January 18. “Friend, I don’t like calling sir ‘sir’. Can we give him another name please?”

“I too have been thinking about it for some time. Do you have any names in mind?”

“What about… I don’t have a clue. Any suggestions?”

“Shall we call him Buddy or Boss? What about Dost? He had a niece who used to call him Dost.”

“Dost is nice. Let’s use Dost. Where has Dost gone?”

“He just left for a meeting.”

“You’re not in Mumbai, are you? I didn’t see you this morning!  Don’t think I don’t know that you didn’t come into my room to give me my morning doze of hugs and kisses!”

“We are in Goa because Dost has a meeting here.”

“So you push off and don’t even tell me that you are going out of town these days! I am heart-broken.”

“Button, I am sorry. It won’t happen again and I’ll come back tomorrow and give you a double doze of hugs and kisses.”