India, Oct. 18 -- The Forum in Rome, which began as a marketplace in the 7th-6th centuries BCE, was once the centre of the known world and the site of victory parades and political power plays.

I find comments on a post and questions from the audience at a Q&A more interesting than the applause. Comments tell you what the reader carried away, and sometimes what they brought with them.

So it was that I found myself reading with great interest the comments on a recent article I wrote about my home and the unexpected history of the first owner it led me to.

Most wrote with nostalgia for a time that has irrevocably passed; some, like Jeanne, recalled growing up in a colonial bungalow; others mentioned visiting friends or simply admiring th...