I read in the Panchatantra: "First it is foolish to love, but if one must love, that love should be allowed to grow." A few moments spent with your love are the best times of your life. In many societies, however, a love affair is still too far from any sort of social approval.

Still, since it is the triumph of feelings over intelligence, every third person may be seen getting into trouble or being caught unawares in the funniest situations due to this four-letter word, as he or she who has bad luck, is done for. But that's the way life is.

While in my teens, during summer vacation a teenage girl was visiting her sister's family, two houses away from our villa. We met and became friends. One day at dusk I got ready for my evening walk. As I stepped out and was passing her house, she invited me and showed me in. She told me that her sister and brother-in-law had gone to a dinner party.

Walking behind her, instinctively I plucked a rose from her garden, intending to tuck it in her hair. As I entered the house she asked me to shut the door saying, "There are too many mosquitoes here, they will get in."

Turn of events

Asking her permission, but not waiting for her response, I extended my hand towards her hair as she said please take a seat, indicating the sofa. She might not have objected to my adorning her hair but it seemed she preferred that the flower be handed to her.

As she was about to take the flower, the electricity went off due to a power failure and the rose fell from her hand. She bent down to pick it up and at that moment her hair got caught on my shirt button.

As soon as this happened, there was a knock on the door. My heart skipped a beat as I wondered who the hell had come there at such a wrong moment. We were desperately trying to untangle the hair from the button. Minutes ticked by but the button would not come out of her hair. I had no option but to take my shirt off and get lost. She told me to hide in the bathroom.

They had a huge German Shepherd in the courtyard, which I had to cross to reach the bathroom, but I managed somehow. About 20 minutes passed standing there with mosquitoes biting my bare body and the dog glaring at me, his eyes shining in the dark. But the visitor would not leave.

Another 10 minutes passed, and it became difficult for me to wait any longer. Nevertheless, I thought even in bad times a man should not lose hope, for by making an effort he can certainly find a solution. But that day it seemed all the stars had conspired against me.

I decided to jump over the boundary wall. As I pushed myself up, the dog caught my trousers. Thinking that my condition would become even worse if the dog pulled my trousers, I hit him with my other foot and jumped over the wall.

Since the wall was quite high, I landed with a thud, and heard someone shouting "thief, thief". I ran as fast as I could before they could recognise me. As if that was not enough, stray dogs also started barking and chasing me.

I am pretty sure that my sprint timing that day must have been better than that of Usain Bolt as I was running to save my life. Anyway, I reached home and entered from the back door, which was luckily open.

My evening walk, thus, became a race that day.