Mistaken identity6

We went into a music shop in Essouira, Morocco. The man thought that I came from Morocco. Savyasachi said, “He is from India.”

The man said, “No, he is Moroccan.” Then he asked me, “Are you Muslim?”

I said, “No, I am Hindu.”

He said, “Oh no, you are Muslim. I can see you are an Arab.”

Then he asked me how old I was, and I told him. He told me that his father was 105 years old and showed us his picture. The father had been married five times and had 21 children.

Based on what he told us, the man in the store would be over 40 years old. So jokingly I asked him, “Are you 29 years old?”

He said, “Twenty-nine!” Then he took off his hat and showed me his bald head. He was so nice to us. He was showing us all his instruments. He explained how one skin instrument immediately changes for the better when exposed to fire. Then he set fire to a piece of wood and put it over the skin frame, and it sounded so much better.


LS 97. 31 December 1984