June 7. 12pm. “Do you know that Dost said hello to me today?”

“Really?  What else did he say, Button?”

“He confided in me that he was going to cook lunch and asked if I would like to assist him.”

“And?”

“I jumped at the offer.”

“Actually none of us know what he’s going to prepare. Do you?”

“Just let him be, na. Even I don’t know.”

“I just asked if you knew.”

“He also told me how he loves the name we’ve given him. He hated being addressed as sir.”

“I also noticed that you went out with him.”

“He took me along to buy some stuff he needs to cook lunch. I actually put on the seat belt and sat in the passenger seat while he drove.”

“He doesn’t drive anymore but used to be excellent behind the wheel. When we were in Kolkata, the two of us and some friends used to go on long drives. He used to drive from Alipur where we lived to the Airport Hotel located near the Kolkata Airport in much less time than any other person I knew. I got addicted to cappuccino in the coffee shop in this hotel.”

“I feel wonderful listening to all these stories you tell from time to time.”

“The other thing I remember doing is sing on those long drives.”

“What are some of the songs you sang?”

“The very first song I picked up from the radio was a song called When I was young I’d listen to the radio by Marie Osmond, a lot of songs by the Carpenters but Dost’s favorite was a song sung by Abba called Fernando. I finally got tired of singing Fernando again and again and again.”

“What fun!”

“The other song he made me sing was Mother of Mine. I still remember singing it to his mother and recall how much my pa-in-law loved it.”

“Now you’re boasting.”

“Not at all. You wanted to hear some stories.”