A benevolent uncle had decided to play Santa Claus to the family well before Christmas by picking up tickets for Annie, the much-talked about Hollywood film that was being screened at Metro. "It must have cost you a lot to buy these tickets from a cinema hall in 'town', no?" wondered the mother at the thoughtful gesture of her cousin. "Ah! Never mind. The kids will enjoy it. It will be a Sunday well spent," assured the well-meaning uncle.

And so were off. Dressed in our Sunday best, and post an engaging hour-long commute on the local train, we disembarked at VT (Victoria Terminus) station. It was the 1980s, and everyone referred to the grand old terminus by its initials. A ten-minute walk later, the magnificent structure began to emerge, even as I could hear my mother's faint instructions in the background, reminding us young cousins to be careful as we attempted to cross the busy Metro/Dhobi Talao junction.