It's easy to erase much of what is negative about one's youth because looking back from a distance makes the past seem a lot more glorious than it was while we were living it. File pic

The Bombay Police feature quite often in many fond memories of my early life in Bombay. This isn't because I have a criminal bent of mind, but because my encounters (now an unfortunate word) with them always ended in smiles. I remember sitting in an abandoned vehicle with friends from college, for instance, and being surprised by a plainclothes cop who decided to find out what we were doing there. After he was assured that we weren't planning a crime, he informed us that the spot we were in was actually close to where someone had been murdered a few days before. He then spent the next half hour with us, sharing our snacks and advising us on how to live better lives.