Dhaka, March 30 -- On an unusually nippy March evening, right after Iftar, the heart was craving some intellectual fodder and knowledge of Dhaka and the world of the sixties and fifties.

Well, for those who seek to learn about the finer things of life from music to books to poetry to the lost social creed of Bangladesh, the man to go to is definitely the writer par excellence: Hasnat Abdul Hye.

At 89, he is still on fire, the mind lucid like a 30-year-old, layered with inimitable wit and charm.

An adda with him is like a dive into a world of invaluable information about a wide variety of things, both legit and those a bit louche.

Trust me, as a writer of society and its countless intricate sub-layers, he is anything but a puritan.

Wi...