Given Bron and Ben’s flight had been delayed we got to sleep in a bit more and got up at around 5. However it had been quite a disrupted night as we both kept getting up to make sure we hadn’t overslept. The drive to the airport was quite quick as there was hardly any traffic at 6 in the morning on a Saturday. Once at the airport it was a different story with cars stopped haphazardly all over the departures area. One family just left their car in the middle of the road while they all congregated near the gate to say their goodbyes – which added to the traffic chaos. After saying out goodbyes they went into the airport and even for domestic flights you can’t enter the terminal unless you are a traveller. We waited till Bron and Ben came back and gave us the thumbs up to say that they had successfully checked in.

My dad had a few errands to run this morning so Thomas and I accompanied him to various shops around Salt Lake. Thomas also got to experience the local wet market with live chickens and fish that you can pick out for dinner. We also found a butcher with a skinned goat hanging in the front. We stopped and watched a fishmonger skin and chop a fish on a large blade that faced him. He even used a mallet to remove the head. Thomas was intrigued by another fishmonger who was shelling and deveining prawns using a similar knife and deft fingers. We then went to get the cars pollution certificate updated, which seemed highly ironic. The car was taken to a testing centre where they stuck a sensor into the exhaust to check the amount of toxins being released. The car seemed to pass with flying colours. Our final stop was at a street cobbler where Dadu had dropped off his shoes to be repaired. Thomas was impressed with the very few tools and equipment that the cobbler had the lack of machinery to get all the work done.

The afternoon was spent catching up with old friends. Mimi dropped over at lunch and stayed with us all afternoon. Emily enjoyed getting her hair done and then returning the favour. While Thomas was just happy to run around and interact with her. We took our obligatory photo in front of the front door that Mimi and I have done since I first departed in 1994. Later in the evening Piyush stopped by and it was great to see him. The last time we caught up was in 2013 and he doesn’t seem to have aged one little bit. He has now moved to Delhi and it was pure coincidence that he happened to be in Kolkata this weekend for a family affair.

The great thing about old friends is that you can pick up the conversation where you left it and there is no ego or vanity in the interactions. It was a great way to end the trip.