His plane ticket will be waiting for him at the airport, she says, passing him the envelope. This is money for the taxi she has booked. Enclosed also is the address of his hotel in Bombay. He has a night in Bombay, and then a flight to Bangkok the following evening. It is simply a precaution, for his own safety. From Bangkok, he is on his own, although it seems that he is expected to make his own way back to Australia. The police are asking questions. The German embassy is involved. Hans had a friend in Poona — not a sannyasin — ‘who is wanting to make trouble’.

It takes a moment for this news to land. Hans is dead. K is being sent home.

‘It is an accident,’ Laxmi assures him. ‘It is no one’s fault. But there unfortunately won’t be time for a leaving darshan.’ They will let him know when things have been cleared up. No one is blaming him. Of course he will be welcome to come back when the time is right. Of course. They will let him know. ‘Come back soon,’ she says, smiling. She has him write down his passport number and his address in Australia.

‘Is your father still alive?’ she asks.

‘My father? Yeah. Why?’

‘If anyone asks, he is very sick. This is a good reason to go home, Laxmi thinks, yes?’

These instructions, it is implicit, are coming directly from Bhagwan, and it does not occur to K to question the wisdom of this decision. It is for his own sake, for the good of everyone, for the ashram, but for Bhagwan in particular. Bhagwan must be protected at all costs. His work must continue. It is too important.

He has a headache, but beyond that he doesn’t know what he feels. Nothing, perhaps. He thanks Laxmi. Then he stumbles out into the heat of the morning to look for Yamini among the hundred or so people who have already begun dynamic meditation in Buddha Hall.

He pushes through the crowd, searching for her face. Everyone is in orange. They are all breathing hard, their eyes closed, their bodies jolting with the effort of hyperventilation. Finally, he sees her heaving back and forth near the rear of the hall. She is partly obscured by a bamboo post. He gets closer. But maybe it’s not Yamini. Maybe it’s someone else. She has her eyes closed. But yes, it is her. He grabs her by the shoulder, shakes her harder than he means to.

‘What’s happening?’ Her face frightens him. He must look worse than he thinks. He doesn’t feel well. He finds himself dragging her back through the crowd.

She pulls her arm away. ‘What the fuck’s going on?’

Out in the open, he tries to explain the situation: Hans. The German embassy. He is dizzy. Everything feels unreal.

Yamini is looking at him in horror.

‘Will you come with me?’ he says.