tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post4388592538601108630..comments2024-03-07T14:43:21.888-08:00Comments on Whatever I want to write about: 26 years. Yet, nobody can take the India out of meSriram Khéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907731254833435446noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-37611898080591401572013-06-28T19:48:56.162-07:002013-06-28T19:48:56.162-07:00An interesting side titbit is the origin of the wo...An interesting side titbit is the origin of the word firang or firang, which by the way is not derogatory but only mildly teasing :)<br /><br />Apparently it was during the time of the Frankish empire during the middle ages that the eastern word came into contact with the white man. Therefore every white man came to be called as a Frank and the derivation is found now in many languages - Frenk in Turkish, al-Faranj in Arabic, Farangi in Persian, Barang in Khmer, Ferenggi in Malay, Farang in Thai and so on ....Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-76237128076593424902013-06-28T14:12:09.831-07:002013-06-28T14:12:09.831-07:00I had forgotten what firang meant ... looked it up...I had forgotten what firang meant ... looked it up. Yes, a damn foreigner I am when in India. My father doesn't even let me hire an auto because he is convinced that the drivers will take me for one hell of a ride ;)<br /><br />These stores that I saw in CR were not set up to serve a Desi market, it seemed like. Neither the people working there, nor the customers, even remotely looked Indian. Which is why I was all the more impressed ...<br /><br />That Chinese set up you describe is quite surreal. It would have been even more surreal if it had been a Chinese guy singing Rafi and Mukhesh ...Sriram Khéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06724218458246880137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-83563412903016314922013-06-28T06:32:04.463-07:002013-06-28T06:32:04.463-07:00There are Indians everywhere. Even in Vladivostok ...There are Indians everywhere. Even in Vladivostok !! And where there are Indians, there are Indian shops and Indian food joints, given how we like to have the familiar things around.<br /><br />And when you are out of India, there is a always a special fondness for things Indian. Even if you are a firang like you !!!<br /><br />My favourite "Indian moment" has been in Guangzhou China. Although there is a fairly sizeable Indian community there, its still an alien land. And in an Indian restaurant there, there was this Indian singer who had a lovely voice and sang old Hindi songs every day. Imagine sitting deep in China and listening to Mukesh and Mohammed Rafi songs live and eating roti and sabji - I never failed to be amazed despite the number of times I went there.Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.com