Sir PM was poring over a large, detailed map of Maharashtra, when Lady Flora approached him at their monsoon meeting spot, inside the Cathedral. He had a magnifying glass to look even closer at the plotted points; he was so caught up in the moment that he hadn’t noticed when his friend stood right beside him. She sneezed out aloud. “Blame it on the famed July downpour; Wales was so much better,” she sighed, looking radiant after her short Welsh holiday with cousin Beth. She was keen to know what her friend was up to, “What’s with this map-reading in such a studious manner?”

Her friend had waited two full weeks to play informer, “While you were away, we had some fabulous news for our home state to celebrate; we earned UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) status for the Maratha Military Landscape. These forts are Salher, Vijay Durg, Shivneri, Khanderi, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Lohgad and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu.” He grinned. The last time, Lady Flora recalled such a wide smile was when he received a personal invitation to Buckingham Palace seven summers ago. “The timing couldn’t be any better. These forts are in dire need of preservation due to over tourism and encroachments, so I am hopeful that this is good news, if we are to look at the larger picture,” he continued, trying desperately to fold the map in the exact same squares that its original shape demanded.

Ever the investigator, Lady Flora, didn’t seem too thrilled. “All that’s fine, Pheroze, but this is no child’s play. Just a cleaning job and removing a few illegal stalls won’t help. I hope a blueprint is being planned by a committee of experts from the relevant fields,” she began. Sir PM quickly interrupted her, noticing the tone of her enquiry. “I’m told by my former bosses that there’s tremendous interest within the state; a long-term expert-driven committee is being put together; there’s a lot of enthusiasm to make the most of this prestigious recognition. My informers tell me that it has already acted as a catapult to make it a must-visit on the world tourist map,” he gloated.