南印度十六天﹝三﹞/南印度人﹝三﹞16 days in South India (3)/ South Indians (3)

在喀拉拉邦及卡塔納克邦，常常看見穿著校服的小朋友及校巴穿梭街道。
據說南印度教育的普及程度比北部好。在喀拉拉邦，識字率也達到百分之90，實屬可喜。
不知是否與教育的普及有關，這裡的人比較友善。舉例說，兜售紀念品的人與三輪車司機不會跟你糾纏數條街，你只要說一句：「No，Thanks。」他們也不會再騷擾你。
在科欽的火車站侯車時，突然有一群印度人問我從那裡來及為何到印度等。我回答：「Hong Kong，China。」他們隨即回應：「Communist China。」
我看著他們，呆了不知如何回應，心中擔心他們是那些想佔便宜的人。到最後，他們的火車到了，他們主動跟我握手說：「Have a nice journey。」
什麼不愉快的事也沒有發生，他們只想打個招呼而已。
在馬蒂科里，一位旅遊景點﹝下圖﹞看守員下班後，帶我到當地一間有名的寺廟，而不收分毫，又拒絕了我請他坐三輪車回家的提議。


我又遇到幾位警員﹝下圖﹞，突然要求拍照。


在馬蒂科里市集逛時，其中一個商販﹝下圖﹞好像很興奮，要求我為他及其朋友合照。我想把照片電郵或郵寄給他，可惜因為語言障礙而辦不到。



I have always seen children in school uniform and school buses in Kerala and Karnataka.
It is reported that education standard in South India is better than in the North. The literacy rate of Kerala has reached over 90 percent, which should be a good news.
People in the South are friendlier, and I believe this has something to do with the education. For example, the souvenir sales and rickshaw drivers will not beg you and chase you for a long period of time. They will stop approaching you if you say ``No, Thanks’’.
A group of Indians suddenly approached me when I was waiting my train in Cochin. They asked me where I came from and why did I go to India. I told them that I came from Hong Kong, China, and they immediately replied, ``Communist China.’’
I was confused at that time, and thinking whether they want to take advantages from me. But they shook hands with me and greeted me with ``Have a nice journey’’ when their train approached the platform.
Nothing undesirable had happened, and they merely wanted to chat with me.
In Madikeri, a staff of a tourist attraction took me to a famous Hindu temple of the town without taking my money and accepts my offer to give him a free rickshaw ride.
Several policemen also suddenly asked me to take pictures.
And one of the sales in the market of Madikeri was very excited when seeing me. He asked me to take pictures of him and his friends. I wanted to send the pictures to him via email or post, but the language barrier hindered me from doing that.