One Tuesday, a few weeks ago, while I was away, Randall came to spend the night here. Soon after he arrived, an old man appeared in the front verandah, and Sonati told Randall that someone had come to see him.

Randall was taken aback: "How had the news of his arrival here got around so fast?". Anyway, he pulled himself together and came out to see what the old man wanted.

The old man looked rather decrepit, and Randall was bracing himself for a long consultation, trying to recollect his history, and so on sans even a cup of tea, when the old man said "Saar-a koopidu" ("Call Saar"). Relief for Randall: The old man hadn't come to see him, after all.

And then, Randall did a double-take and said, "But who is this?"

And it was:

When I returned from Bangalore, Sonati, Badri and Varun choreographed this to perfection again. I was taken in, thanks to my shortsightedness and the twilight, and it was only Varun's laughter that gave the game away.