My Lady, pardon my forthrightness but is this the first time that you’ve donned a shade of blue? It enhances your glowing face rather nicely,” Sir PM tried his best to pass on a compliment to his friend Lady Flora who was wearing a stunning powder blue gown, instead of her usual off-whites for their midnight walkabout in Fort. “Thank you, Pheroze. I’ve been receiving compliments since last night’s gala. I might never want to return to my whites,” she trailed off. As soon as she uttered the words, Lady Flora noticed that her friend did an eye roll. “Pheroze, I was going to tell you anyway. I had been invited to attend this inauguration of a cultural centre in the suburbs… you don’t do far-off places, so I didn’t bother to ask you…it was a spectacular extravaganza. What pageantry and pomp! The best from the West walked the red carpet beside our Indian film stars and social butterflies that had turned out in their shimmery, shiny wear. That is why I decided to retire my whites for a more glamourous spin,” Sir PM didn’t miss her broad smile.

Thoroughly convinced that he wouldn’t have managed the trek at the cost of sacrificing his sleep, he was still curious about the change in colour of her wardrobe, “So, My Lady, will you continue to be seen in these shades? Will your trademark look get phased out?” After a long pause, his friend replied, “Well, if you must know, there have been other developments in the city that have tempted me to consider dropping the all-white avatar. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t you notice the return of the cover-up jobs across certain routes in the city? Gargoyle tells me that the overseas visitors who form part of an international association are back for a series of meetings, and have been crisscrossing the length and breadth of our city. And once again, swathes of cloth have come up, lining the periphery of our roads to cover scaffoldings and other eyesores that show up along the widely used routes of these folks,” Lady Flora was upset and spent the next few minutes sharing specific routes where she had spotted these temporary jobs.