When the moon is close to the horizon, it appears larger than it actually is. This is known as the Moon Illusion.There is a similar trick that our eyes play when we look at our faces in the mirror. Who is that handsome man staring back at me, they seem to say. That hair, the eyes, the smile, Bollywood, sign this man up already. And then you look at yourself in a photo and you are shocked at the ghoul faced monstrosity you see.That receding hairline, that double chin, those eyes, partly shut, that gaping mouth, halfway through a word. To be fair, I have never had any presumptions about my appearance. It is what it is. I have what can be described as an approachable, familiar face. For instance, I’ll be standing in a line at a grocery store and a random person will walk up to me and ask me if I know where the toilet is. Just the other day, I was stopped at a traffic light when an elderly woman pulled up beside me. She signaled for me to roll down my window and then asked if I knew where the bingo hall was. It’s one thing to be called “uncle” by young women, but it’s a whole other level when a grandmother thinks I’d be familiar with the bingo scene. People are constantly asking me for directions, often in Spanish. By the time they’ve finished their diatribe, it’s too late to say, “No habla espanol.” So, I just point in a random direction and say, “Aqui.” My son has recently informed me that “aqui” means “here,” which might explain the puzzled looks I’ve been getting. A young ticket collector recently told me she’d seen me somewhere before. I replied that I’d been taking the train for years. She shook her head, insisting it was somewhere else. Later, she returned, excited to have remembered: “Succession,” she said. “Ah, yes,” I replied, “Jeremy Strong. I’ve heard that before.” My list of celebrity doppelgangers is a who’s who of unfortunate looking men. Prince Charles is one that comes up quite often. Roshan Seth, who played Nehru in the Gandhi film, is another frequent one. I was once picking up food at a local Pakistani restaurant, when a waiter tapped me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, don’t take this the wrong way,” he said, “But you look exactly like Naseeruddin Shah.” Naseeruddin is an amazingly talented actor, but the fact that the waiter had to preface his comment with an apology tells you all you need to know. The restaurant, by the way, was Sabri Nihari, whose signature beef nihari dish is really quite good. Here’s my recipe which is probably not very authentic, but is really simple, and quite delicious. Ask the butcher for beef shank with bones. Temper a few tablespoons of oil with whole spices: cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Add a quarter packet of Shan’s Nihari masala. Brown the meat and bones on high heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Then add water and simmer on low heat for about 3 hours. Add some more Shan masala if you need to and some salt to taste. Then thicken the curry with a paste of 2-3 tablespoons of flour. Garnish with fried onions, julienned ginger, chopped cilantro and squeeze in some lemon juice.