We, the people of India in the ’50s

This incident actually happened six decades ago when I was 22 years old. I was travelling in a first-class coupe with a young Punjabi army officer who was travelling on his first posting to Trivandrum. He had never travelled to South India earlier. This story may sound strange now. Because people now travel all around India and abroad.

It was 1955. I was travelling from Howrah to Madras (now Chennai) by Mail. The young man’s enthusiasm and curiosity were evident as he stood at the open door of the compartment, watching the scenery go by. When the train stopped at the next station, Kharagpur, the officer got down and returned, looking very pleased, with a large uncut tender coconut. He sat down by my side and asked me the name of his purchase, and how to eat it!

Having stayed in Lahore in the pre-partition days, I guessed that he had not seen a coconut before. I told him that it was the tender coconut and that it had sweet water inside which was known to be very nutritious.

By now, the train had left Kharagpur. How was he going to break the coconut and collect the water inside it, I wondered. Not for long.

As I watched startled, the enthusiastic officer smashed the coconut against the compartment door handle. He did this repeatedly until the green fibre on the outside loosened.

Unfortunately, this unusual method of breaking the coconut also resulted in breaking the shell and the coconut water started leaking out onto the floor. I suggested to him that he lick the remaining liquid, which he promptly did, not letting any of it go waste. He obviously liked it!

I told the officer that he would find plenty of coconuts in Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) and everywhere else in Kerala.

As we neared our destination, my friend asked if he would be able to see the sea before we reached Madras. I showed him the sea when we were passing Ennore, just before reaching Madras. Having never seen the ocean before, he was obviously thrilled by the sight.

A short silence later, he asked me how wide the sea was, and if he could swim across it! I informed him that the other shore of this sea was in Burma and that if he could swim across and survive, he would be a record-holder and a champion. I wished him all the best!