Dehradun, Nov. 10 -- author

My friend, the author (now weighed down by his growing stature), could not stop laughing. Clutching his sides, he laughed helplessly until tears streamed down his cheeks. It was infectious - we couldn't help but join in the raucous laughter. I remember that it got funnier by the minute.

Professor Sudhakar Misra and I both taught at the Mussoorie College. His parents lived in Dehradun along with his younger brother Kusmakar, who, while training with the Air Force, had developed schizophrenia. Unable to continue, he was boarded out. Since the 1960s, he had been unable to find employment. Things escalated after he started throwing stones at neighbours' windows. They complained. It was time to take him for psychi...