(pic courtesy of Hindustan Times) It is our first meeting and my Indian compatriot tells me, “You speak good Hindi, I was wondering how a Chinese can speak Hindi so well.” Now I don’t think I look anywhere close to a Chinese but I understand that for her, it’s an easier synonym for all Asian look-alikes. I get that all the time here in Melbourne. You are from India? Yes, from the northeast. Nepal? Conversation over. If I am lucky, I do get an occasional: “Nagaland?” or “Manipur?” Once it was “Thailand?” The person was from Delhi and she thought Thailand was in the northeast of India. I wish. This is a tiredly, familiar opening conversation I endure whenever I meet Indians who, while warming up to the fact that I can speak Hindi and enjoy Bollywood movies as much as they do, have zero knowledge about their own country. I can understand if the ignorance comes from Indians born here but no, these are supposedly educated Indians who have migrated here (and ye