Sunday, May 9, 2010

There is Something Black in the Daal

There is an idiom here that says "something black is in the daal". Daal is one of the common dishes here- similar to lentils. The idiom basically means-something fishy is going on.

So, this afternoon I was walking down the street to catch an auto rickshaw to the train station. As I was walking, a local lady stopped her car and rolled down the window. 'hey, do you need help'? My eyes lit up in recognition. It was my friend Anita that I had met a few weeks ago. I told her I was just going to the train station to buy a ticket. She said "well, hop in -I will take you". I got in the car.

"My name is Anita" she said. (I thought to myself, I KNOW your name's Anita...) She removed her sunglasses and it all become clear. Uh...I didn't know this lady. Wrong Anita.

My mind quickly thought about what to do. I chatted with the lady in Hindi as my eyes looked around for clues of impending doom. I came up with a quick contingency plan. At the first sign of trouble, I would jump out at the first intersection we came to. In fact, I would maybe even roll on the ground once I jumped out of the car- for dramatic affect.

As the minutes passed, I realized that Anita wasn't planning on causing me harm. For whatever reason, she had decided to stop and pick me up, a total stranger. We actually had a nice chat. She wants me to come to her house tomorrow for tea.

I guess there was nothing black in the daal after all.

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