SAHIWAL, Pakistan (Reuters) – In a bustling market in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, a food vendor who locals say bears an uncanny resemblance to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gets more business – and attention – than others.
“We feel as if Trump has come here to sell kheer (pudding),” said Mohammad Yaseen, a local resident who prefers to buy the dessert from Saleem Bagga, the look-alike vendor who also sings to draw customers.
“When he sings to sell kheer, we come down to him,” Yaseen said.
Bagga, 53, pushes his colourful wooden cart along the road delivering the milky pudding, a black jacket over his beige shalwar kameez tunic to keep out the winter cold.
A crowd gathers as Bagga, who sports a distinctive blond quiff because of his albinism, sings the lyrics to a Punjabi song: “Now you come down to me my love, don’t delay, my eyes are tired of waiting.”
Local resident Imran Ashraf takes a selfie with Bagga.
“His kheer is really delicious … we talk to him and we take selfies with him and we tell our friends that we have taken these pictures with Trump,” Ashraf said.
Bagga is unfazed by the stream of attention and cameras that follow him throughout the market and even in his home neighbourhood in the district of Sahiwal.
“My face resembles Donald Trump, that is why people take selfies with me…I feel very good,” he said, before extending an invitation.
“Donald Trump sahib (sir), you have won the election, now visit here and eat my kheer, you will really enjoy it,” he said.
(Reporting by Reuters TV in Sahiwal, Pakistan; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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