Times have changed

On a flight
from Delhi
to Indore,

Was a family
First time in air,
Excited, they told
One and all.

They took out their tiffin
and proudly announced
Home made, please
Have a bite,
Passed it around.

To their surprise
People looked away,
So did I,
Though the aroma
Almost made me
Reach out,
As I have a sweet tooth,
And love
Jaggery and sesame balls.

At the airport lounge
There was a warning,
Not to touch anything
Or talk to overly
friendly strange guys.

Wistfully thought
Of those gone by days,
When on a train journey
Happily,tiffins were shared
Friendships forged.
A daughter
Travelling alone
Entrusted
in a stranger's care.

Chaos1214
It seems to be the way of the world these days. A friendly disposition is looked upon with suspicion, and communication through any other than government recommended channels is frowned upon.

T A Ramesh
I also like train journey with family and friends only and not strangers! But plane travel is different!

Floating poet
cool it this the same mamta that on got poetry?

tom balch
Those days are long gone, mamta. Nice write.

mamta agarwal
Whatever went wrong, Premji. Yes Nimal I love train journey a lot used to happen over shared tiffins, marriages too were arranged.

PrEmJi PrEmJi
mamtaaji, we live in a strange world... i wrote a story on the same theme...birthday inside a train.

heather wilkins
Trusting is a thing of the past. To bad.

nimal dunuhinga
life's a train journey it seems?

Sandra Martyres
it is unfortunate that we cannot trust anyone today -even a seemingly friendly co-passenger. A topical piece Mamta