My association with France began with a French exchange programme in 2004. I was vegetarian, I barely spoke French, I had never heard the French accent, I was to live with a French family for three weeks and I was to attend French school in that time. And because I was 17, I was not scared, I was excited.I remember the first day vividly. I remember all the attempts everyone made at making conversation. We talked about the world wars. We talked about food. We talked about India. We talked about France. I understood about five per cent of the conversation.And then, one thing led to another, and my sister and I started talking about the Ramayana. In English, it's a beautiful, complex story that I enjoy telling. In French especially back then, I was comfortable only with present tense. That's all very well for regular story-telling, but if you forget that one little episode, you're … [Read more...]