Teesta Setalwad is my friend. Well, was my friend, is my friend, whatever the past continuous terminology is for someone you’ve always been fond of, but have lost touch with over the years, after college. I was at St Xavier’s and she, in Elphinstone, at a time when ‘Elphie’ was a college of repute. Xavier’s was un-autonomous and our ‘sheher’ was Bombay. I had friends in Elphie and a daily vada pao and beedi got me entry past the surly watchman. Back in the late ’70s, bribery via food occasionally outweighed fiscal temptations.

Teesta Setalvad. Pic/AFP