Two years ago, Anna Tanvir came to visit Karuna Vihar. Anna is a musician from France (though she has roots in England through her mother, Jill and in India, through her father Habib). She plays the harp and the guitar, she sings like an angel and she is completely enchanting. So I was prepared to be enchanted by her three sons as well. Enchantment is one thing. These boys bowled me over. Not only are they beautiful and polite and intelligent – they are also insightful and mature. Their observations on life in India compared with life in France were thoughtful, on the mark and occasionally even profound. They visited for an hour this afternoon, but I was wishing they could have stayed for the whole day.

The boys are here with their Mom to get a sense of their Indian roots and to have an experience of an Indian education for one term! This is Willoughby, the youngest (they call him Wib). I didn’t get enough time to talk with him because he was so busy playing with the marbles he found on our windowsill. But he won my heart by loving the cookies I had made and the drink I served and by his fetching smile and his appreciation of everything around him (he told me he LOVES daal and rice). Wib is not in school yet, but is hoping to start in Class Four at Ann Mary. He thinks the uniform there is great and is looking forward to making friends.

Kim is at the Asian School and according to him, the school is fantastic. He loves his teachers, loves his classmates and can’t say enough about the whole way of life here. “Indians are so friendly,” he said. “And they’re all so open.” He was going on like this, very enthusiastically. Then his face suddenly went serious and he turned to his mother and said “You know, in France people are always saying things like ‘Live for today’, and ‘you only have this moment’, but they don’t mean it. Here they do. They really do. And I’m getting to be like that too. I’m just happy. Right now.”

And finally, there’s Mukti. He’s at Welham Boys (he’d changed reluctantly into his uniform for the return to school) and he agreed, somewhat, with Kim. “I used to have every minute of every day planned,” he said. “Now I just don’t even think about it.” He went on to add that it was mostly due to being in boarding school. “It’s not like they can leave without you. If you forget you’re supposed to be somewhere, or you’re just late, someone always comes and reminds you. In general, people here are so much more relaxed. Or vague. I’m not sure which.”

I’m not sure which of these boys I am most smitten by. I just know I’d like to see more of them.