Pune and I share an intense bond, ever since I did a Film Appreciation course at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) there in some previous lifetime — even though I hardly got out of the campus then, grabbing two-three movies a day, and then discussing them with the gang over beer under the wisdom tree until 2 am."

This time, I was visiting for a reunion of old journalist friends, who had worked together in mid-day in the late '80s, when its office was in Tardeo. One of the mid-day alumni, let's call her R, had winged it from Canada. R, who was visiting her family in Pune, has constantly reinvented herself, as a journalist, author, chef, and more. After a lovely feast at her home, she talked about the quality of life in Canada, the employment insurance, housing benefits and old age pension, and frankly discussed why she would like to choose euthanasia when she's old, and feels the quality of life is not worth it.