It was 1985 and I was in England. A colleague had taken me to Birmingham to visit an exhibition of plastic machinery at the Birmingham International Exhibition Centre.
As we visited stall after stall we came towards one that had some very bright lights shining inside. There was a crowd around the stall with some policemen blocking the way. We stood there, craning our necks to see what was going on. We could see a portly man in long black robe, weighed down with silver chains all over, earnestly explaining something to another man in a suit whose back was towards us.
My companion said, “That must be the Mayor of Birmingham in his official finery. But, who on earth is the other bloke?” At that moment the ‘other bloke’ turned and we could see his face. I said right away, “Oh! That is the Duke of Kent.”
My companion thought that I had just said the first thing that came to my mind. He looked at me with ‘doubt’ written all over his face and ignored me. “It is the Duke of Kent”, I insisted.
My companion thought that it was time to stop this pest and asked a nearby policeman, “Who is that with the Mayor?”
“The Duke of Kent” was the prompt reply.
The astonished friend asked me, “How did you guess?”
“I did not guess. I see him every year at Wimbledon……. on the TV! So, I knew.” (It was TV for me, no telly, as the English call it. The other such term that I find funny is brolly – for Umbrella)
* * * * * *
I was sitting at “home” and watching the news on the ‘telly’ and talking to the landlady, (I was a paying guest with an English family) her husband and daughter. My watchstrap got undone. I took it off and rubbed the mark it had left on my wrist and wore it again. My landlady noticed the ‘unusual’ mechanism of the strap fastener and remarked, “Oh, that looks very clever. May I take look?” I took the watch off again and gave it to her and showed her how to work the ‘clever’ mechanism. “Oh, I had never seen one such before!” she exclaimed. “Is it very Indian?” she asked.
“Not at all”, I said, “The duke of Kent wears one such!”
She would not believe me. How could this Indian, who was on his first visit to England, possibly know about the Duke of Kent and his watchstrap?
It was 1980 and the inimitable Borg had just won his last final at Wimbledon, (or, should I say the Championships?). The camera pans to the Royal Box and there you see the Duke and the Duchess of Kent applauding the “Ice Borg”. The Duke’s watchstrap comes loose and he re-does it - exactly like my watch - and hence my extraordinary ‘knowledge’.
As we visited stall after stall we came towards one that had some very bright lights shining inside. There was a crowd around the stall with some policemen blocking the way. We stood there, craning our necks to see what was going on. We could see a portly man in long black robe, weighed down with silver chains all over, earnestly explaining something to another man in a suit whose back was towards us.
My companion said, “That must be the Mayor of Birmingham in his official finery. But, who on earth is the other bloke?” At that moment the ‘other bloke’ turned and we could see his face. I said right away, “Oh! That is the Duke of Kent.”
My companion thought that I had just said the first thing that came to my mind. He looked at me with ‘doubt’ written all over his face and ignored me. “It is the Duke of Kent”, I insisted.
My companion thought that it was time to stop this pest and asked a nearby policeman, “Who is that with the Mayor?”
“The Duke of Kent” was the prompt reply.
The astonished friend asked me, “How did you guess?”
“I did not guess. I see him every year at Wimbledon……. on the TV! So, I knew.” (It was TV for me, no telly, as the English call it. The other such term that I find funny is brolly – for Umbrella)
* * * * * *
I was sitting at “home” and watching the news on the ‘telly’ and talking to the landlady, (I was a paying guest with an English family) her husband and daughter. My watchstrap got undone. I took it off and rubbed the mark it had left on my wrist and wore it again. My landlady noticed the ‘unusual’ mechanism of the strap fastener and remarked, “Oh, that looks very clever. May I take look?” I took the watch off again and gave it to her and showed her how to work the ‘clever’ mechanism. “Oh, I had never seen one such before!” she exclaimed. “Is it very Indian?” she asked.
“Not at all”, I said, “The duke of Kent wears one such!”
She would not believe me. How could this Indian, who was on his first visit to England, possibly know about the Duke of Kent and his watchstrap?
It was 1980 and the inimitable Borg had just won his last final at Wimbledon, (or, should I say the Championships?). The camera pans to the Royal Box and there you see the Duke and the Duchess of Kent applauding the “Ice Borg”. The Duke’s watchstrap comes loose and he re-does it - exactly like my watch - and hence my extraordinary ‘knowledge’.
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