A blot of muck on my laptop screen turned into a bindi on your forehead when I maximised your WhatsApp DP. I texted, "You look beautiful in bindi."

"You have never seen me in bindi, I rarely wear them. Stop kidding me," you protested. I sent a photograph of the shimmering screen. Your bright face cast off the evil-eyes of onlookers with what seemed kohl inking that bindi of yours. It took you a while to recognise yourself. How, you asked. I described how it was the stain on my screen instead of Photoshop that turned you into this stunning Fab India model. I anticipated an eye roll, a reprimand. None of that happened. Your infamous OCD for cleanliness went for a toss as you replied with something utterly odd, oddly romantic: "Daag achhe hain."

- हर्ष स्नेहांशु