Letter to Aftab

Yo, Aftab, how's life up there, buddy? Hey, Sunshine, in earth years you would be 30 tomorrow – all grown up and even more adult-like than the last time we met, in Jan 2001. We're having a family lunch for you down here tomorrow, complete with tehri and all. I'm planning a surprise dish – broccoli!! Ha ha ha ha ha. You laughing too?

Been thinking about you – then and now. In a sense, energy then and energy now. Warm and cuddly, then and now. Fun and laughing – same. When I think of you, I find myself feeling fuzzy-wuzzy warm and smiling to myself. And to you. Love you, my Affykins.

One of my abiding memories of you as a baby is you snuggled up against me in that baby harness – whatever it's called. Warm and fuzzy, usually asleep. Taking you on the bus like that and eating my salad with a fork and knife with you still asleep. And an old man walking up to us and saying, "Pas coupez la tete!" Funny. But what I meant to say was, you were always this warm, loving and fun energy to me – and you still are.

Another memory is rocking you to sleep at night to the music of The Police. And then you phoning me 15 years later from Montreux to say you had just listened to my favourite singer (Sting). Your voice smiling all the way down the line to Jakarta or wherever it was I was. Life moves in circles, doesn't it? Let's see where this loop takes us.