New Delhi, Dec. 30 -- Hundreds of eulogies and obituaries have been written and will be written about Dr Manmohan Singh, India's 13th prime minister who died December 26 in New Delhi at the age of 92, but to me he was a dear friend whose company I really enjoyed and he mine. Though there was a difference of about 20 years in our age, we interacted as friends. I met him many times and we used to discuss many issues facing the country.

The first time I met Dr. Manmohan Singh was in 2000 when he had come to Pune to accept the Annasaheb Chirmule Award. The award was established by United Western Bank Ltd. Its then Chairman P. N. Joshi, a very dear friend of mine, invited me to attend the dinner hosted in honor of Dr. Singh.

There were about...