You want what?

While on my recent trip back to India, I sat next to a young Indian girl who could not have weighed more than about 60 pounds, soaking wet, with a brick in her hand. When the first beverage service was offered, she asked if alcohol was served on the flight. After receiving an affirmative answer, she then asked for a “Wodka”. This did not compute with the flight attendant. A brief volley of “What?”s soon followed as each party tried to understand each other. Finally I explained that she wanted a vodka. This was followed with the question “How do you want that?”, which was met with a look of complete confusion. Several options were offered (on the rocks, with soda, with a twist, etc.) all of which were not what the girl expected. She then asked if they had a “limebase”, which once again, did not compute with the flight attendant. Another volley of “What?”s followed. I then explained that she wanted a lime base, not knowing what that meant. Finally, a glass with ice cubes was handed over along with a lemon wedge and a small bottle of vodka. This apparently was at least satisfactory to the young girl who then commenced to wring the life right out of that lemon wedge and mix that with the ‘wodka’. The funny thing about this whole thing is that both people were speaking English, just different versions of it, and yet they could not seem to really understand each other without someone translating from English to English for them.