The Indian man in the library turned out to be from Mauritius.
He asked me where I was from. When told “Singapore”, he broke into a smile and said he’d been to Singapore a number of times and loved the place.
I asked him if he had any friends in Singapore, he said, “Yes. A lady called Doreen Yip.” I nodded in acknowledgement. He repeated the name, as if I hadn’t heard. I nodded again, saying, “Yes, I heard you the first time.” He said it a third time, spelling it out this time, as if I needed it spelt out as well.
It later occurred to me that Indians shake their heads when they mean “Yes”, so perhaps that’s why my nodding my head did not get interpreted correctly.
NB: Doreen Yip is not her real name.
(London, 2018)
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