By morning I was sufficiently curious to delay my departure. Anu came with her mother and the four of us made polite conversation. In amongst the comings and goings, HH told me she was a virgin, and then of course I knew what the game was. She told me she would rather trust her mother's choice of husband for her, and so I couldn't honestly agree that she was the 'modern' girl that HH had so flatteringly promised me. In an attempt to be liberal and modern, this man and his mistress were arranging that a westerner educate this girl in the ways of love.

-So you like her? you want make friendship with her?
-Hang on I'm in the middle of a sentence with her! If you want to be modern and liberal, you let the girl arrange it herself, and you don't pressurise the candidate, and by the way I'm 30 and old enough to be able to conduct my affairs in private without giving progress reports to interested parties while I'm getting to know a girl. Butt out!

Or something to that effect. I think she lost interest after that speech though. It was time to go. I offered to take her home, but I would have had to take the mother was well, in the interest of our liberal attitudes not creating a scandal. (In india three adults on a bike still leaves room for a couple of toddlers.)

When I got to Auroville I wrote this letter about the whole affair