“Are you from Sudan?” asks the conductor of the tram (or trolly as the Greeks call it ) as I sit down in a seat next to him. I say 'no'. He suggests 'Somalia'. I repeat 'no'.
Both of us are amused and to enjoy the fun, I refuse to tell him my country until he names half a dozen lesser known countries from Arabia and Africa. He smiles in defeat. As I utter the word 'India', he gives out a big breath, 'Ah'. He had least expected such a wellknowncountry. Then he turns his head immediately to his job of issuing tickets. At the next respite, he beckons me with his friendly gesture and asks, 'You are Buddhist? My 'no' makes him curious and he suggests such names as Brahmanism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism until his glossary of world religions is exhausted.
He gasps his defeat and his eyes open wide with astonishment when I tell him, "I am a Sikh". No, he has never heard the word. He has never read about it. He has never met a Sikh. And then I am compelled to explain what Sikhism is and what it stands for, to a small group who has gathered around us by now. All what I said was Greek to them, in Greece!
Both of us are amused and to enjoy the fun, I refuse to tell him my country until he names half a dozen lesser known countries from Arabia and Africa. He smiles in defeat. As I utter the word 'India', he gives out a big breath, 'Ah'. He had least expected such a wellknowncountry. Then he turns his head immediately to his job of issuing tickets. At the next respite, he beckons me with his friendly gesture and asks, 'You are Buddhist? My 'no' makes him curious and he suggests such names as Brahmanism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism until his glossary of world religions is exhausted.
He gasps his defeat and his eyes open wide with astonishment when I tell him, "I am a Sikh". No, he has never heard the word. He has never read about it. He has never met a Sikh. And then I am compelled to explain what Sikhism is and what it stands for, to a small group who has gathered around us by now. All what I said was Greek to them, in Greece!
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