“Mmm – and… did he tell you the end he had in mind?”

“He knew the sadhus wanted him to renounce. But I don’t think he knew anything beyond that. He was definitely struggling with the concept of renunciation and when I spoke to him he wasn’t even sure he had the courage to do it. He was very open though, and happy to talk freely, even down to asking my opinion on renunciation.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him it was absurd, sir!”

“How did he respond to that?”

“He agreed with me! But he felt trapped. He told me he’d met an old man who’d told him things about himself that only he knew and he told me that this old man told him he would witness God. He thought he had to had to at least “have a go” and he spoke about “not wanting to be “a piker”. These are AFL terms, or as he called it “footy”. He said if he didn’t build up the “guts” to do do it he’d be worried about “not having a real go” and “piking out” for the rest of his life.”

“I’m amazed he told you all this!”

“You did ask me to get in close,” Dirk Watts added. “But… to be honest, it wasn’t very difficult. Australians are very friendly. And I don’t know whether you’ve noticed… but they tend to talk a lot… especially about themselves.”

“Don’t we all…” the President said, flicking through the file.

He was about to thank Dirk, when something caught his eye.

“Wait a second! It says here, there is a film being made of his renunciation… using a camera inserted in his eye. What’s this about?”

Why didn’t he tell you about this earlier?

“It’s only a rumour – but… a very strong one.”

This is serious!

“Have you verified this? Is it possible?”

“Technically speaking, sir – it is.”