Ever since I returned from Japan one of the things that I miss the most in India is the vending machines. It is possible to buy many types of unsweetened hot or cold tea’s in Japan. Unfortunately when you buy an Iced tea in India it is usually prepared from a premixed Iced tea mix and is highly sweet. Most brands available in India are in fact sickeningly sweet and these include both Nestea and Lipton. I seem to miss the Green tea iced tea’s the most. Now I can understand why in India the concept of vending machines has really never taken off. The high rates of anticipated or existing vandalism, the low value of the available coins are all factors that work against vending machine culture. Perhaps if they were to introduce 10,20 an 50 Rupee coins then things would work out differently. Not to mention these coins would also have a longer life than the present bank notes that tend to get so dirty after just a while.

Japanese vending machines do not seem to be very technologically complex to me, however their fun aspect is that they dispense both hot and cold drinks. I think it is only logical that it should be that way or the sales with respect to winter or summer would not be consistent. Still I guess it depends on a culture of a place. In India so far it is still possible to buy many things from street vendors though it is just that the quality and the variety of the drinks that are available is so severely limited.