Vande Bharat waiter slapped by elderly man for serving non-veg food by mistake; netizens react

Are you a vegetarian? If yes, then how extent can you go if someone “by mistake” serves you non-vegetarian food and you realize it only after consuming the food? A similar incident happened in the Vande Bharat Express going from Howrah to Ranchi last week. The furious elderly passenger slapped the waiter who served him the non-vegetarian food “by mistake” during the journey.

The altercation video between the waiter and the elderly passenger went viral on social media. Kunal Verma, a co-passenger, recorded the entire incident on July 26 and shared the video on X as he narrated the episode.

Verma, in his video caption, said that an elderly passenger had placed an order for a vegetarian meal during his journey, but the waiter served him non-vegetarian food instead. Verma said that the passenger did not see the label on the food packet and consumed a part of the food served to him. Realising that what he ate was non-vegetarian, the furious passenger allegedly slapped the waiter twice.

However, his action enraged co-passengers. Some passengers slammed the elderly man. In the viral video passengers can be seen confronting the elderly passenger, asking him to apologise to the waiter.

“Kahan likha hua hai? (Where is it mentioned?),” the elderly passenger can be heard saying, possibly, about the non-vegetarian symbol.

“Kyun mara isko? Itna umar ho gaya hai! (Why would you slap him? Look at your age!),” a co-passenger can be seen asking. The waiter, meanwhile, can be seen apologising profusely.

“Maafi maango (apologise),” co-passengers demanded in unison while several others censured him, “How could you hit a poor man?”

In the other video, the elderly passenger argues with a co-passenger. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” a person told him, calling him “oversmart”.

Regarding the incident, Prakash Charan, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Eastern Railway, said, “Yes, it was served by mistake, but he didn’t eat it. Co-passengers were unhappy about the slapping incident by the passenger and the matter was resolved afterwards.”

Social Media reactions

Several netizens slammed the elderly passenger for assaulting the waiter.

Reacting to the video, a user wrote, “Rare to see citizens standing up for the right things.”

“Good to see PPL awakening against the netagiri and gundagardi. Society should not be a playground of power tussle,” another user commented

“Didn’t expect that fellow passenger will support the waiter,” a user posted.

“You cannot take law in your own hand. Just because jeis poor and cannot put up a. fight,” another user reacted

However, some users supported the elderly passenger

“Kisi ko v Gussa aayega:- Jisne apne puri umr (lagbhag 60 saal to jarur hoga) vegetarian life jiya aur aaj apne aur caterer ke wajah se veg. ka tag hat gya”, reacted a user supporting the elderly passenger.

“This "By Mistake" has become a Pattern. There have been Many such cases on Domestic Airlines, Zomato and Swiggy. This Needs to be Independently Investigated. And the guilty need to be punished,” reacted another user.