How many people do you know who have had 15 minutes of fame? That short, dazzling interval in which it feels like everyone in the world must know you, envy you, wish they could be you? Are you one? Sometimes it's not even fame, sometimes it's just standing next to someone famous. I was alone in a lift with George Harrison once; he even snarled at me. Another time, I met Sting right outside Cottage Industries near Regal, gave him a poster I'd made for him and got paid Rs 1,000.I've realised that no one wants to die unknown and meaningless. I think more than even riches, people want to be known and appreciated for something. Maybe admired. Arre, tera photo akhbar mean chhap gaya.

I have two stories, both about people who just happened to be taxi drivers, and how they came upon their few minutes in the bright lights. The first, Sochi, lives in Siem Reap, Cambodia, an hour away from Bangkok, where I am. I met the other one, Tarachand, in Kolkata first. But that's next week's story. Since I am allowed only 800 words, you will hear about Sochi today. Sochi was driving my son, daughter and me from the airport into Siem Reap town, not so far from Cambodia's famous Angkor Wat temple. Sochi was the name given to him by the love of his life because she found it difficult to pronounce his real name, Prum Sothearith. Sochi says he will always love her. "I will never love anyone else," he told me.