Are you Indian?

While sitting on the Rotunda steps the other day having lunch with my friend Jess, this older balding gentleman walked up to us casting his curved-head-umbrella towards us inquiring, "May I ask you a question?" In a friendly manner I replied yes and then was promptly asked "Are you Indian?"

Why am I not surprised to have this question asked of me? Oh, perhaps because it happens about once a month (if not more frequently). I figure I should just go ahead and get my nose pierced and wear a salwar shemis to encourage such assumptions. When I replied no, he informed me that he had had an Indian wife and really thought I might have been Indian as well. A young boy stood at his side, looking very embarrassed and troubled at the continued questioning that was to follow...

"Well then are you Pakistani? Libyan? Sri Lankan? Algerian?" He rattled off a few more countries (most of which I don't recall) but he never landed on Egypt. I had to give him the answer to which he reveled at the ancient degree of my past.

What an interesting character he was.