Flattery

“Acchi didi,
Pyari didi,
paise do na?”
A spindly arm
reaches into my cab and I look
up to see her pleading eyes.
When I turn my face away,
she adds quickly,
“Tum Rani Mukherjee
jaise dikhti ho,
paise do na?”
For a second, I’m
stunned; look at
her blankly.
Then almost immediately
both of us burst out laughing
at the pathetic desperation
of her situation.

And
mine.






Travellete 4 - Bombay, Feb 2006.

Timepass

Being stuck for hours in cabs on Mumbai's trafficrazy roads wasn't fun. I kept myself
amused by linking up names of places to Hindi film songs and then singing them
aloud much to the surprise of the cabbies. Here are a few. For the rest, you'll just
have to email me!

Mahim: Maahim, Maahim aaja maahim re!

Dadar: Dadar dil, daadar jigar, dil mein jagaya aapne

Nariman Point: Nariman tera pyasa, nariman tera

Chandivali: Chera hai ya chandivali hai...

Matunga: Matunga, sing a little louder. Matunga, she take me money
and run Venezuela. (This was tough to do in Hindi, so I cheated a bit)






Mumbai. Feb 2005

Leaving

Checked in: One frayed
olive-green bag stuffed
with things I may never
need.
Carry on: I can't.





Bangalore Airport. Feb 2005