I WAS PARTICULARLY struck by these three maidens, the last time I was in Hindu kingdom, Bali. Did you know that in 1904 or so, the kshatryiyas there, cheesed off with Dutch rule, walked knowingly into the Dutch guns because it was a matter of honour for the men. Behind the lines, the women kshatriyas took their own lives. Life under the colonial Dutch was absolutely unendurable, it appears. But it was a matter of honour for the men as they believed in the Hindu dharma. My driverji stopped once at a Japanese relief – said the Japanese had liberated the nation from the Dutch. It’s all very sad dot com. ♦
