her to go. But by then we

her to go. But by then we were committed and paid up. So off we went.

Nobody who remembers the weather we had in Rappahannock County in February will wonder that we were a bit worried about getting to Dulles and on to ^Kennedy for -our flight to Delhi. In fact we had no problems of that kind until nearly a month later, in midMarch. when we returned to New York in a snowstorm and a freezing temperature. February 16th, arrived at the Air India counter, we saw at once that for this trip we were on plush. We handed in our suitcases (not to be seen again until we were in our room in New Delhi) and were directed to a VIP lounge. There, over ample drinks, our fellow-travelers were gathering. We had met some of them before at an Indian Embassy sendoff party and concluded that it would be a congenial group. They never gave us cause to change our minds. Most but not all/'bf them were of our own vintage. not less than middleaged. Time passed easily until our on-time departure at 8:45 p.m.

Such is the timing of most west-to-east transatlantic flights that they are never much fun. But this was our best yet. Our party of 62 had a whole section of the 747 reserved for it. Virginia and I were given a block of four seats to ourselves and actually managed to get some sleep. A good dinner was served and free drinks continued to flow freely. As on all our Air India and Indian Airlines flights, the cabin service was flawless. After some seven yhours we landed at London airport and had an hour and a half or thereabouts to stretch our legs. Then the real penance began. We flew nonstop from London to Bombay—4700 miles. I am told. It took at least ten hours. I cannot be more precise as I lost track of the changing time zones. (Later I learned that India—all one time zone—is 5'/j hours ahead of London