We met after twenty-four years. In a restaurant. A well-lighted one where they are discrete and interactive without making you feel you’re being stalked. She looked around and saw the paintings on the walls. ‘Nice paintings,’ she murmured. ‘Yes ma’am,’ said the waiter emerging out of nowhere, ‘the entire décor is inspired by the Southern states. The paintings depict scenes from Ram’s attempt to cross over to Lanka. The carpet here has a design that the Vijainagar palace has. The pillars and the geometry of the interiors is the same that you find in our temple in Rameshwaram.’ ‘Lovely,’ she murmured and then asked Babu, her friend and heart-throb from her past, ‘Hope you remember this place?’ Babu looked around, smiled, and said, ‘My memory is too full of restaurants from all over the world and this one probably needs some prompting and clues.’ This was the moment when anyone looking into her eyes would have known how intensely she remembered every moment that was connected to her. She even remembered her telling Babu not to let his stubble grow as she found that look too unruly and… well, smelly. She said, ‘We’re sitting on the table where we sat … Continue reading Twenty-four years later