Saturday, June 24, 2006

Marry Me

I had marriage proposed to me while walking down the street yesterday, something that has never happened before.

I was nearing my house and I noticed a man in a car stop and then slowly follow me. He was talking on his cell phone so I was hoping he was lost and was calling to ask directions and that his trailing me was just coincidental. But then he pulled over, got out of the car and walked over to me. Here’s our conversation translated from Hindi:

Guy: Are you Muslim?

Me: No, I’m Christian. (He was obviously Muslim by his dress and appearance. My lack of Muslimness must not have bothered him since he pressed on anyway.)

Guy: You’re from Fair country, I mean, England?

Me: I’m American.

Guy: I’ve searched all over India for a woman like you to marry.

Me: I’m married, my husband is from Rajasthan (meaning: he’s Indian and he’ll kick your butt if he finds you.) and I have lots of children. (Only 2 but they sure seem like a lot.)

Guy: Are there any more like you?

Me: No. (I wasn’t about to tell him I have a single white female in my house.)

Guy: Where do you live?

Me: Over there. (Vaguely gesturing with my hand.)

Guy walks back to his car mumbling about how he’s never seen such a beautiful woman. Ha!

Note: For most Indians, Fair = Beautiful. Sort of like Thin= Beautiful in the US.

1 comment:

Elena said...

In my neighborhood, the marriage proposal is as follows:

Guy sitting outside grocery store with cup in his hands, asking for money: Hey, honey, wanna marry me? I got food stamps.