The place I would like to be in all my life is Puari in Garhwal. I was born in this beautiful village in the hills and spent the first few years of my life there. Puari is blissful and has the freshness that all other places lack.

We moved to Delhi when I was five. Initially I had a problem adjusting in school because of the language; I did not know Hindi. However, I picked it up fast and it even became my favourite subject. That’s mainly because of the stories that were part of the syllabus.

At school I was known to be extremely naughty. I still remember how I used to escape our physical training (PT) classes. I had built up a rapport with the students of Aurobindo College next door. On PT class days, I would ask them to come over. They would warn the teacher not to make us work hard. Our teacher would then take us back to class and we’d play indoor games. However, I loved playing cricket, football and all other sports.

Our school had two shifts — the morning hours were for girls and the second shift was for boys. The girls often left the classrooms untidy, littered with paper and leftovers. So one day, I left a letter on the blackboard asking them to keep the classroom neat. Though I confessed the next day, it was fun. When I got a bit older, I would go around the city after school on the pretext that I had tuition or was doing group study.

Despite everything, I yearned to go back to my village. Every year, I visited the place during my vacations. I would take the cows to graze, along with my cousin. While the animals grazed, we played the flute, ate fruits from the jungle and drank water from the falls. I also remember my grandfather ploughing the field and an aunt bringing food and tea for us. We used to warm the tea by striking a light with stones and wood. My happy childhood makes me feel that it’s the best time of one’s life.