5 highlights
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The difference between Afzal and me is that he is a dreamer and I am a khadoos, a grouch.
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She gave me the number of the caretaker who would open the door if she was not there. Everything was feel-good about our conversation. It had the instant high of many online and phone chats where we seem to connect quickly with strangers who reaffirm our faith. Finally, as we began to close the conversation, I told her my husband’s name.
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I told her I would call her back. This is when I discovered the real difference between Afzal and me. I narrated the episode to him and told him that there was no need to stay with people who were going to regard him with suspicion because they equate Muslims with terrorists and con men. He insisted that he would stay with this couple with the posh accent and elegant property in Amritsar.
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“It is important for this woman to meet me, Natasha,” he said to me. “What good will it do if we get offended and start fighting with people who we thought are just like us?
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The difference between Afzal and me is that while I spend a lot of time worrying about the state of the world, this man always has a good cup of tea on his mind.