March 15. “Sitting on this swivel chair makes me feel as if I am on a merry-go-round.”

“Then I must take you three for a spin on one and, maybe, later, for a ride on the giant wheel.”

“But where will we find the merry-go-round and the giant wheel? There are no melas in town!”

“They have an on-going mela in Mahalakshmi 24/7.”

“Let’s go?  Should we tell Rani and Mowgli about it or shall we give them a surprise?”

“I think a surprise would be more fun.”

“Can we go this weekend?”

“Where’s the PLEASE, Button?  Now ask again with the word ‘PLEASE’. Please.”

“Please, can we go this weekend?”

“Sure, we can.”

‘Thank you. Will the rest of the family come?”

“I guess the entire family will go along.”

“Great.”

“I’ll tell you an incident that happened in Kolkata when my father took me and my younger sister, Rita, to a circus where we wanted to ride the giant wheel.”

“You must have been very young!”

“I must have been around 9 or 10. After we got tickets for the ride, Rita and I clamoured onto the giant wheel. My father, a heart patient, declined to accompany us and, within minutes, we were up in the air. The two of us held on tightly to the sides with one hand and with the other we held on to each other but it was more scary than fun. When I got off, my head was reeling and I was feeling so queasy, I could not stand straight for the next 24 hours. You can try it out and, who knows, the three of you may just have a lot of fun. When I went to school the next day, the topic for an essay we were asked to write in English was—A trip to the circus. I thought that was quite a coincidence.”