“We lived next to a pond, which was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. So much so that after sundown, my room, which overlooked the pond and had two wooden shuttered windows with vertical bars in them, was shut tight. The room was fogged with dhoop/ dhoono —-incense—-to ward off the mosquitoes. I sat enveloped in that room, fast disappearing into the smoky clouds, sitting like a Buddha at my desk, leaning my chair back on two legs till it hit the bed behind, doing my homework and occasionally using my compass as a dart on my wooden desk.”
