It had been a tough year! It seems just yesterday that I cremated Vasudha. And along with her, our forty years of unadulterated wedded bliss, joy and sanity. Yes, I had just been released last week from the mental institution. My kids well settled in USA, had made all the arrangements for a comfortable living with a nice villa in Chakratpur area, a cook, a servant, a gardener and the whole works.

 Dropping them off at the airport, yeah, I am sane enough to drive the Jaguar F-type SVR coupe, I stopped at the Pacific Mall. I was sipping a Latte at Starbucks brooding over Vasudha when a shrill cry startled me. 

A fifty-something beauty who had aged gracefully, rushed to my table and exclaimed in a breathless voice, "Is that really you, Ravi? I can't believe my eyes!"

 Oh my god! It was Sapna, my closest buddy in college. We were so close with nary a trace of romance. It is nearly 40 years since I dropped her and her new husband at the airport en route to the USA. We had kept in touch for a while and like all intense human relations, this too faded away.

 Now it was as if we were young again and meeting each other for the first time.  We caught up on each other’s life. Kumar and she had had a long and happy life. He had passed away just a few months back. Both her children were well-settled in the USA. She had decided to come back to India to spend the rest of her life, rediscovering India.

We spent quite a lot of time with each other. We did the rounds of all cultural activities in and around Dehra Dun. We decided to take time off and spend a weekend at Mussoorie.

It was a glorious week. We took several leisurely strolls in and around the mall road. We signed up for the Landour Infinity Walk. The three-hour tour was strenuous yet we both enjoyed it immensely.

 Sapna remarked barely suppressing her giggle, "Who would have thought the old man to have had so much of blood in him?” Both of us burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Time passed in a whirl.

We returned to Dehradun and stopped at the Café De Piccolo for coffee. I did not realize I was staring at Sapna until she asked me, “What are you looking at?”

I popped the question, recklessly, “Will you marry me, Sapna?"

 Sapna blinked in shock but recovered quickly, "Ravi, in this day and age, do we need the formality of a marriage? Let us live together free as free can be!"

 I was flabbergasted momentarily. Then we were high-fiving like teenagers.

 I grinned and guffawed, "We must be the oldest couple living in sin in India!"

 Sapna suddenly posted a weird look on her face. "Aw shucks, Ravi. It is UCC in Uttarakhand. We need a license to live together!"