Nepal, April 6 -- Apurva sat across from his history professor, who was also a 'part-time psychologist'-whatever that meant. Almost every day, they discussed life and its ridiculousness. Today's agenda was 'longing'. Apurva had carried with him a great burden of longing and wanted to spill it all in front of his professor. "I saw your baby picture on Facebook yesterday. You looked like a happy child. What happened, Apurva?" asked the professor. Who starts a conversation like that?

The student gathered himself and looked towards the fading light from the dying sun. The classroom was empty, unlike his soul. Last night, at 2:35 am, Apurva, unable to find the vigour to send out his assignment, wrote an email to the professor:

Dear Professor...