I was picking at my scrambled eggs dissolutely. We had just finished a three-hour safari in Ranthambore and had seen no signs of a tiger. We did get to see some cheetal, but they only reminded us that they were not tigers.

Suddenly K got animated. I wondered whether a tiger had appeared at the hotel. But she had noticed the people who had just entered the breakfast room. “That’s Pankaj Kapoor,” she said in a hushed voice. “Who’s Pankaj Kapoor?” I asked. “Oh, he’s a leading TV actor,” she said. Anyway the Kapoors were excited because they had seen tigers. We struck up a conversation and Pankaj introduced us to his son, a young lad with cherubic face called Shahid, who was about to start acting in films.

By and by, Shahid made it good in the Hindi films. But he was really famous for being Kareena’s boyfriend.

Me and K would often go the Tratoria, at the President, for a pizza and the draft. One day K whispered to me that Karishma Kapoor was sitting on the table behind us. I called the waiter and sent her a note saying ‘Dil to Paagal Hai’ — her film that was currently running. Karishma on reading the note turned her head and flashed a smile. Emboldened, I got up and went to the table to have a chat with her. When I approached the table, a young lady sitting across her said, “We don’t want to be disturbed.” I quietly withdrew and tucked into my pizza. K told me that the girl was Kareena, Karishma’s kid sister, and I gave her B-minus for her behaviour.

... contd.