When all hell broke loose on the Alps

There is a story to tell - a story on how a beautiful, surreal moment in time can be transformed into an ugly nightmare. Surprisingly, the protagonist of this story is the celebrated, nouveau-riche, globe-trotting, quintessential Indian. Read on.

We had entered the third level of the Mount Titlis Cableway - a monster of a car that rotates to let everyone get a 360 degree view of the Uri Alps. When you start ascending the last phase of a 10,000ft slope, surrounded by snow-capped mammoths, it is only natural to feel closer to nature and to the creator. Or if you swing towards the practical side, you end up admiring the engineering feat of a (thanks to the contrasts, now a tiny looking) cable car, trotting up the heights where birds fear to fly.

But no, this story is not about the usual. It is about the unusual - of hell breaking loose on the pristine Alps.

As luck would have it, on this dreamy day, we had for company, a large group of Indian (Gujaratis to be precise). They far out-numbered the Europeans and a few Chinese in the car. The car could very well have been air lifted directly from parts of India.

It was a moment to be a proud Indian until the group proved otherwise. The decibel levels of the superbly-excited lot were soon to drown the silence of the Alps. A tweeting bird could have burst its lungs to be heard and the wind would have to blow into a storm to get the attention of these travellers. It started with "Sare jahan se acacha Hindustan hamara" at supersonic decibel levels.

All the 25 odd caught on to the tune and started crooning. My mouth fell open. Well it went on to sloganeering "Bharat Mata ki jai. Vande Mataram", which incidentally, was also joined by an Indian couple not part of the group. Nonsense is contagious, you see.

Not that I am not a proud Indian but there is a time, place and a manner of exhibiting patriotic feelings. My daughter (at an extremely self-conscious age of ten) looked at me as whispered "Stop them". I gave her a dumb stare, indicating my helplessness. For the rest of the climb, she stared at me as if I was the sole perpetrator of this India abuse and should be pushed out of the car at the first given opportunity.

As moments passed, we witnessed silence commit suicide and peace jump off the nearest cliff. And with that we witnessed the rolling of eyes of the European co-passengers. I stole a glance at my 16-year-old who responded by hitting his head symbolically against the beam of the car. He gestured towards the Chinese tourists who were wearing smirks as their cameras were trying to catch at least the sights, while Indians had blocked out the sounds.

What was next on the charts left me speechless not that any other instrument of expression was more desired in the car at that moment. Embarrassment was the expression of the moment as the vale resounded with chants of "Ganpati bappa moria, mangal murti moriya".

Thankfully by then we were on the top and Titlis gave us refuge as we sprung forward to out-run the crowd before they marred the rest of the experience.

With plane loads of Indians travelling the world at present, I see what my country's image is now. I hope it never comes to a pass where EU issues a travel advisory for Europeans to avoid the Alps during the Indian vacation season so they can enjoy a peaceful break!