Dehradun, Nov. 23 -- Tulika Singh Roy.

'Can you ride a motorcycle?' she gently teased, as only she could.

I was in love with her, so I lied through my teeth.

'Of course, I can!' I heard myself say.

Truth be told, I couldn't even ride a bicycle, but one look at her, who wouldn't have lied! We were sitting, she and I, in a little shack called the canteen. At eighteen, I was a devoted slave to her dimples. Given a chance, I would have loved to drown in them.

'I'll show you,' I bragged, grabbing the bike by the handlebars, taking off like a man possessed. Once astride, it swung left, I went right; the pair of us wobbled around like a drunk. I thanked my stars that there was no traffic, it being early morning, and I managed to weave my wa...