The lesser-known globetrotting chai wallahs

Je ne sais quoi

For all their famous hatred, the French sometimes do come to the rescue of English, the language. The word above might sound like an endearment in Mandarin but it means a wonderful ‘quality that cannot be described or named easily.’ Which means those four little words can mean everything from the reason behind the Trojan War to what Mastercard – and The Language itself – simply passes off as ‘priceless.’ I thought of this word, though I couldn’t recollect it correctly, when I met Mohana and Vijayan at their Sree Balaji Coffee House in Kochi, Kerala.

At first, the mandatory selfie

When Vijayan turns around to pour his ‘metre-long tea’ Mohana ensured that clean glasses were waiting. If Mohana got caught up shooting the breeze with regulars the banana fritters didn’t get burnt – Vijayan took over without having to be asked. When Mohana was unable to find return change, Vijayan tendered the exact amount from his shirt pocket – again quietly. I sat watching them from the Spartan interiors of their shop, the walls decorated with framed newspaper clippings on them and their travels. A clean globe sat prominently in one corner – almost like a snooze alarm that doesn’t permit long periods of laxity. If clockwork came with heart, this would be it.

It was the same when I spoke to them later: when he groped for place names she filled in. Her eyes still twinkled when he narrated interesting anecdotes from their travels and he laughed out loud when she recounted her initial shock at seeing how clean Singapore was. From her unbridled amusement it was clear she had shared it many times before. And Vijayan had heard it too.

Banana fritters, vada, bonda, chai and memories

I pointed out this delectable dynamic between the two of them. Many couples I know travel together to verify their compatibility before getting hitched, I told Vijayan.

“We have been married for almost four and a half decades,” Vijayan said. “We were always pretty close, I must say.” He squinted at Mohana merrily, she went erubescent before breaking into a girly giggle.

“But yes, when you see a lot of new things in life, your outlook itself changes. About life, about the people you are with, about the unseen blessings that has come your way,” Vijayan continued. “Besides being thankful to God, I must say I became more respectful of my wife. I realised how much a source of strength she was to me. Our travels together made me realise that.”

Livsnjutare

I celebrated the occasion by fishing out another unpronounceable but beautiful word. This time Swedish; I was looking for something in Greek. After all, Zorba was Greek and I saw a lot of common traits between the cult character and Vijayan. Zorba’s ‘zest to live life to the fullest’ mirror-reflected in Vijayan. Follow your heart even under the most trying circumstances. Damn the doryphore!

Vijayan and Mohana: Target 50

“Yes, people ask me why I am not saving for old age. It is because we all have only one life and you have to do everything you want when you can.” For Vijayan all he ever wanted to was travel.

“As a youngster, I have stolen food grain from my home to sell in the market to fund short trips.”

Mohana turned around from whatever she was doing.

“When I married him I hadn’t travelled even beyond Ernakulam. Soon I was also smitten by his travel madness.”

The couple has mortgaged the tea stall and pawned Mohana’s gold to fund their travels. But most of the time it was the chit fund that came handy. When I met them they had just returned from a three-nation tour of Argentina, Brazil and Peru.

“We called a chit fund from KSFE for five lakh rupees, we took a loan of another five lakh and took off.”

After returning from a trip, they work for a couple of years, pay off the loan, avail another and head out again. Travel to the ‘edge of the world’ was a dream they were nursing since 2016 – which they realised this year. However, they had to give Chile a miss, Vijayan said wistfully. As a rule the couple goes only on package tours as they are more pocket-friendly and safe.

The globe as the snooze alarm

“We use Soman’s for our travels. They are value-for-money and can be trusted.” It was an extension of the plugging they had officially done for the Kerala-based outbound tour operator. I decided to go with it – they were among the very few organisations which used the couple for publicity and paid for their services. I was sold.

“Zee television channel used us in an advertisement and paid us Rs 20,000.” I felt proud that I knew, if fleetingly, some of the good people behind the newcomer in Kerala’s mediascape.

As anybody who has to work for airfare knows, ambassadoring for just about any product is acceptable. And who doesn’t know it better than Amitabh Bachchan. The actor donated Rs 50,000 to their travel kitty as did Anupam Kher. Shashi Tharoor sent Rs 25,000. Though their photographs with regional movie stars adorn the walls of the stall, none of them have opened their wallets for tickets yet.

“But we make do with whatever we have. Our fellow travellers are usually local millionaires who travel with hundreds of dollars. We travel with chump change.”

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With their last trip, their tally stood at an impressive 23 countries.

“We hope to visit at least 50 countries before we call it a day. I am sure we will realise our dream.” Vijayan firmly believes what Paulo Coelho says about the universe helping you achieve what you want. 

I recommend the potato vada

“Everything that I have wanted, that we have planned, we have received. God has been very kind to us.” Understandably no lollygagging for them even though this is the standard pay-back work-only period. While he was talking to me, he engaged in a spot of earnest, deedy conversation with another customer whose firm was in talks with the couple for a possible collaboration – for their next trip to Australia. I suggested they write a book about their travels till now. Of course their repertoire of experiences must be so vast and interesting that any publisher could see it was a winner. The package-touring crowd in Kerala was growing by leaps and bounds; parents were increasingly realising that their children abroad weren’t coming back. They were living it up. 

The numbers, as Mohana told me

“We are not the literary kinds, nor do we have the aptitude to write,” Vijayan said. “But if anybody is interested to write, we can recount our travels in detail.” 

“If you are mentioning this in your story add our phone numbers too so those interested can contact us.” Mohana added. 

That couple quality I told you about.