New Delhi, Dec. 11 -- On 13 November, a Wednesday, I heard and saw Bob Dylan-the greatest living bard-at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I was one of the 5,272 individuals that the Hall can accommodate. It was a dream come true.

But I have jumped the gun here. First, the flashback.

Sometime in my late teens, I made a list of 25 things I wanted to do in my life. Back then, they didn't call it a bucket list. Maybe they did, and I hadn't heard of it. And like most such things, I managed to lose that list as quickly as I got around to making it. Or maybe I had it for a few years and then lost it. My memory is playing tricks here.

In a way, it was good because at 18 or 19-or however old I was when I wrote it-I was too young even to partly ...