Doppelganger?

One day, I was invited by one of my friends to her room. This was when I was a grad student in Lady Keane College, Shillong, and putting up in the hostel.

I obliged. And then A.A. sat me down, smiling mysteriously all the while. Without a word, she hands me a photograph, face down. I turn it over. Shock. What am I doing in that picture? Who were all these other folks there? And where and when did I buy such clothes? Was I suffering from a split-personality syndrome?

"Where did you take this picture?"

"Nagaland."

"But I have never been there!"

"I know. That's my cousin."

OMG. The resemblance was too striking! Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined looking at someone's face and wondering whether I was looking at my reflection. And here was I.

Couldn't help smiling, wondering, "How?"

Freaked out, but couldn't help wondering at the coincidence. A.A. tells me, "You both are very alike. You look similar, talk in the same style, and buy similar clothes." Well, since we both--my doppelganger(?) and I-- were born in different geographies and speak different languages, I wondered how similar we could be. But I tell you, the similarity in physical appearance--that was too much.

I don't know whether doppelganger is the right word. But it will have to do for now. I was impressed. I still am. Nature works in mysterious ways....