Editor’s note: This post is part of neweurasia’s cross-blog survey about humour in Central Asia.

In 2006, I accompanied my Indian friend Salim who was doing food-stuff business in Uzbekistan during his visit in small village Osmat in Jizzak region.

During the lunch time we were quite free, and to make the passing of time interesting – he told that he is a professional Chiromancer (palm-reader, fortuneteller). Suddenly one lady in the café came and begged to foretell her future. To my surprise, Salim was telling the correct things about how much money she has got in her pocket, with which numbers they start and finish, her age, number of family members, etc.

In 15 minutes there were a big crowd to get her/his future foretold. Salim whisperingly expressed his surprise to see Uzbek people superstitious (he thought we are Muslims & would never ever allow foretelling).

Here he wanted to make fun of the teller and see people’s reactions to the lies . He started to tell to almost everyone that danger was coming close to his/her family. In answer to their question what should they do to prevent it, he told them to buy 10 lepyoshka (Uzbek bread) and spread to the poor people. He told this to every single visitor, there were about 20 people (among them were some Russian speakers who were Christians; he told them also to buy bread – not lepyoshka, but loaves of bread, because they are Christians)!

After half an hour there was a long queue of people standing in the not so big bakery of small village. In two hours all the bread were sold, all the loaves were purchased. People were so glad to be able to buy enough bread and stop the danger.

By the end of the day, after finishing business, we were returning to Jizzak city center. You know in small villages how people know where are you , what you’re eating, chewing, doing, etc? So, while leaving the house (from where Salim purchased 10 tons of nakud/high-quality yellow beans for export), a crowd of people met us and requested that we take their bread, give them to poor people on the way to Tashkent. They said there were no poor people wishing to take the bread, and they were so worried about the danger coming! Of course we said we cannot, but people started getting angry and said we had to take their bread. Salim looked at me, I looked at Salim. You imagine our faces. We had no choice. We had to take about 200 lepyoshkas and loaves of bread with us to Tashkent!