He told me this Germany girl once asked him to marry her, but he didn’t agree cos it would mean leaving his family behind. Shaking his head, he said, ‘I cannot leave my family behind. If she wants to be with me, she has to stay in India with me.’ Being the sole bread winner, he simply cannot do that. And of course, he was not in love with the German girl. Now he’s a married man, the girl still makes her trips to India to find Khan. I can tell he is very much in love with his wife and they have an adorable son – Fardeen, meaning ‘Son of God’. So I said to him, which means you’re god! He laughed.
He told me of his dreams…. Of sending his son to school, buying his own car so he can drive his wife and family around. Bring his wife to see the Taj Mahal every now and then, cos the Taj is the ultimate symbol of love. He wants to start his own business. He will need 200,000 Rs to start one. 45,000 Rs to get a car. And dunno how much to send his son to school. He only earns Rs 3,000 a month, basic salary. The extra money he gets from tips from tourists and he saves every bit of it. For a better life, a brighter future. Those are his dreams.
He loves music. He enjoys singing but he doesn’t turn on the radio in the car because he thought I would be disturbed by Indian music. I should have told him I really enjoyed Bollywood stuff earlier! He learnt how to play the harmonica by himself. At the dining place tonight, there were some people playing the Indian drums and zither and Khan was strumming his fingers away on the table. ‘I feel the music in my head, and my fingers will just start moving.’
He is extremely conscientious and hardworking. He used to be a car mechanic until he became a driver for Manzoor’s tour agency six years ago. When he left the car place, he was jobless for 3 months. No one else in his family works. His father does not like women to find jobs. He is paying for his sibling’s education. Until he met Manzoor…. During the six years as a driver, he learnt how to speak English by himself, learning from the tourists. He reads grammar phrases books. He practices writing the alphabets when he’s waiting for me. He’s learning other languages now. He learnt how to use the computer and the Intenet… all by himself.
He says he is dieting, whenever I asked him if he’s hungry or not. But he is not fat. Just have a slight paunch. And he runs around the park in front of his house every morning.
He likes to laugh and joke. This afternoon, when I asked him if different horns (length of horn-ing, number of times, etc) meant different signals. He laughed and said no and went on to do multiple horns.
More about driving and traffic in India later.
Here’s a picture of my dear friend, Khan.
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