Every day I take a 30 minute rickshaw to work – usually these rides are uneventful, marked by abrasive rickshaw drivers with poor hearing. Today, however, was the exception. I started chatting with my driver and got his whole life story. How old he is, where he’s from, how many kids he has, etc. We made I deal that I would only
speak in Hindi to practice, and he would do the same with English. Over the course of the ride, we kind of bonded. I found out he’s got a post-grad degree in economics and was a former professor in UP. He moved to Bombay and became a rickshaw driver because of money troubles. His brother was part of the anti-terror taskforce that acted during the Bombay terror attacks last year. He is also a supporter of the BJP.
Anyway, as we were chatting, I asked him who his favorite actor was. He said Akshay Kumar – he loves him because he’s a good looking man.
I asked him what he thought of Abhishek Bachchan. His replied, "I don’t like Abhishek Bachchan. He is not a good looking man. Ugly man. He has a black face. You look just like Abhishek Bachchan."
The conversation continued after this, but needless to say, it did not have the same warmth as before.
