India, Feb. 16 -- There was a time in our lives, during our childhood and adolescence, not so long back, though now it seems a lifetime away, when cities had not grown.

We lived in a then upcoming locality in a state capital.Each Saturday we would walk to another adjoining upcoming locality for a weekly visit to the temple. Crossing a few empty fields, skipping alongside our parents, the temple seemed too far from our home; but it was fun.I have vainly tried to revisit those empty fields during my recent visits to the city, and the distance between the two colonies also does not appear too long. However, the memory - when it chooses to surface - always brings a smile to my face.

A few years later, we shifted to another city. Each weeken...