Previous books by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala:
NOVELS
Amrita
The Nature of Passion
Esmond in India
The Householder
Get Ready for Battle
A Backward Place
Travelers
Heat and Dust
In Search of Love and Beauty
Three Continents
STORIES
Like Birds, Like Fishes
A Stronger Climate
An Experience of India
How I Became a Holy Mother
East into Upper East
Copyright 1957, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1986, 2000
by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
First Counterpoint paperback copyright 2000.
“The Widow,” “The Interview,” “Passion,” “The Man with the Dog,” “Rose Petals,” “Two More Under the Indian Sun,” “Bombay,” “On Bail,” “In the Mountains,” and “Desecration” appeared originally in The New Yorker.
The Introduction, “Myself in India,” first appeared in London Magazine.
“A Spiritual Call” first appeared in The Cornhill.
“The Housewife” first appeared in Cosmopolitan.
“My First Marriage,” “An Experience of India,” and How I Became a Holy Mother” first appeared in Encounter.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer, 1927–
Out of India : selected stories / Ruth Prawer Jhabvala—1st Counterpoint pbk. ed.
p. cm.
1. India—Social life and customs—Fiction. I. Title.
PR9499.3.15 A6 2000
823—dc21 99-046035
Printed in the United States of America
COUNTERPOINT
P.O. Box 65793
Washington, D.C. 200035-5793
Counterpoint is a member of the Perseus Book Group.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
e-book ISBN 978-1-61902-877-7
For C.S.H.J. as always
CONTENTS
Introduction: Myself in India
My First Marriage
The Widow
The Interview
A Spiritual Call
Passion
The Man with the Dog
An Experience of India
The Housewife
Rose Petals
Two More Under the Indian Sun
Bombay
On Bail
In the Mountains
How I Became a Holy Mother
Desecration
I have lived in India for most of my adult life. My husband is Indian and so are my children. I am not, and less so every year.
India reacts very strongly on people. Some loathe it, some love it, most do both. There is a special problem of adjustment for the sort of people who come today, who tend to be liberal in outlook and have been educated to be sensitive and receptive to other cultures. But it is not always easy to be sensitive and receptive to India: there comes a point where you have to close up in order to protect yourself. The place is very strong and often proves too strong for European nerves. There is a cycle that Europeans—by Europeans I mean all Westerners, including Americans—tend to pass through. It goes like this: first stage, tremendous enthusiasm—everything Indian is marvelous; second stage, everything Indian not so marvelous; third stage, everything Indian abominable. For some people it ends there, for others the cycle renews itself and goes on. I have been through it so many times that now I think of myself as strapped to a wheel that goes round and round and sometimes I’m up and sometimes I’m down. When I meet other Europeans, I can usually tell after a few moments’ conversation at what stage of the cycle they happen to be. Everyone likes to talk about India, whether they happen to be loving or loathing it. It is a topic on which a lot
