Flight arrived at London on time. The customs checking had started and most of the security checks went through eventlessly.
Suddenly, one could notice the change on the face of the security official. They had identified something, that they couldnt identify in one of the baggages.
This was the time when my friend, Sas, went to pickup the exact same baggage. There she was greeted by an officer waiting to see the possesor of the bag.
The security officer opening the bag, asked
"excuse me young lady, could you please tell me what this would be?" and he handed out a cone like utensil, rolled in colourful paper. And Sas, was not not taken aback by a sudden question.
"Oh, yes. That would be the souvenier from home, India. It is a type of Indian chocolate."
"So, you say this is chocolate, right? Can I taste one of them?"
"Oh, sure. Carry on! I have enough with me."
The security personnel took out one and had a bite of it.
"But this does not taste like chocolate. It aint even sweet. What is this exactly".
"Oh I think you have never tried Indian food. There everything is spicy, even the chocolates. And this happens to be one of them."
"Is that so. Sorry ma'am. I thought.." The security officer's voice trailed off.
"It is fine. You can keep the piece if you would like to."
"Thank you. And have a nice day". Security officer, handed the bag to Sas and waved at her.
"Welcome", she said and walked off.
It was 2 weeks back that this British born and brought up girl had come down to India to attend a typical Indian wedding. Though born to Indian parents, Indian tradition was quite new to her. The music, the crowd everything aroused her curiosity. The thing which captured her the most was the mehndi pen. The cone like thing, used to paint on the bride's palms, the pen being filled with a herb which gave a colour when put on the palm.
Walking out of the airport, Sas couldnt control her giggles, imagining what mehndi would have tasted like.
