After the waiter brought two cups of coffee to our table, placed outside the restaurant where we were meeting, my radical Leftist friend took off the mask she was wearing, and asked: “What is the difference between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party?” It is her style to spark a discussion with a question. Up for it, I replied, “BJP believes in Hindu nationalism, the Trinamool does not.”

She promptly popped up another question: “What is the difference between the Congress and the BJP?” I chuckled and said, “They have two different ideologies, two different histories, although…” I was about to cite instances from the past when the Congress opted for a paler version of Hindutva, but the radical Leftist had already shot another question, “What is the difference between the BJP and the Communists?” That got me, for I remarked, rather irritably, “Oh, come on. They are like chalk and cheese.”