Dehradun, May 5 -- An old Woodstock School image of the Quad. courtesy Author's Collection

'Vijay!' said his father, tearing up the new currency notes like confetti. 'Now I understand why that rascal of a cashier at the bank was smiling at me. He gave me these fake notes.'

'Don't worry, Ganesh. Nothing wrong with the currency. My father is slowly losing his marbles! He imagines all kinds of things!' assured his son, Professor Vijay Krishna Uniyal (pronounced Onial), who taught us English at the Mussoorie postgraduate college.

The family had its roots in the Ghuttu-Ghansali valley, and the father had taught Sanskrit at a college in the plains. When I met him, he was spending his days in retirement, living with his son at Inverneal Cotta...