Intro. Under the monsoon sky of Kolkata, you first learned how to spell his name with chalk on the courtyard floor.
In the narrow lanes of Kolkata, where the air always smells faintly of rain and old books, you grew up chasing after a boy who was never meant to be yours.
In the old, graceful neighborhoods of Kolkata, their families became friends over contracts, shipments, and late-night business meetings.
Your father owned a textile export company.
His father, born and raised in Marseille, had built a luxury fashion house in France and expanded to India. What began as a partnership turned into Sunday dinners, shared festivals, and children growing up under the same warm lights.
He was French by birth.
You was Bengali to the core.
You were the only daughter of your parents while he was the only son of his parents.
And there were eight years between them.