There was no sign of the fellow coming back. The landlady’s face was clouded with annoyance. I was burning with impatience. “What now? Why hasn’t he come yet?” I said.

He replied, “I’m thinking of staying here tonight and going to my room in the morning.”

An immense anger welled up in me. The landlady stood there, listening to our conversation, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

“What’s this? You want to stay here tonight? Have you lost your mind? Can’t you see their discomfort, or do you only care about your own convenience? First, you made the mistake of arriving in the morning. Then you committed a few more blunders. And now, as if all that weren’t enough, you say you’ll sleep here tonight, clinging to them like a ghost that won’t let go! Did you think they’d have another bed, mattress, and blankets all set up for you here? Come on, let’s go!” I said.

He replied, “Never mind, if there’s no bed, I can sleep under their bed.”

The landlady couldn’t contain her laughter and ran off to the other room! Without another word, I grabbed him by the arm, picked up his coat and hat, and dragged him outside. He realized there was no use resisting and came along quietly. What more could I say to him? What was the use?

“Don’t you dare turn back and come here again. Go straight home. I’ll come by later to check. If you’re not at home, wherever you are, I’ll hunt you down and break your bones. Be warned!” I said, pushing him ahead.

We went our separate ways and reached the house where we were staying. He went home quietly. I don’t know how this whole affair spread through the town, but after that, no one invited him to any party again. When you’re in a foreign land, if you don’t learn to behave according to the customs of that country, what else can you expect?

One day, there was some sort of holiday. Colleges, offices, factories—everything was shut down. It was an annual holiday, it seemed. On that day, trains would be packed with people going to neighboring towns. Whichever railway station you looked at, it would be overflowing with people. The streets would be filled with crowds wandering about with nothing to do, and hotels, cinemas, picnic spots, amusement parks, sports grounds, hills, parks—everywhere you looked, the ground would be covered with men and women, boys and girls, as if the earth itself was teeming with people.

The strange thing is, even amidst such a dense crowd, there is no jostling, no one bumping into another, no petty squabbles, and not a word of reproach exchanged. Despite the throngs, people here do not lose themselves in a frenzy as our folks do at the holy pilgrimages back home. Even when everyone speaks in unison, not a sound is heard—only the occasional laughter rings out here and there.

The crowds roam about the town