Indian Railways

We just came back from a great 3 week vacation in India. The kids had a blast and so did Sharmila and I. There were some memorable moments in the trip – I will try to capture some of them here.

On our way back from our home town Durgapur to Calcutta, we traveled by Shatabdi express – which is one of the most premier express trains. If you did not know this, India is the country with the maximum amount of railroads in the world. It is the primary mass transit mechanism. If all the railroads in India were laid end to end, you would reach the moon and come back quite a few times. Indian Railways has 1.6 million employees!! Talk of corporate complexity. Due to the size, Indian railways prepares and presents a separate budget a day earlier than the budget for the rest of the stuff in India!!!

Anyways, back to the story – so, we were traveling First Class AC (you will be surprised what a strengthened dollar can help you do 🙂 ) And half way thru, we were offered “premium dinner”. Usually, I avoid all outside food in India – but this once I decided to try. I opened the tray and the first “welcome note” that greeted me had me guffawing out loud. See the picture below!!

Not only does the bacteria come free and clear, it is ready for use too!!! 🙂 🙂

For the curious, Sharmila had an upset stomach for three days after eating the meal. Talk about truth in advertising!!

Rajib