He doesn’t smile. “Someone has to.” During a lesson on “smooth clutch release,” Meera keeps stalling. Ramesh puts his hand over hers on the gearshift—just for a second. She doesn’t pull away.

She unfolds it. On the back, in his neat Malayalam handwriting:

He recites from his script: “Clutch pattichu vidumbol, vandi munnotte pokum. Pakshe kai vidal samayam ariyaṇam.” (When you release the clutch, the car moves forward. But you must know when to let go of the hand.)

First comment: “Sir, ithu driving tutorial alla. Love tutorial aanu.” (Sir, this isn’s a driving tutorial. It’s a love tutorial.)

Meera laughs. “You narrate your own life, Sir?”