Memorable pages from a vagabond's Beijing diary

There is this Hindi movie starring Aamir Khan that I am no great fan of, but every time the conversation with a local in Beijing veers toward such films, they are sure to tell me how they loved watching it, even if they can't instantly recall the name. "Three Idiots?" I ask. "Yes, yes, that's the one!" they reply. It's almost always the same story. And there are those who can't decide between this movie and Dangal, another equally popular film here, again starring Khan.

Since most people I interact with are younger than me, after a few attempts, I have stopped asking them if they have heard of other actors or movies from that part of the world which resonate more with me.

So, it felt a bit unusual when during a hiking trip in the Xishan National Forest Park, one of the group members kept looking at me and humming something. "Abala loon," he seemed to say. I thought there was a familiar feel to the tune, but since I had not been introduced to him yet, I just looked at him indifferently. But he kept smiling.

Sometime later, while negotiating a steep climb, he came from behind me and again hummed, this time more warmly, "abala loon". It sounded more familiar this time. "Why, of course," I told myself, realizing it was what I had guessed. "That'll be awara hoon (I'm a vagabond), not 'abala loon'," I told him, almost thrilled to hear someone roughly my age sing a song from the famous 1951 Hindi film Awara (Vagabond), a movie practically synonymous with the Indian actor Raj Kapoor.

Asked where he had heard it, his sister told me that their parents loved this movie. They had not heard of Kapoor's grandchildren, who are as much a sensation in the Hindi film industry these days as their superstar forebear was. But they told me which Indian movies are popular with the Chinese. The list included yet another Khan offering and Slumdog Millionaire.

Most locals in Beijing, on getting to know that someone is from India, try and strike up a conversation by either recalling an actor, a movie or Hindi words they have picked up from some movies, or during a visit to India.

"Shukriya", one of them thanked me, when I told him the way to the men's room at a mall. He also proudly cross-checked with me if a word was indeed, as he thought, a popular swear word in India. It was!

On another occasion, some bystanders helped me by talking to a cabdriver in Chinese, guiding him to where I was waiting, as I had mistakenly marked myself as being across the street on the app. As we waited for the cab to arrive, they asked me where I was from and when I told them, they extended their hands, saying, "India and China are friends". I nearly burst out laughing, thinking of the umpteen calls I had got from home in recent days, asking if it was safe to be an Indian in China. But they looked on innocently, making me fumble for words and then, reciprocating their warmth, I shook them by the hand and agreed, that, "yes, China and India are indeed friends".