I don't remember the day and month, but it was in 1988, when I headed the BMC's Standing Committee. I was told that a press reporter from abroad wanted to meet me, and was interested to learn about people in India who worked in various fields. I agreed to meet him, and the next morning, he visited my Dadar residence.  The man was introduced to me as VS Naipaul. He wanted to know all about me — my parents, my childhood, my locality, the kind of school I went to, the type of work my parents did, and what I had been doing all these years to reach the level I had in politics.

He questioned everything
I must have talked more than 90 minutes; Mr Naipaul turned out to be a patient listener. When I stopped, a moment of silence prevailed. And then he threw an unexpected demand at me. He asked if I could take him to the places I had talked about. I agreed promptly, appreciating his resolve to confirm all the information first-hand. I thought he was an extraordinary seeker of information.