Monday, May 12, 2008

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Indian men have an endearing habit that always makes me smile. Often while eating at a restaurant, a man will come up and asks a few questions. He usually appears happy at the answers (especially America) and then nod his head several times. Eventually, he just wanders back to where he stood before without saying anything. A few minutes later he comes back with a few more questions before slowly walking off. This usually repeats a few times. My hands down favorite example:

Sitting with some friends by the road after dark when a motorcycle pulls up with its headlight right in our faces. Then we hear a siren from the machine so faint and duck-like, we had to stifle giggles. The cop on the back slowly gets off his bike (senior officers always on back) and asks the standard few questions. He pauses slowly between each sentence, repeating the answer a few times. He eventually strolls back to the bike and he mounts with all of the dignity of his office before they roll away on their Enfield (the coolest motorcycles in India). They kept coming back in ten minute intervals with the same questions. Every time they left, we burst into laughter at his roostering around the chicken yard. Maybe you had to be there.

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