My taxi ride, Gandhi and Satyagraha

Sometimes, we do not realize what our Indian heritage and history means to us and to others around us. This is more prominent in a multicultural environment. On one occasion, I became aware of it rather suddenly during a cab ride.
It was one time when I was travelling by taxi and the driver was a friendly old American. He was talkative man and my destination was far enough to give him plenty of time to chat.I wasn't in a hurry or particularly busy, so I rather enjoyed his jovial talk.
The topics of conversation ranged from my college sports team to Indian cuisine to celebrities he had seen and chauffeured in his lifetime. When speaking of Indian cuisine, he also mentioned how he liked the sweets. He mentioned one particular Indian sweet he had liked which was white and tried to ask me to name it. I suggested it might be rasgulla but to be honest, I couldn't be sure. There are so many 'white' Indian sweets, there is the Bengali rasgulla and chamcham, there's Maharashtrian modak, and oh so many more from different regions.
Later, the conversation turned to Al Pacino, Goldie Hawn, Elvis Presley, John Lennon… And all of the sudden, the old cabdriver says to me, "Gandhi was from India. Right? I know a little. I've heard of him. Could you tell me a little about what his teaching, his message was?"
A little taken aback but pleasantly surprised, I tried to explain as best I could about Mahatma's belief in non-violence methods and Satyagraha. I think I was at least able to get the gist right. He seemed happy with my explanation. The chatty ride came to an end soon after as we reached my destination.
After I got off, I was thinking to myself. Imagine that, when that old man thought of India, he was reminded of Mahatma Gandhi. That was an eye opener about how our origin and our national heritage define us. We represent a great country and her glorious history and contributions to the world. We come from the land of great people, great philosophy, great religions, wonderful art, amazing discoveries and awesome food. That day I walked with head held high in pride and my shoulders squared in the responsibility at hailing from a worthy heritage.