You can guess how much familiar India is in the world?
Quite familiar! Some people here in US know more about India than I do. And it’s not surprising. Let me share my experiences.
Today I was waiting for the bus while talking to my roommate. The next bus was after half an hour. A man sitting on the bench behind me tapped me on my arm and asked
“Do you know where I can get a photocopy of this?”
“I don’t know. Let me check”.
Turned to my roommate. “Eh illi Xerox angadi ello ide?” (Hey do you know where the Xerox shop is).In my hometown we have shops known as Xerox shops where they have photocopy machines.
My roommate nodded his head meaning to say no. I turned to the man and said “I’m sorry, we have no clue”.
He smiled and replied
“Wow, you change languages so easily. Are you guys Persians?”
“No, Indians”.
And what followed was a conversation related to India. These are the topics we spoke about.
· ISKCON
· Mutton Biriyani
· Kumbh Mela
· Mumbai
· Bangalore
· Temples
· Punjab
· Life of Pi
· Bengal tigers
· Elephants
· Llama
· Camels
· Why are all Indians so smart? (I try my best not to laugh every time a non-Indian asks me this question)
· How hot is India? Is it like Arizona?
· How crowded is India? Is it like New York or LA?
Rewind. 2 weeks back. Same bus stop. A drunk Hispanic guy asks me the time. I tell him the time and he replies
“Hey wait, I know you. You Indian right? No wait, you from Pakistan right?”
“I’m Indian”
“Why you guys got nuclear weapons man? Why you need it?”
Hoping that he would not pick a fight with me“Honestly, I have no idea”.
(For all of you who did not know this, India is one of the countries that is not a party to the NPT. He actually got me curious so I googled it on my way back home).
Source: List of states with nuclear weapons
As expected, we started talking and here is the list.
· Cricket
· Indian population
· Curry
· Slumdog Millionaire
· Indian family values
The funniest part of the conversation was when he asked me if I was from Bangladesh.
“No I’m Indian”
“Ya I know. Bangladesh is the capital right?”
“No it’s a different country”
“Damn! They made that city a country?”
“I’m pretty sure it was never a city. It was a part of the state of Bengal.”
“So what’s the capital now?”
“New Delhi”
“So that’s close to Bangladesh?”
“Not at all”
And finally how can one not mention Bollywood!!
A couple of months back I was riding back home in an Uber. The driver asked me
“Are you Indian?”
“Ya”
“Nice. I’m originally from Somalia but now US citizen. You watch Bollywood movies?”
“I sure do. What about you?”
“Oh man, I watch a lot. Madhuri Dixit! She’s so beautiful. It’s my dream to marry an Indian girl. Indian girls are so pretty”
“Ha-ha. Any other actress you like?”
“Ya Katrina Kaif. I watched Dhoom 3 a few days ago”
“Did you like it?”
“Ya”
“So which is your favorite movie?”
“Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge!”
And I thought to myself “With that answer, you’ll definitely win the heart of at least one of the Indian girls you meet”
So take pride! Non-Indians definitely know a thing or two about India.
Today I was waiting for the bus while talking to my roommate. The next bus was after half an hour. A man sitting on the bench behind me tapped me on my arm and asked
“Do you know where I can get a photocopy of this?”
“I don’t know. Let me check”.
Turned to my roommate. “Eh illi Xerox angadi ello ide?” (Hey do you know where the Xerox shop is).In my hometown we have shops known as Xerox shops where they have photocopy machines.
My roommate nodded his head meaning to say no. I turned to the man and said “I’m sorry, we have no clue”.
He smiled and replied
“Wow, you change languages so easily. Are you guys Persians?”
“No, Indians”.
And what followed was a conversation related to India. These are the topics we spoke about.
· ISKCON
· Mutton Biriyani
· Kumbh Mela
· Mumbai
· Bangalore
· Temples
· Punjab
· Life of Pi
· Bengal tigers
· Elephants
· Llama
· Camels
· Why are all Indians so smart? (I try my best not to laugh every time a non-Indian asks me this question)
· How hot is India? Is it like Arizona?
· How crowded is India? Is it like New York or LA?
Rewind. 2 weeks back. Same bus stop. A drunk Hispanic guy asks me the time. I tell him the time and he replies
“Hey wait, I know you. You Indian right? No wait, you from Pakistan right?”
“I’m Indian”
“Why you guys got nuclear weapons man? Why you need it?”
Hoping that he would not pick a fight with me“Honestly, I have no idea”.
(For all of you who did not know this, India is one of the countries that is not a party to the NPT. He actually got me curious so I googled it on my way back home).
Source: List of states with nuclear weapons
As expected, we started talking and here is the list.
· Cricket
· Indian population
· Curry
· Slumdog Millionaire
· Indian family values
The funniest part of the conversation was when he asked me if I was from Bangladesh.
“No I’m Indian”
“Ya I know. Bangladesh is the capital right?”
“No it’s a different country”
“Damn! They made that city a country?”
“I’m pretty sure it was never a city. It was a part of the state of Bengal.”
“So what’s the capital now?”
“New Delhi”
“So that’s close to Bangladesh?”
“Not at all”
And finally how can one not mention Bollywood!!
A couple of months back I was riding back home in an Uber. The driver asked me
“Are you Indian?”
“Ya”
“Nice. I’m originally from Somalia but now US citizen. You watch Bollywood movies?”
“I sure do. What about you?”
“Oh man, I watch a lot. Madhuri Dixit! She’s so beautiful. It’s my dream to marry an Indian girl. Indian girls are so pretty”
“Ha-ha. Any other actress you like?”
“Ya Katrina Kaif. I watched Dhoom 3 a few days ago”
“Did you like it?”
“Ya”
“So which is your favorite movie?”
“Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge!”
And I thought to myself “With that answer, you’ll definitely win the heart of at least one of the Indian girls you meet”
So take pride! Non-Indians definitely know a thing or two about India.
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