( I ) At Dinner Table

"Two and a half lakhs," he said between bytes. "The Napean Sea Road flat was bought for two and a half lakhs in 1975." He stares at his food; he moves the fork along the rim of the plate. It was in November, he recalls. Dipping in red sauce motta kaka forks another strand of pasta. "The Parsis were paranoid," he chuckles; "Emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi. The parsis couldn't keep the second flat under their name, so they sold it."


He takes some khichdi in a bowl. Pouring some buttermilk he continues, "We were scared. To shift from one place to the other. Vegetables were more cheap at Bhuleshwar. The flat was on the eleventh floor. What if the lift didn't work and we had to climb? There were no neighbours to look after kids. We couln't watch kids play on streets from such hieght. There was no dhudhwala at the end of the lane; there could be guests appearing without phoning. How to make sev dudh without milk? We bought the house for two and a half lakhs..." he ends the converstation abruptly.