The narrator’s next journal entry is dated February 20th. She visits Inder Lal and get to know his mother and his wife Ritu. With them she tries out her Hindi and notices that she has to work harder at it. Inder Lal’s mother appraises the narrater, but by now being contemplated is just normal for her, because everyone does it. She thinks about how strange it has to be for Indians seeing the British living in their country and wearing their clothing. She, as well, had bought Indian clothing for herself directly after going to Satipur, because they are cooler and cheaper than European’s.
There is one word that the narrater is often called after, the word “hijra,” whose meaning she knew from one of Olivia’s letters (it means transvestite). On one walk, Inder Lal and the narrater walk past a group of hirjas, who dance and sing, dressed like women but, she thought, with sad faces. That is why she wondered if they’ll be paid for their work. Inder Lal isn’t interested in this performance, because it is ‘a very common thing’ to him.
