Santa decided to visit his brother in Chennai.
He assumed that most madrasis would speak English but found that many people spoke only their native tongue - including the ticket inspector on the train. He punched Santa`s ticket, then chatted cordially for a bit, making gestures like a windmill. Santa simply nodded from time to time to show him that he was interested.
When he had gone, a man in the compartment leaned forward and asked if he spoke Tamil.
`No,` Santa confessed.
`Then that explains,` the man said, `why you didn`t bat an eyelid when he told you that you were on the wrong train!`