"So, have you read Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children? " I asked him. I knew what the answer would be. When he shook his head and said no I looked at him with disgust. 

"Ok," I said, "have you seen Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay? What a movie that was... "  He looked utterly crestfallen as he whispered, "No." I smiled. With contempt.

"And have you seen the video recording of Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin playing at the United Nations Headquarters?" I thought he would burst into tears when he shook his head yet again. I smiled. I liked humiliating him.

"May I ask something?" he said timidly. "Sure," I said with a loud laugh. I was wondering what this idiot would ask me.  "Have you ever been shot by a gun?" he asked and before I could take evasive action he had shot me.