"No!"

Riding the train back from Shimla yesterday, a carriage attendant began distributing Hindi newspapers. When I asked him if he had the paper in English, he exclaimed, "No!" My friend and I looked at each and began laughing. We almost never hear the word, "no" and never spoken as emphatically as this youth spoke. It was almost as if an English-language paper is an affront to Hindi. And, somehow, his enthusiasm and honesty was refreshing.

(Btw, that's my traveling companion in the photo, not me.)