Amitabh Bachchan ...five five five

Before i moved to this country , i did some net surfing to read up a little bit , just to get an idea of how life is going to be for me , an Indian there. Out of the many things that i learnt prior to my coming here was that these people just looooove Bollywood.... and the first thing that leaves their lips , after they realise / are told that you are an Indian , is "Amitabh Bachchan" (but pronounced more as Amitaaa Bachchan)

After being here for a week , surprisingly enough i hadnt come across any local who uttered the name of this Bollywood legend after getting to know that I am an Indian. So just when i was about to discard this whole theory of "India = Amitaaa Bachchan" according to the localites here , I happened to hire this cab.

Ok, so heres what happened!

One day after work , after much difficulty , i finally managed to get a cab to go to my hotel after work. (usually its pretty easy to find a cab ...just my luck that day , i guess!). So usually it takes about 6 bucks for this commute from my office to the Hotel , however i generally give ten when I am in a hurry and dont wish to waste time in negotiating. That day i was tired of trying to get a cab ...I had stopped some 6 cabs , told them where i want to go (by showing them this paper slip which i carry with me , one side of which has my hotel address , another side my office address written in the local language!)... and finally had managed to get inside one. This cab driver couldnt understand that i would pay him ten bucks (which is much more than its actually worth) , so i had to gesture 5 twice with my hand , just so he could understand the figure ten.

I dont know whether he understood or not , but i got in the cab anyway . On the way , he asked me if i was an American. I said no and tried to explain that I am fom India. He didnt understand India , but intelligently enough linked it to Hind after thinking for some time (Hind is a more common word for Indians/ India here!) . Just as he made this discovery , his eyes twinkled in delight , and pat came the words - "Amitaaa Bachchan?" . Then as if something hit him , the expression on his face took a 360 degree turn . He told me - "No five five...Amitaa Bachchan....five five five". And after that he kept singing five five five , Amitaa Bachchan , five five five ..... (repeat).....(repeat)...... wasnt ready to listen to me when i tried to protest.

So i sat calmly and thought to myself that i shouldnt ruin his moment of joy with this discovery of me being a Hind , or the discovery of his vocal talent at that very moment , or just remembering to practice his vocal chords (in case he was alraedy aware of his talent OR in case his family didnt let him practice in teh house , hence he was seeking refuge in the workplace i.e. the cab). When we reached my hotel , i told him NO five five five , only five five. He looked at me , made a puppy face and then not so happily took the money . He asked my name meanwhile and after that said - Man name?? (Surprisingly suddenly he knew English!) I said no Man. He then gestured to ask - how come i didnt have a bindi on my forehead if i was a Hind? I said no Man (once again) , No Marriage.... Then he suggested through hand gestures that maybe we should get married....

Out of all the unexpected that i had expected , these sure werent on my list .

.....A cab driver proposing marriage to me!

.....Amitabh Bachchan adding an extra five bucks in my cab fare!

So moral of the story - However much you try to preampt the unexpected , more often than not you will be taken aback (And if you are lucky , maybe this unexpected would amuse you too!)