Prove Your Identity

Feb 4, 2005 | permalink

On the way to Sikhism's holiest spot, the Golden Temple, we saw a sign outside a hotel:

"Prove your identity."

In a land of hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects, translations can be quite hilarious. But sometimes, deep too. :)

I can imagine the hotel clerk throwing a fit -- "Sir, please prove your identity."

"Ummm, I'm Nipun Mehta, age 29, 6 feet, 155 lbs. My driver's license says so. See, here."
"Anyone can make up a badge. Prove it!"
"Well, I have this social security number."
"That's just a number to me. Are you a number?"
"Ok, fine. I read in a quantam physics book once that we are a bunch of moving electrons forming at the speed of observation. So I'm really nothing."
"Huh? This is a hotel, not a physics class. Please prove your identity or I will have to throw you out."
"Who will throw me out?"
Smilingly, the Zen master opens the door.