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"Hindi" Means No

Makati City Sunrise
I was walking down the Paseo de Roxas when I heard the word "Hindi". I instantly turned my head to find a couple of Filipinos busy talking among themselves. We shared an awkward glance and then I was on my way to the hotel.

As soon as I was in the room I tried to search what could they be speaking about. A few people had warned me about safety in Philippines; so a part of my brain was concocting all sorts of undesirable theories. While the more saner part (not sure if it is the left or the right lobe) was trying to figure out this mystery.

So again Google came to my help. A couple of days back I had learned from a colleague of mine that Tagalog is the local language spoken in Philippines. I would side track a bit here, but when I landed at Nino Aquino International Airport, the taxi driver asked me two questions; first- was I from India? and second - whether I spoke Tagalog?

The answers are pretty obvious, but the creative part of my brain added first question to the second and assumed he meant Telugu! I'm not sure why I did that; perhaps the reason Philippines has a one million strong Indian population (quoting the cab driver here) and I had lived in Hyderabad where Telugu is spoken.

So my brain did some math and went on a strange path trying to figure out difference between Tagalog and Telugu! Coming back to my story; I did a search on 'Hindi' and found out that in Tagalog 'Hindi' means ''no'! So to the relief of the sane as well as the insane part of my brain I assume the guy on the street meant 'no' (or did he?). 

So I am just a few days into my Filipino adventure so keep reading for some more blathering from my ever curious mind! If you don't believe me check out the link here on 'Hindi'.

Disclaimer: The events described in this post have been dramatized a bit!

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Location: BSA Tower, 108 Legazpi Street, Makati City 1200, Philippines

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