‘And Madhav’s sister lives in the States. My parents now live in my old office in Delhi. They returned from London when we got married.’ Radhika answered all our nosy questions. We wanted to talk to them for hours.

‘So are you guys married?’ Madhav asked us.

‘We are planning to get married but he has not proposed to me yet,’ Gitanjali said and they laughed.

Radhika came up to me and whispered in my ear, ‘Just tell her what Madhav said to me.’

‘I will.’ I said and winked at her.

Before Gitanjali and I could continue on our journey, there was another surprise in store for us.

We heard footsteps behind us. As we turned around, we saw a small boy running down the stairs. He wore a cute woollen cap and a yellow jacket with white pyjamas. He hugged Radhika and she kissed his cheeks. He then went to Madhav.

‘Daddy, Daddy, look! I wrote a poem for Mumma and you,’ the little boy said, his voice incredibly sweet.

‘That’s beautiful, Parth.’

Acknowledgements

I believe this is the most special page of this book as it has gratitude for all those who have actually made it happen. First and foremost, I would like to thank God. In the process of putting this book together I realized how much this gift of writing means to me.

To my guru, who has given me the power to believe in my passion and pursue my dreams. I could never have done this without the faith I have in you. To my parents, I can barely find the words to express my gratitude for all the wisdom, love and support you’ve given me. If I am blessed to live long enough, I hope I can be as good as you are. To my sisters, Vidhi and Purti, for being there. Your love keeps me going. I would never have come so far without you both by my side.

As always, I thank my beautiful partner in crime, Gitanjali, for not only being my storyteller but also for giving me so much energy and love. I am so thankful to have you in my life and for pushing me when I am ready to give up. Without you, this story would not have seen the light of day. My words are the proof of the beauty I see when I look into your eyes.

I would also like to thank Mohnish, Sahil and all my friends for always being there, and kindly putting up with me. A big thanks to Devanshi, Kunal and Abbas for listening to the story, Linda, Arjun and Nimish for the magical pictures and Sohail, Pari, Komal, Fiza and all our wonderful Kat-Katha children for the prayers.

I would like to express my gratitude to the entire team at Penguin Random House, to all those who read and assisted in the editing, proofreading and design of the book. Very special gratitude goes out to my editor, Gurveen Chadha, for challenging me to do better and for helping me shape this book.