The wooden path in the forest was suddenly overhung with trees \u2013 sinister-looking, grasping, their gnarled hands reaching out. Rhododendrons! And so many of them! In bloom, this must be a mountainside of bright red \u2013 just blood-red flowers hanging overhead and on either side.<\/p>\n
Which would \u201cthe multitudinous seas incarnadine\u201d, he thought. Macbeth, from English class. He smiled, how deep the stamp of colonial schooling ran in his subconscious. \u201cThe multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.\u201d The whole green, broad-leaved forest must be red in May, incarnadined.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook,\u201d he pointed out to Mandhira, \u201cthe rhododendrons you wanted to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, are these rhododendrons? I thought they\u2019d be more like creepers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTree rhododendrons, different from other ones. I think those grow on creepers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t Manish say they wouldn\u2019t be around this season?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue. Very strange. Maybe it\u2019s climate change \u2013 the patterns of things are changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sun they had started under had disappeared in a blanket of mist. Out ahead, a person would be visible and then not, just a glimpse of a red backpack disappearing. The path in the rhododendron forest had been pressed into place over the years with rough sleepers hewn from logs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, tell me, how does it work? The yoga business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYoga? Or the business of yoga? Because the business of yoga is all about Instagram. People want to feel good \u2013 rather they think, the yoga does \u2013 but they also need to look good. They need to be seen looking good. They need to connect with other people who look good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are doing yoga on the internet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI only hold the group classes online. Otherwise, it\u2019s one-on-one in person again these days. But I meant the social idea of yoga. It\u2019s become essential for any young woman to do yoga, to own yoga clothes, to think about wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone actually is. It\u2019s the biggest revolution of the last 20 years \u2013 wellness, self-care, diet, functional fitness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose it\u2019s a good thing,\u2019 Moeen patted his belly, \u2018I could definitely use more daily fitness. I almost envy the young.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShall I tell you something?\u201d Mandhira winked, \u201cSo do I.\u201d<\/p>\n