May 10. “Button, come and see the sea. It’s so choppy. It looks as if it’s going to rain.”

“It should rain. We’ll get some relief from this blistering heat.”

“It’s also windy.”

“How can you tell?”

“Simple. Just observe those crows. They can hardly fly because they are getting tossed around. Look at that pigeon. She’s finding it difficult to sit on the window ledge.”

“It’s funny because you can’t see them flap their wings like they do when they fly on normal days. They are actually floating.”

“When I spoke to my mother on Sunday, it was thundering and raining in Kolkata. I remembered the norwesters in Kolkata which arrive prior to the rains. It get dark and windy all of a sudden and then it starts to pour. The city also experiences hailstorms where hailstones fall from the skies.”

“What are hailstones?”

“They are small pieces of ice. At times they are rather large too.”

“That must be one city which holds lots of memories for you, both pleasant and unpleasant.”

“You bet.”

“Name one pleasant memory without batting an eyelid.”

“The day I handed over my entire pay packet to my mother. It was my first job and I was all of 17.”