I am that I am (her)

I probably have the most common face in the world. Almost everybody I know seems to know someone who looks like me. In fact, mentioning that has become the pre-requisite to all first conversations. There is no "Hi", or "Hello" anymore. The new aloha is a very delightful "Oh my god, you look exactly like someone I know." Really? Are you kidding me?

Surprisingly it's not just Indians who have said this. I think I have heard it from everybody. Throughout my educational pursuit, right from kindergarten to my Masters program, my teachers constantly mistook me for my classmates. Believe it or not, there are fewer perks to looking like someone else than you can imagine. One, you get blamed a lot. Two, I think I tend to run the risk of looking like the "bad version" of that person. People have not said that so bluntly, but you can tell from their muddled expressions and a comment like "I can't pinpoint exactly how you are different, but I think it maybe your nose". I know my nose has never been a winner. Anyway, the running joke in my family is that, everywhere I go, I make a friend who looks just like me. In the process I have what they think are my clones for best friends.

Now that the novelty of people's observations has died, I've decided to get to the bottom of this. My double-o exploration has begun!