I knew that I always had a home in OJ’s place whenever I was in New Delhi, but this time it turned out to be even better. OJ’s parents had gone to Rajasthan to attend a wedding, so we had the entire house to ourselves. We also had OJ’s motorcycle at our disposal (the same one with which I had made my solo trip through Uttarakhand).

In the five days we spent in Delhi, we traveled almost all over the huge city with no clear idea of where exactly we were going.

Some of the things that I did manage to do were:

• Visited Delhi Kannada School where I had studied between 1987 and 1991. I met the current principal of the school, who knew who the principal was when I was there more than 20 years ago. Although not much had changed, the school and its playground seemed much much smaller than I remembered.

• Visited the flat where we used to live then. The current owner of the flat was really nice, and when he heard that I used to live there 20 years ago, he actually invited me in and let me look around :)

• After visits to numerous offices around the city (which were not easy to locate), I finally figured out where to arrange for a duplicate birth certificate for my brother. My brother had been born in Delhi but my parents had misplaced his birth certificate and that was often turning out to be a problem. I did apply for a duplicate, but the clerk told me a long story about how he cannot issue birth certificates because of some software problem. But then if I paid him a bribe, it could be done. I refused to pay, so I didn’t get the certificate.

• Met the super-wealthy family of a girl with whom my parents wanted to arrange my marriage

• Checked out portions of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where Jana wanted to apply for a job as a German teacher

• Ate a lot of Rajma-Chawal, Chole-Phulke and Chana-Bhatura

• Drank a shitload of chai

I wanted to get myself injected with a lot of vaccinations while in Delhi, as I had been told that this would be a pre-requisite to obtain several visas, but that completely slipped my mind. Thank goodness for that. Never did the subject of vaccinations come up in any visa related matter, and I am thankful I was saved both the hassle and the associated risks.

Finally, after a week in New Delhi, it was time for Jana to go back to Varanasi and for me to fly to Mumbai. I was super-sad to part with Jana but that was how it had to be. A few hours later, OJ and I boarded our flight to Mumbai.

OJ's Standard Bullet that we had at our disposal

My old school building - seems so small compared to how I remember it

Even the main gate of the school used to seem much bigger in the past

In our old flat in Delhi where we lived from 1987 till 1991

The playground where small me used to play everyday

Lotus Temple - the famous Bahá'í House of Worship

At the Lodhi Garden

Rashtrapati Bhavan - where the President of India lives

Sexologist

We searched for the Czech embassy just so that we could take this picture

It's no fun to be out on the roads at peak hours

Posing with OJ outside one of New Delhi's large shopping malls

Che on my T-shirt really seemed in need of a smoke