It's sometime before September 18, 1980 and I go up to my dad who had been nominated President of the committee organising chacha's big 8-0 bash with the most important question of the year: So, what are you guys giving him for his birthday? We haven't decided yet was the answer. So that I had to gently pester the Minister of Education with the same PQ when I got the opportunity to do so. In the meantime I was rushed to several functions including the cake-cutting ceremony and watched the horse race dedicated to Seewoosagur chit-chatting with the birthday boy. He was a very approachable fellow and it was always a lot of fun talking to a Ramgoolam who knew that Titmuss did not win a Nobel.
So, what did they give him? A watch bhai Kher told me later. What kind of watch? His fellow Ministers contributed to buy him a Rs15,000 watch.
Aren't you grateful to that teenager for carrying out this special investigation?
