12/14/2025

Wifey,

Ever since I have started I have written to you about various topics and feelings. Today, I want to do something slightly different. I want to walk you through some of the more softer warmer happier parts of my journey. Because my life wasn’t all that bad. And these parts contributed just as much in moulding me into the man I am today.

Growing up was just fantastic. You know in that time it wasn’t the overly populated commercial place it is now. It was quaint. It really was home for me back then. I loved it there. I loved the people. I loved my friends. And most importantly I loved the beach.

I had changed schools 3 times when I was growing up there. The last one was the one where I spent the largest part of my time from 6th to 10th. That was SM School. And 11th and 12th were in VDC College. The best part was that both of them were right next to each other. And if you cross the road, on the other side was the beach. How awesome is that? I mean people would kill to have a setup like that.

When I was in school, there was this this guy who used to have this little cycle attached to this ice cream storage box thing. His name was Raju. He used to be stopped outside the school every day at 1PM when the school let out and the kids just flocked to his cart. Imagine being in the sweltering sun. Humidity making you sweat through each of your pores. You stick your hands into your pockets and find that 5 rupee coin. And give it to Raju. And he fished out an orange candy and gave it to you. You wrap your lips around it and it just felt sooooooo cold and sooooo good.

These were the times when I didn’t used to have two 5 rupee coins to rub together. And in one of those instances, I took the ice cream and i turned around and the moment i did, the whole candy just slid off the stick and fell onto the sand. My heart just sank. I took the stick and threw it in the little dustbin on Raju’s cart. He looked at me and then at the ground and then asked me – why did you throw it? I was a little teary and I said – it fell off the stick. Without skipping a beat, he opened the little trap door and fished out another one and gave it to me and said – here you go. The hair on my hands are standing right now as I write it. How kind was that? I had never expected him to do that. Raju was the earliest act of kindness i can remember.

After a few years i went next door to the college for PU. I traded my cycle in for my bike. I loved that bike and I loved who I was on it. College would get done and a few of us would bunk and go across the street again. Only this time it wasn’t for Raju. It was Stall Number 19. The one guy who used to come and pitch his tent at 11 AM. I can still remember the smell. The smell of the channa that was boiling. The sweet tamarind sauce. The spicy pudina and chilli sauce. The little circular pooris. The flat ones that didn’t rise. I tried really hard but I can’t remember the guys name. A few of us had become his regulars so he would just collect a total of 100 bucks from like 4 guys. And he used to say – make whatever you want. And we used to take a few plates and have a do-it-yourself sev puri party. Each person making it just the way they liked it. It was just chef’s kiss.

And one of the days, I was parked on my bike at the circle. And my friend Sav was on his bike. There was a warm breeze wafting through my hair. And I could smell the salty sea air. And Sav and I were just talking to each other. And there was this old couple. Probably in their 70s, they were walking and they walked past us and then the guy turned back and came back to us. And the wife was standing next to him. And he said to me – what kind of bike is this you look very young to have a licence? And I said – it’s a Honda. 100 cc non geared so you can get your licence when you are 16. And he said – oh that’s really nice. How much mileage do you get? And I said – about 50 kilometers a litre, give or take. He said – oh that’s really good. And he looked at his wife and back at us and he said – so life’s really good now huh? And I just laughed.

What I wanted to tell him at that point of all the things that were wrong in my life. Never kissed a girl. Dont have a girlfriend. Dont have money. Curfew to get back home by 6. The whole jazz of teenage problems. I thought back about that moment today and I think – yea life was really good.

I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.

Love You Forever & Always,

XOXO,

A