"Can I get a Taxi please??" I asked the receptionist at the hotel I had checked in. "Sure", they said.. "5 minutes".. so i got out my room and reached the lobby to be pleastantly greeted by my Cab driver,David. I smiled and entered the car. after the usual exchange of dialogues the journey continued. David or Dev as likes to be called was from Goa. We shared a few similarities and differences between the Goan and Keralite community and how Keralites find them selves so comfortable in the Gulf countries while Goans prefer Europe and USA.. as the conversation progressed, he told me "you know sir! I am unlucky otherwise i would have got a portuguese passport by now and got myself settled in USA". though I knew it was not as easy as he made it seem, I didnt want to dampen his spirits . So I asked him. "why what happened??" He told me "well we lost our Dad's death certificate and there was no marriage certificate to prove my parents marriage." Oh!" I asked him.." so your dad was of portuguese origin or your mom??" For which he laughed for the first time and told me.. "Well sir","I am a Cocktail??".. I have a lot of people joke about their origins in the past but a cocktail? now thats a new one, I thought to myself and requested him to elaborate.
"Well" he said.. "Sir".. "My Mom was a liquor trader from Goa and my dad a drunkard who was a Maharashrtrian in Mumbai". "My mom used to do Liquor trade in Mumbai and that how my parents met each other, fell in love and decided to get married". "Thats how I am a cocktail".. I couldnt help smiling..not only because of the story but the innocense and pride with which he presented so symbolically his origin. I thought to myself.. If only we could all come out of our glass houses and accept who were are, no matter who is in front of us. Not put up a fake act to impress people who are not even significant in the big picture of our life. if only we were not so bothered about our present that we forget what we were and our origins.If only we could remember our parents and cherish them no matter how much they might have goofed up in life and in matters concerning us.The journey of life would have been less painful and would have given us more beautiful moments to think about.. I got of at my destination and asked him how much. 12 KD sir.. I gave him 12 KD and a token to acknowledge my self realisation.
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