Dehradun, Oct. 19 -- Author's Collection

'Does it still snow in December?' asks my friend Shiv Sharma, whom I have known since our college days. With no job openings in the hill station, he had succumbed to the sirens' song and left for the big city many years ago. He asks, 'Do you folks still have a White Christmas?'

How I wish I could take him to his old home, the two small rooms that the family had rented at the Mussoorie Cooperative Club. Today, there are no traces except for happy memories; the building has crumbled.

Some, in their memories, can still hear the manager of the Rialto cinema, Mr Arora. His rich baritone rose above the general murmur as he dipped into a bag, produced a chip and said:

'Murgi-chor! Number four!

Lovely...