Do you have a light

Indian tourists who smoke always seem to be losing their lighters in the vicinity of Western tourists. It's almost daily that the question is asked of a group of Westerners 'sorry do you have a light'. The only variation seems to be in the speed at which they scuttle away afterwards. This isn't the poorer 'people from the villages' who use this embarrassingly standardised cause for interaction, though they are more likely to ask for a cigarette, it's the city dwellers as well. Once or twice the request for a lighter will be followed with the usual country enquiry. I'm not going to say I've never acted under pretense, but the lack of creativity is quite staggering. Perhaps this introduction is learned by rote, right after the repetitions of "What is your good name".