October 31. “Button, an old friend of mine from my Kolkata days called this morning.”

“You told me earlier that you had no friends!”

“She and her husband were close when we were in Kolkata. Both of us moved into the same building in Alipur when we got married. I think I’ve told you about the long drives we used to take all the way to the Airport Hotel. That’s the hotel where I got addicted to cappuccino.”

“Talking to her must have brought back lots of memories!”

“Lots. Especially of Kolkata. I miss that city a lot. After all, that’s the city that gave me birth, that’s the city I grew up in, loved the man I married, had his children. You can say I spent the best years of my life there. Mumbai is the city we moved to in order to survive and earn a living. The city that gives you birth has a special place in your heart just like your mother.”