Curious coincidences: The stranger at the super market

It was spring 2009 in Glasgow city.

I was at Aldi stores, on the lookout for some cheap vegetables and apples. Once done, I proceeded to the cash till with my pickings in a basket. The store wasn't very busy on that day and hence it wasn't a long queue in front.

 A few meters away from the till, nearby a rack where they keep processed fish, two young men were engaged in a casual conversation. ''Asians..may be Iranians'' I told myself after having a good look. When they moved towards the till where I was standing, their conversation became louder to my ears.

"Tesco-yekalum Sainsbury-ekalum okke cheap Aldi thanne, alle...dey..meen medikano?"

''Definitely not Iranians or Kazhaks. Malayalam....Malayalees!" I exclaimed to myself.

The number of Malayalees I had come across in Glasgow were very less, say, less than ten, and this explains my penchant for this breed. My fellow Kerala(country)men joined me in the queue and soon we broke into conversation.

The FAQs when a mallu International student meets another of his species are these -

1. Which university?
2. Which course?
3. Where do you stay?
4. Where do you work?
5. Where in Kerala?

This takes about five minutes and then they give ceremonious 'miscals' to each others phones. It was as if they just stumbled upon the phone number of British PM . Once out of the supermarket/cinema/mall, they forget about the British PM they just met and not even bother to save his number.

It was no different when I met Cristo. Yeah, that's his name. (Not his real name) Additionally, Cristo told me that he was departing to India the next day. He was probably doing some eleventh hour shopping. After exactly five minutes we looked at the clock and decided to follow the tradition; i.e. to give 'miscals' to each others phones. I wished him the customary 'bon voyage' and we said good bye.

'Just another malayalee-bumping-into-malayalee incident', I thought as I walked back to my apartment. Days and months passed by. I returned to India later that year and started work at a business magazine. Time flew as I finished one more year in God's own country .

One day I got a call from home. My mother conveyed to me that Liz (Not her real name), my cousin, is getting married.

''Great, Whose the groom?"

"Don't know the details; Anne (not her real name) told me he works in the UK" my mother said.

In the days ahead, Liz and her 'UK would-be' got mentioned in my conversations with kith and kin. Strangely though, I never bothered to ask the question 'Where in UK is her boy?'. Maybe I simply assumed that Liz's guy is not from Scotland. Alright United Kingdom is not Vatican or Maldives. It is huge.

A few weeks later, Anne aunty herself called up to 'officially' invite me for the marriage. While we spoke about her would be son-in-law's whereabouts, she passingly mentioned a word that I'm pretty familiar with.

'Scotland'

This is interesting.

''Where in Scotland Anne aunty?" I became curious.

"Glasgow" Anne aunty announced.

Now this is more than just amusing.

"So he studied at Glasgow Uni?"

"Huh..not Glasgow university but some other University in Glasgow I think" aunty clarified.

Although she mentioned the groom's name, I couldn't fix this Malayalee Glaswegian. Two days later somebody forwarded a photo to me with the subject line in caps. 'CRISTO'. I had a look at the snap. ''Hmm..smart fellow, he'll be an excellent match for Liz''. I closed the mail and signed out.

Three seconds passed.

Something flashed in my mind. All of a sudden it appeared that the name 'Cristo' rings a bell to me. Another three seconds and I finally fixed the Malayalee Glaswegian who will steal my cousin. It was as if I suddenly remembered that forgotten email password. I quickly logged in, checked his snap once more and confirmed my findings. The next best thing I could do was sending a mail to Liz. And I did.

It was a grand wedding. Understandably, Cristo too couldn't fix me at first but was able to, later.

''The stranger I met at a super market 5394 miles away (The distance b/w Kerala and Glasgow. courtesy: timeanddate.com) a year ago is now my cousin's hubby'' I was telling myself when the bride and groom were entering the church on the wedding day. That's cool stuff.

There are numerous strangers whom we bump into every day. Mostly, they remain the same, i.e. as strangers. And when they don't, it becomes an amusing story.