2.6
The Jeep powered on relentlessly.

“Pierre, tell me, when you were told that sadhus renounced the world – what did you think?”

“I was shocked.”

“Yes – it is a shock – even to us Indians.”
But to a foreigner, for the first time…
The P.M. could still remember the precise moment he saw a sadhu. It had been Shard – who had come to visit his father, the Prime Minister of India at the time – Shard dropping in to the compound on his way to the mountains.

“It’s not for everyone you know,” he said.

“Of course not, but equally, it is there for anyone.”

“But even you must admit – most sadhus don’t have much to lose in the first place.”

“Perhaps, but… there’s no rule – poor people are often just as attached to the little they have as the rich are to all they have – sometimes even more so. You can never tell with renunciation – some people, like me, just can’t help themselves. You can call it a weakness if you like, but some people have an irresistible desire to find out for themselves. I like to call us empiricists.”

2.7
Rita pressed a little harder –

“Come on – tell me – what are you into now?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to India for – just to have a look – see for myself.”

“A look – what on earth at?”
Max was in free-fall, unable to duck and weave any longer- now there was nowhere to turn but toward the truth –

“The other side,” he said.

“The other side of what?”

“Life.”
She shook her head slowly like a mother chiding her three year old, like he had just said something really stupid.

“You’re kidding!”

“No,” he said. “I’m perfectly serious.”
She turned away, and said very coolly, too coolly –

“So… you’re going to India to find yourself a guru?”
Max laughed – this was something he’d never considered.

“I’m not looking for a guru,” he said off-handedly.

“But that’s exactly what will happen. You’ll end up sitting at the feet of some hairy little man you don’t even know.”

“Mmm.”

“Max, people get lost in India!”
He shrugged his shoulders – it was not his problem.

“Frankly,” she added coldly. “People go over to India and get way out of their depth… in a very complex culture… which is actually quite alien to the western mind.”