Dear Cal,

Have I told you I love Calcutta? I am happy every time I am here - its dirty, people do not follow traffic rules, the weather is revolting - all of that is true. But it makes me so happy on the inside. And in this hopeless romantic avataar, I walk the streets happy, drink cha (yes, unsweet) at Oxford on Park Street (and then again at a matka wala near Russel), breathe in the air and smile silly at large pink billboards that old couples built in the 1950s (do you know about Flurys?). I have only been here a day, but somehow I am young again and I believe.

Anyway, this is not about Calcutta. At least it is not entirely about Calcutta.

I was having maas and radha bhalabhi at a friend's house for dinner and his dad, while narating his love story (it is still unclear how I get people to talk about this stuff - but anyway) said to me : "everything else is rubbish. love is the only thing worth fighting for" (he married his wife when he was 23, against much opposition and when I did not look excited about the idea, felt the need to convince me that being clinical about romance was a crime).

Have you been?

x