The sun went down and as it got dark a full dark red moon appeared on the other side The three were all leaving the next morning, so the four of us made a night of it. We took a joint out to the Ghats and sat high up, not saying much. The moon by then was high and white and reflected on the water, as was the city with its multicolored Hindu lights. Groups of people below us were passing their evening chatting or gambling by the waters edge, and occaisional candles and floating turds drifted by. There was the hum of the city behind us, occaisional fireworks exploding, but most of all, amplified chanting which seemed to go on for hours. Richard went to bed, and the rest of us relaxed a bit.

We went to find the source of the music and wandered into in one of the grand buildings at the Ghat's edge to find a group of girls sitting round a microphone. Rachel, normally so happy to spend time with Indians, went to bed.

It turned out to be a family house and the chanting was a 24 Hr Ramayana reading family marathon in honor of a 3 yr old child who had just had his head shaved for the first time. They all spoke English and showed interest in us without being servile which was refreshing. I talked computers with an older brother and Roni played at audio recording with a hourde of cousins and other junior relations.

We went back to the hotel and smoked all night on the roof talking loosely about the futility of our getting to know each other better given that she was going to the other side of India with Rachel in the morning. By morning though, our spending more time together had become a matter of urgency, and she left for Puna vowing to come straight back for an east coastal motorcycle adventure with me. It had been a perfect evening. I saw them both to the railway station.

The next night in my bed different night sounds came through my window. Distinct from the usual coughing, music and copulating noises, there were some thuds of a heavy object hitting the floor. And female wailing. The kind of wailing that goes with gnashing of teeth, and is emitted by the souls who find themselves in a hell beyond redemption's reach. Indian women aren't exactly the property of their husbands, but that doesn't help unpopular wives being punished or disposed of in domestic 'accidents' by their husband's family.