“Whether the character in his novel had the guts to renounce. The problem was he was the character in the novel. I’ve transcribed some of our dialogue for you. I actually found the guy very amusing. I suggest you read it some time.”

“So is it a comedy?”

“I don’t think he sees it that way, sir”

“Did he have any… real insight into what’s going on?”

“He had an idea he was being set up. But he thought he was just imagining it. He was very frank. Everything was justified by his dream of becoming a writer. He told me he needed something really interesting to write about and he thought a whole world of imagination would open up to him if he had the courage to renounce. It seems they fed him a very romantic notion and he fell in love with it.”

“It’s madness though, isn’t it?” the President said, “To go through something like this… for a novel? From what I read, he had a lot going for him. He was a professional footballer!”

“Yes, but he had recurring knee problems. He’d been told he’d never play again.”

“At twenty-six?”

“Have you ever seen the game?”

“Not really.”

“It’s… extremely demanding. It’s like no other game in the world. It’s brutal… but once you get into it, brilliant at the same time. These Aussie guys are superb athletes. And I can assure you, you need two good knees to play!”

“Mmm.”

“He was thinking about something else he could do with his life when someone mentioned the idea of writing a book about sadhus. It seems to have taken over his imagination completely. He joked about it, and admitted that if he was living like this in the west he’d probably be committed. He knew he was taking a huge risk but he hoped it might be worth it in the end.”