When my 18-year-old came back home from Bangalore within 7 days of going back to his hostel after a mid-semester break, neither him nor I expected it to go beyond 3 months. I, the development sector worker in charge of 96 people working in various parts of the rural India was more worried than him of course but, going by his reactions later, I guess he expected it to last even less than that. He thought he could finally spend his birthday with his friends as his semester dates changed. His birthday always coincides with summer holidays and when I said, “I want to come and spend time with you that weekend!” he had been in two minds about how to politely turn it down. The mid-semester break in the first week of March in Delhi with me was spent well. The teenager avoided talking too much with me but we also visited a few restaurants together and went to a jazz performance that we targeted from long ago. We talked a bit about dating. His and mine. I was intrigued by his reflection tha...